# Minimm amount of superhuman strength required to punch through and tear apart normal humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513 "2015-08-11T01:17:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/1 "2015-08-11T01:17:32Z")
I expect the answer to be something like: “If you wanted to be strong enough to punch through someone you would have to be able to lift at least x tons” I’m asking how strong you would have to be to the point that everyone besides you is about as durable as wet tissue paper, meaning if you wanted to rip them apart or punch through them it would require little to no effort. Here are some examples of super humans using their strength against normal people fatally (They’re a bit gory): [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738694-boys.jpg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738694-boys.jpg) [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738673-midnighter.jpg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738673-midnighter.jpg) [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738675-jason+healing+factor.jpg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738675-jason+healing+factor.jpg) [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738678-jason+fist+decapitation.jpg](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/132540/4738678-jason+fist+decapitation.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/2 "2015-08-11T01:24:49Z")
Based on somewhat recent animal attacks I’d say “stronger than your average chimpanzee”, which is quite capable of literally tearing pieces off a human being but it does require some effort on their part. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/3 "2015-08-11T02:48:43Z")
At least one of those pics (okay, I only bothered with the first two) is not physically possible. The spinal cord would not remain connected when you yank it vertically out from the torso. (Midnighter ripping a guy’s spine out.) That said, a nice x10 strength allotment would probably be enough to tear a skull off from the neck, or punch a fist through a torso. You certainly don’t need an x100 increased. (If you’re willing to be patient, a normal person could take a human head off: just keep twisting it around a few times, and somewhere along the way it would separate.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/4 "2015-08-11T03:04:58Z")
You could stick your hand through someone’s torso with 4.13 times normal strength. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/5 "2015-08-11T03:05:14Z")
Please tell me why the decapitation sound effect in the fourth strip was WANK. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/6 "2015-08-11T03:09:09Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Please tell me why the decapitation sound effect in the fourth strip was WANK. Apparently you’ve never punched someone’s head off before. That’s the sound that it makes. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/7 "2015-08-11T03:30:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You could stick your hand through someone’s torso with 4.13 times normal strength. I’m absolutely dreading to know how you know this. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/8 "2015-08-11T03:48:49Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’m absolutely dreading to know how you know this. Don’t fret, I made it up. We’re talking about super-powers here. Actually getting something hand sized through a person’s abdominal muscles is going to be really tough. Lions are alleged to be capable of tearing a man’s arm from the socket with a single swipe of it’s massive paw, so with that as a standard I think a human with some definition of 4.13 times his normal strength might be able to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/9 "2015-08-11T04:52:15Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > At least one of those pics (okay, I only bothered with the first two) is not physically possible. The spinal cord would not remain connected when you yank it vertically out from the torso. (Midnighter ripping a guy’s spine out.) > > That said, a nice x10 strength allotment would probably be enough to tear a skull off from the neck, or punch a fist through a torso. You certainly don’t need an x100 increased. > > (If you’re willing to be patient, a normal person could take a human head off: just keep twisting it around a few times, and somewhere along the way it would separate.) 10x what? You mean 10x the average strength of a human? What exactly does that sum up to in pounds? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/10 "2015-08-11T05:35:04Z")
I’m pretty sure this guy could penetrate \*into \*your flesh, whether he had the manual force to start tearing you apart is another matter. [Fastest time to pierce 4 coconuts with 1 FINGER! - Guinness World Records Classics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcHe1gGv2z4) A very strong person with very sharp and strong fingernails could also probably make a go of penetrating into your flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/11 "2015-08-12T21:52:43Z")
Why is that even a category? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/12 "2015-08-12T22:42:32Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > 10x what? > > You mean 10x the average strength of a human? > > What exactly does that sum up to in pounds? One of the problems is that the key characteristic isn’t lifting strength in pounds, but the almost concussive impact of “jerking” strength. Not even the amount of force, in Newtons, but a kind of derivative of that: how quickly can you apply the maximum force? However, I’m willing to be sloppy and just say 10x average lifting strength, and hope that “jerking” strength scales similarly. As an average bloke, I can break a typical piece of packaging twine with a really good yank. (Memo: wrap your hands in something protective, or you could get cut.) With “ten times” the strength, can I break a piece of cord of similar structure that has 10x the cross section? (Or just a bundle of ten pieces of twine?) I can tear the wing off a fried chicken. At 10x strength, why couldn’t I tear the arm of a fried human? (And how much difference does the frying make?) Sherlock Holmes famously plied a harpoon against a side of pork. Shall I start asking for crowdsourcing funding to perform similar experiments at a butcher’s shop with a 10x advantage block and tackle? (I am almost certain that, with a 10x block and tackle, I could pull a man’s arm out of its socket. But I’m really keen to find out for sure! Now, I have a little list…) ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/13 "2015-08-12T23:13:15Z")
How many horses does it take to rip someone apart? Two? Or do you need a team, with one rope per appendage? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/14 "2015-08-12T23:36:01Z")
[Traditionally four horses are used](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismemberment#Torn_apart_by_four_horses). It’s gotta be way cooler that way. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/15 "2015-08-13T00:39:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [Traditionally four horses are used](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismemberment#Torn_apart_by_four_horses). It’s gotta be way cooler that way. And therein lies our answer. We know that four horses can rip apart a person, which means one horse could rip off a single arm or leg. [One horse can outpull at least 50 men](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4frK_Og5Yc), so your basic superstrongman needs the strength of more than 50 puny humans to rip off an appendage. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/16 "2015-08-13T02:58:06Z")
One horse can not outpull fifty men! Anyone who believes that has never wrangled horses! Two men can control nearly any horse, and four men can haul one around by force. Fifty? Dude (term used with some specificity,) fifty men could pick the cayuse up bodily and carry him around. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/17 "2015-08-13T07:14:03Z")
Plus a horse pulling on your body through a rope is different than the blunt force trauma of punching. When a horse kicks you in the head it may bash your skull in, but your head doesn’t fly away or turn to mush. I think you’d have to replicate the forces from hitting the ground at terminal velocity or in a high speed automobile accident, but that’s over a wide area. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimm-amount-of-superhuman-strength-required-to-punch-through-and-tear-apart-normal-humans/727513/18 "2015-08-13T12:51:14Z")
I think this topic would be better suited for In My Humble Opinion, so I’m going to move it there.