Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group discussion

Is it me or is a lot of heroes written as large men? Wide shoulders, large hands, very muscular bodies. There so large that they take up a lot of space.

Some heroes are shy of being the Incredible Hulk.

And as for the heroine - well, she's very small compare to him.

I agree. Almost every hero I read about is over 6 feet and built like a mac truck. Most heroines (especially historical romances) are small, petite.

I wouldn't want to read about a hero who is only 5 feet-ish and a heroine who is 7 feet-ish but it would be nice for them to be closer in height that they fit together comfortably.

I've noticed the same thing but for me I kinda like it that way. I like the man to be tall and muscular, I don't know why but it makes the whole alpha male thing seem more realistic to me. When I see a small man,(under 5'8) behaving the same way I think " oh he's got small dog syndrom" lol. I know it's probably not right but I can't help it. I also like the heroines to be smaller. I read a book not to long a go where the h was tall, big boned, with large feet and hands and I just didn't like it. I kept picturing some large clumsy woman.
I only read fictional romance and I like to stay in romancelandia were I can have it my way.lol On the other hand if this is something that really bothers someone I could see how they would have a big probelm finding books that aren't written that way.

Definitely not you Arch. I cringe every time someone writes about the heroine being so small he can tuck her under his arm. What is she a football?

Noelle wrote: "I've noticed the same thing but for me I kinda like it that way. I like the man to be tall and muscular, I don't know why but it makes the whole alpha male thing seem more realistic to me. When I s..."

I can see where you are coming from and I agree to a degree that in romancelandia things like that should be that way. But sometimes I get an image of the woman coming up to the man's waist and it spoils the picture for me. Kind of a adult size with a child size thing (yuck!) Anyway, that's me. I like the image of the woman coming up to the man's shoulder at least.

It' funny you said that Pamela, my nieghbors are just as you discribed.lol He's sooo tall and she barly comes to just above his waist. I call them Stretch and Shorty. =)

I see it also and muscle bound men do nothing for me personally. My ex was like that and he was so vain and a total asshat that if I so much as looked at a cookie he was giving me grief. So that thought is always in the back of my mind while I'm reading those type of heroes.

I don't like petite heroines because I can't relate to them...frankly nothing on me is petite.

Othena, I'm not petite either. Well, I'm very short. 5ft1" tall. I have curves. I'm working on getting rid of some of my extra weight, but other than that, I like meat. I do work out though and that's why my heroine tends to workout.

Now as for the heroes. Pretty much all the ones that I have read about, tend to be over 6ft tall. I don't write tall, tall heroes. I might go as high as 6ft3" or 6ft5, but not taller.

Lol Akaria, it be something if a writer have the hero imagine the heroine being so tiny that she could be a foot ball. That would be messed up.

When a hero is too big, I think of steriods. I have seen the movie Marines with John Cena and he screamed steriods to me. He was big in that movie. I'm not a fan of his.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything. That's not my character.

If a man is too muscular, I think something will shrink, just like a woman body builder's chest shrink.

No big wall man for me.

Let me have the normal sizes men. In my opinion, the heroine doesn't have to be muscular. A firm body is good.

In these books I always imagine the heroes with bodies like Alexander Skarsgard or Joe Manganiello. Those guys are over six feet with plenty of muscles but don't look like they benchpress buses at the gym.

Ward's BDB guys often make me think of guys on steriods. She gets a little too descriptive of them with their XXXL shirts and size 14 shoes and I'm like "Stop ruining it! This dude doesn't sound hot anymore!"

lol, Akaria. The guy sounds like he's mutated.

I don't want the hero to be abnormally and freakishly large, but I must admit I like 'em big LOL

And because I am not petite, I like to pretend that I am, so I like the heroines tiny, too.

I've always wished someone could say I'm adorable, but I'm so not adorable.....I'm more....sturdy.

Arch
"If a man is too muscular, I think something will shrink, just like a woman body builder's chest shrink."
LOL, my mind went there too. ha

I totally agree with ya on the normal size hero. I don't like my space crowded and the thought of having a mack truck for a significant other ...NO thanks.

