Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, super strength, increased strength, or enhanced strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. (Nonfiction instances of temporary extraordinary strength is usually specifically considered hysterical strength.) It is the ability for a character to be stronger, tougher, more durable, and more physically powerful than humanly possible. Characters and deities with super strength have been found in many ancient mythologies and religions. Superhuman strength is a common feature across a wide range of media, such as novels, comic books, television, films, and video games.
Superhuman strength is used by several characters in fantasy and science fiction, with a variety of proposed mechanisms such as cyborg body parts or genetic modification and even telekinetic fields in science fiction, or divine or magical/supernatural sources in fantasy. A plethora of comic book superheroes and supervillains usually have a degree of super strength. The level of strength portrayed can vary greatly, from just outside the "normal" human range of the strongest weightlifters of a given size or muscle mass (e.g. unarmored Master Chief), to nearly or even unlimited (e.g. Hulk, Superman, Thor), and Goku.
Read more about Superhuman Strength: See Also
Famous quotes containing the words superhuman and/or strength:
“Woman ... cannot be content with health and agility: she must make exorbitant efforts to appear something that never could exist without a diligent perversion of nature. Is it too much to ask that women be spared the daily struggle for superhuman beauty in order to offer it to the caresses of a subhumanly ugly mate?”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“Here, with whitened hair, desires failing, strength ebbing out of him, with the sun gone down and with only the serenity and the calm warning of the evening star left to him, he drank to Life, to all it had been, to what it was, to what it would be. Hurrah!”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)