Strength and Physical size in One Piece

[Hermie]

So, in OP, most people look pretty normal when it comes to size, like Luffy, Sanji and Zoro. Then there are those that look extra small/large just to make a point out of it, or for the comical aspect, like the chest guy at the beginning which I never remember the name of, and Mr. 4.

But, we have been seeing more and more of people who have grown the boarders of the normal human body, while still retaining somewhat normal proportions. I'm thinking about people like Zeff, Blackbeard & crew and of course Whitebeard, who's just insanely huge. Mihawk looked above average large too, and it looks like Shanks and his officers have gotten bigger as well, though you can't really tell by the little we saw.

So, why are they so damn big? were they born that way? Is it just an exageration on Oda's part? Or doesn't your growth stop in the OP world as long as you get stronger? If so, why haven't the straw-hats gotten bigger?

[raziu]

Whitebeard must be a half giant or something;p

And if they grew as they train then Zoro would probably be the biggest man in the world by now;)

[Shiron]

My thoughts:

Is it just an exageration on Oda's part?
I think it's this. After all, Oda exagerates how much blood Zoro has and such. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say that Oda does the same for the characters' sizes.

[Shishou]

Bigger characters look more intimidating.

And I think Luffy is actually pretty short.

[SeruraRenge]

Whitebeard must be a half giant or something;p
that WOULD make sense.

[Franckie]

There are races which are defined by their sizes such as the two giants rivals who battled each other for countless years and there's also a style of presentation that fits certain characters. One piece itslef has a very comical/cartoony/caricatured style. So I don't think it's a matter of relating their appearance to their strenght, but mainly for iconic presentation, which is great.

[kame-hame-ha]

training:
slow but safe; big mussels

fast and hard; small mussels, but ekstremly tight

[SloppyJoe]

Are you kidding?
Luffy and Zoro and sangi are teenagers and Zeff and the black beard are adults. That's the difference in size. In addition Chopper is bigger than shanks black beard and such.

[Shishou]

Wasn't Luffy like 18? And Zoro like 20?

[Chi]

I think human body grows till, like, 25 years..
So they still aren't full grown..
And we don't really know how tall they are.. Maybe they are 160 cm tall with normal proportions..
And other "BIG' guys, are like 190 cm, or somthn...

[Maffy the Love Doctor]

Wasn't Luffy like 18? And Zoro like 20?

Naw, Luffy's 17 and Zoro's 18.

[Shishou]

They have had to have been sailing for awhile now though.

[simple_be]

nami is always growing in that particular part...

whitebeard?yeah elbaf :|

but it's normal to luffy,zoro or sanji be like that..they are still young.

[Shishou]

I suppose it could be possible for people to be huge and not be giants or even part giant.

Cause Whitebeard really doesn't strike me as a giant. I mean he seems to be in bad health from Age. And a Giant lives for a shitload of a long time in comparison to other races.

[pakku]

We've been seeing a lot of weak huge guys crop up lately too (the Franky Family's "demolishers," Jerry, those giant executioners at Enies Lobby). Ridiculous size is just Oda's latest way of showing wackiness through character designs... plus, a lot of manga tend to use big villains to get the beat down from smaller heroes. The Japanese seem to have a real fetish for that whole underdog thing.

[jaks5555]

nami is always growing in that particular part...


hope it grows more lol.

yeah luffy is 17. i hope that they have some one piece birthday when it gets all mellow again (after all this weapon and goverment thing is put aside for a little while)

[Geese]

People like Whitebeard and Blackbeard dwarf other "adults" too.


http://groups.msn.com/OnePieceManga/onepiecechapter234.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4525


Sarquiis barely even reaches Van Auge's crotch. Sanji and Zoro are pretty normal in size and Luffy's just slightly shorter than average (he's about 5 foot 8). There's no way they're growing any taller (Sanji and Zoro are 19, so they've more or less reached their peak). I was also always under the impression that Shanks and Zeff were within reasonable size as well (Shanks looks like he's only areound 5 foot 10 if you ask me).

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Naw, Luffy's 17 and Zoro's 18.
Zoro's 19 actually. So is Sanji. Nami is 18, Usopp 17, Vivi 16 and Robin is 28. I think Chopper is in his teens, I can't remember his exact age.

It seems typical in anime/manga for the big guy to be someone who underestimates and loses to the regular sized people.

It'd be nice if Oda made a really scholarly, tactical fighter who was huge, its the kind of thing I can see him doing.

[Geese]

Chopper is 15.

It seems typical in anime/manga for the big guy to be someone who underestimates and loses to the regular sized people.

Not all big people are jobbers. Crocodile dwarfed Robin (she's a little over 6 feet tall) but was clearly one of the strongest, most intelligent characters in the series. Smoker and Mr. 1 aren't chumps either.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Chopper is 15.



Not all big people are jobbers. Crocodile dwarfed Robin (she's a little over 6 feet tall) but was clearly one of the strongest, most intelligent characters in the series. Smoker and Mr. 1 aren't chumps either.
Indeed, but they aren't giants. They're well built guys. I'm talking about the huge, huge guys who are tall and fat as well.