Akaria, I love the visual you put to my mind with the football analogy. I'm more round than long so I would have to be a basketball. :)

lol, Othena. It's true.

I have two sons, one is six two with size 15 shoes, but he is so well proportioned that he looks no different from the average person unless you've someone with whom to compare. The other is five ten with size 13 shoes, and he is built like a football player. He often holds warehouse or other physical jobs so he has built an impressive set of shoulder, chest, and arm muscles, yet he is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met.

It can be dangerous to generalize. I personally seldom pay much attention to the physical description of the characters in a book, a few chapters past it I've already forgotten what color their hair and eyes and skin are.

I'm much more interested in how they react to a joke, to a challenge, to a teary woman. I look for personality traits in my romance reading.

That said, I'm a sucker for biceps, especially on a cover image.

I've noticed that most of the heroes and heroines are written that way. I don't have a problem with it.

Arch wrote: "Is it me or is a lot of heroes written as large men? Wide shoulders, large hands, very muscular bodies. There so large that they take up a lot of space.

Some heroes are shy of being the Incredib..."

Mollie *scoutrmom* wrote: "I personally seldom pay much attention to the physical description of the characters in a book, a few chapters past it I've already forgotten what color their hair and eyes and skin are"

I agree with you on that, Mollie....I always picture them the way I want them, not how the author describes them.

I admit I prefer when the hero is tall. He doesn't have to be enormous, though. I don't really like the hero to be enormously big, because I don't like that type in real life. I like a hero who is brawny if he's a warrior and he's gotten that way through lifting heavy swords and wearing armor (medieval hero). But, I think it's unrealistic to have hero who is a businessman who has a Viking body, unless he spends hours at the gym, and then, It's like, don't have something else to do?

Long story short, I think the hero's body should fit his overall character. I don't think a hero needs to enormous for no good reason.

I get kind of sick of the 5 foot heroine with the 6'5" hero motif. I tend to try to do different kinds of heroines in the stories I write. I have to admit I probably wouldn't write a hero shorter than 5'9" because I just love tall guys. I've met some great guys who were shorter in real life, but since I'm tall for a woman and not skinny, I don't know I'd be attracted to a guy who is much smaller than me.

When it comes to the BDB guys, I always mentally slim them down because I don't like that wrestler, linebacker look that much.

Akaria wrote: "Definitely not you Arch. I cringe every time someone writes about the heroine being so small he can tuck her under his arm. What is she a football?"

LMBO!!! this had me cracking up laughing!!!

I agree a lot of great books do set the hero as this huge man's man. One really good exception to that is Jeanienne Frost's Night Huntress books. Bones isn't some massive wall of a man. But he definately is portayed as strong, smart and sexy.

yum Bones talk. ;)

haha, I know right?

I think he might be my new favorite, I really don't want Zsadist to be jealous but Bones just does something to me

I like a man big and tall - my logic being, who wants to be with a man with slimmer hips than yours?

That being said, he doesn't need to be Hulk but the hero dimension to me is a 'big man', large too.

I'll admit it's true for me in real life too. I'm 5'3, and petite (I wear my 7 year old son's T-shirts with room to spare in them). Hence the affinity for taller and bigger men. People call me and my hubby Tweety and Sylvester, though he's not that tall at 5'9 but he's a big man with a barrel chest and built like a rugbyman.
Maybe being small myself I don't find it strange to read small heroines with bigger men. :)

Zee, no, we don't want cartoon men. You the kind that's built at the top and skinny at the bottom.

I just think that some of these heroes are described as men that appears to be unreal. They are too big.

A lot of the times, they inside man doesn't even match the outside (cover) man.

Arch wrote: "...A lot of the times, they inside man doesn't even match the outside (cover) man."

That's a whole 'nother topic of discussion.

I like a guy with broad shoulders and slim hips like a greek god statue, in proportion. Not the cartoonish build some bodybuilders achieve.

I love Sam.

I picture Sam having a build like the famous statue of David in Rome by Michaelangelo, except a certain part of his anatomy would probably be larger.

Agree about the proportion thing!