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Gaming's most absurdly oversized limbs

Suck it, average human proportions and non-disgusting muscles!

Words: Tyler Wilde, GamesRadar US

Abnormally sized limbs that are sort of funny to look at: a premise that only minutes of arduous brainstorming could have birthed. Can I actually fashion a coherent article with a subject weaker than the plot of a Family Matters episode? Carl Winslow would believe in me, and it isn’t as if it hasn’t worked for us in the past. Enjoy, and be sure to come back next week for “100 slices of bacon that look like Mario.” Just kidding, that idea is ridiculous. Bacon looks like Sonic, not Mario. On with the daftness!


When considering commonalities amongst people of African descent, do you think to yourself, “Hmm, dark skin and… giant arms. Huge, giant, bulging, unnaturally massive arms”? Probably not, but apparently game designers do. I'm not the only one who has noticed this… right? Granted, it’s totally possible to have muscles as large as these in reality, it’s just really grotesque.


Above: “Can't stop the Train, baby! No really, I actually stuffed a commuter train under my arm skin. It’s infected. I’m dying.”


Above: 50 Cent as he appears in Blood on the Sand, and the real 50 Cent, whose arms aren’t filled with silly putty


Above: Balrog’s arms are a bit less absurd than the others, but still, you could build a gym for slightly smaller bodybuilders on his shoulders, and he wouldn’t even notice

I'm not implying that every oversized game bicep belongs to a black character - it just seems like a thing. Men and women of all races and nationalities have been cursed with muscles that grow like malignant tumors. If you're looking for the absolute most absurd arms, however, they're generally attached to things that aren't even alive.


Above: Now these are arms – that bloody, necrotic bulge on his right limb is bigger than both of Cole's puny noodles combined


Early 3D arms generally look like overstuffed sausage links. They also have a tendency to arc out from the torso like Slinkys, making it appear as if every character is trying to scare a mountain lion away by "looking bigger" than it.


Above: Mega Man doing his best impression of the letter ‘M’


Above: “Just look at me – there’s a giant black slug on my eyeball and my arms are made of children’s pool floaties – what the hell guys?”


Above: “Okay, okay, so our arms are made of straightened coat hangers and rolled up socks. That’s really weird, but we’ve just gotta get past it and come up with a plan.”


 
62 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
xFnKxTaLeNtx  - 8 months 29 days ago 
First! good feature.
liuya1217  - 8 months 29 days ago 
second, gotta love chun-li's thunder thighs.
zer0hvk  - 8 months 29 days ago 
great article, wtf's up with Indiana Jones' arms???
Poor guy
lucashintz  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Suprisingly good article! Didnt think you could pull it off.
Tasty_Pasta  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Nice. I never noticed the ridiculousness of Lara Croft's legs. Oh, and nice new profile pic Tyler.
EYE8URBRAINS  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Mmm, Thighs...
Corsair89  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Chun Li's tree trunk sized thighs are fantastic. I'd imagine that getting hit in the face with a Spinning Bird Kick would be the equivalent of getting hit by helicopter blades.
nguy123  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Great article. Surprised nothing from super smash bros got in here-notice how whenever you smash attack your limbs get like 40 times their normal size?

Recaptcha-Shrimp gunning
Thequestion 121  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Megaman's arms did look like springs!!
MajorMedic  - 8 months 29 days ago 
You should include the Xbox 360 Avatars in the "Bulbous Hands" category. No seriously, their hands are bigger than their heads.
Jax  - 8 months 29 days ago 
What about Mario? In some of his games(SSB comes to mind) when you attack you hands and feet inflate to about the size of his torso. I think that counts as abnormally oversized.
Unoriginal  - 8 months 29 days ago 
That Indy pic is hillarious, and I mean that in a "laughed untill my stomach hurts" kinda way.

Great Article.
aerobie  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Surprised that Ivy didn't make an appearance.
aerobie  - 8 months 29 days ago 
- Comment removed by Moderator
Reported
aerobie  - 8 months 29 days ago 
- Comment removed by Moderator
Reported
GamesRadarTylerWilde  - 8 months 29 days ago 
@Tasty_Pasta: Thanks, my fiancee kept saying I looked too mean in the other one, so I changed it.
animeman  - 8 months 29 days ago 
Sora also has huge ands in Kingdom Hearts 2 when he huged Kiari they covered her whol back.
animeman  - 8 months 29 days ago 
I ment hands not ands.
Pyro240  - 8 months 29 days ago 
I can safely say I've played that Megaman game before. It was horrible.
Tasty_Pasta  - 8 months 28 days ago 
@Tyler: Ha, yeah, you definitely looked pissed in that old pic.
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