Would you consider Gregor Cleganes somewhat physically realistic?

[Free Northman Reborn]

It is definitly possible, but incredibly rare for a human being to grow so big and still have normal proportions. I certainly doesn't stretch my willing suspension of disbelief though.

Take Angus MacAskill as an example. He stood 7 ft 9 in/236 cm and was thus just a little shorter than Gregor Cleganes 7 ft 11 in/241 cm. And like Clegane MacAskill had a normal mans proportions and incredible strenght. So yeah, Clegane might be freak, but there's no magic involved there.

The Angus Mcaskill story is amazing. I just read up on him on Wikipedia. If true, he was indeed the biggest "natural" man ever, in other words, not the result of a deformity like gigantism.

His feats of strength are amazing, and he seemed perfectly healthy at 7 foot 9 inches tall. And the added plus is that he lived relatively recently - in the middle 1800's, so the records are relatively good.

He indeed seems to be the real world equivalent of Gregor Clegane, although he had a much gentler disposition!

[TheDarkEye]

In our world maybe.

In medivel times? I really think its impossible.

[Wellington]

It would be highly unlikely that Gregor Clegane's physical description would be realistic. While there have definitely been people that have been 7'5''+ in height it is quite rare that they would be able to be as strong. There are many health risks with being that tall and building brute strength adds to those risks by adding unnecessary stress

[Maester2chainz]

I always thought his height was slightly exaggerated because of his reputation as a huge man. Just like Tyrion having a distorted reputation for being a dwarf

[Illyrio Mo'Parties]

I think wildling women who are taken by giants die from the size of the childbirth...

You're missing a step. Surely they'd die from the three foot cock stabbing them in the kidneys?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enumclaw_horse_sex_case

[Gnivil]

Can I just say this thread has reminded me that some of the fans (admittedly a small minority) expect GRRM to be an expert biologist, physicist, chemist, anthropologist, mathematician, cartographer, geographer, historian, and an anthropologist, all while being Shakespeare reincarnate all at the same time.

[Skythe1]

Can I just say this thread has reminded me that some of the fans (admittedly a small minority) expect GRRM to be an expert biologist, physicist, chemist, anthropologist, mathematician, cartographer, geographer, historian, and an anthropologist, all while being Shakespeare reincarnate all at the same time.

To be fair he does a decent job at all of them apart from the last one ;)

[SerArthurHeath]

It's pretty impossible, yep. And he should die from heart failure before the series even begins

[James Arryn]

Georghe Mureshan, Yao Ming, Shaquille O'Neal are close enough to make it barely plausible.

[SerArthurHeath]

Georghe Mureshan, Yao Ming, Shaquille O'Neal are close enough to make it barely plausible.

They aren't even close though. And they are top percentile. It's not feasible

[Twatbeards conspiracy]

The actor that played him in season 4 would be the closest living person I think. Although the gigantism genes have been around for thousands of years, so it is theoretically possible.

Hell all you have to do is look at Shaquille O'Neil when he came out of college to get a great idea as to how The Mountain is physically possible.

[James Arryn]

They aren't even close though. And they are top percentile. It's not feasible

They are close-ish. Yao was 7-6, and by the end his playing weight was around 350.

[SerArthurHeath]

6 inches difference at 7-6 is huge though

[James Arryn]

6 inches difference at 7-6 is huge though

But it's in the range. Also, he isn't 8 feet tall, he's just closer to 8 than 7, no?

[Driesel Snow]

The question is how reliable is a measurement in the books anyway. People say he is closer to 8 I believe, but did he let anyone measure him..maybe Qyburn did it in the dungeons

[oursisthefury69]

Dragons, giants, children of the forest, Others, wights, shadow babies, direwolves, skinchanging................. Physically realistic?

[Catastrophe]

I don't think it's impossible for a human to be born with Gregor's physique and strength. Extremely unlikely, but not impossible. Besides, even though Gregor was strong and athletic, he still suffered from health problems related to his size, judging by his constant headaches. In all likelihood, Gregor probably wouldn't have lived past 40, even if he hadn't gotten killed.

[TheBlackFlame]

There are two problems with this, one is biological and the other is mechanical. The biological part (giant's blood, if it is possible for a human like we know humans to reach this height and general build) i think we should ignore because it is a fantasy world. The other, more substantial problem, is if this kind of height and weight can be sustained by a humanesque structure of bones and muscles.

You can't just scale a human person into twice their size, by keeping the same analogies because all forces that apply to the body would be multiplied four times (squared). That's why a fly is of much leaner built, which would be impossible for an elephant, which has huge feet and is shorter.

8 feet tall is not that much of a difference with a normal human. If he had thicker feet and a broad built with big bones i think a Gregor would be possible, while still looking like a normal human. A giant would have to have a lot broader feet to be able to stand and he would be slower, like the ones presented in the show.

Btw there is the same problem with dragons that grow infinitely, without mentioning the problem of flight.

I have to disagree with you here at least as far as the growth of the dragons. There are several fish and reptile species that will grow, barring some illness or serious injury their entire lives. These species never become so large they can't function i.e.- fish can still swim just as well regardless of body weight. As they grow the muscle tissue becomes better able to support the additional weight. I'd imagine the same thing is true of bird species. The muscle part not the continuous growing part. Flight is a question of ratios not base weight a California Condor can fly up to 60 mph despite weighing almost 20 lbs. inversely a Homing Pigeon weights less than 2 lbs and can fly at about the same 60 mph, in fact its actually a little less think more like 52-55 mph. Granted we're discussing completely made up creatures so anything is possible I guess but I find GRRM actually bases many of his elements on actual scientific principles. For example, the Doom is described exactly like a massive caldera eruption and dragons not having arms is another example. There is not nor has there ever been a vertabrate with more than four legs barring mutational outliers in the history and prehistory of this planet. Hence wings and two legs in leu of four legs and wings. As I said we are discussing mythical creatures in a fantasy setting so I'm not sure how much traditional biology and physics really apply. However if we're basing our theory on actual biology I hate to tell you but you're demonstrably incorrect.

[Sullen]

He would be equivalent to the Greatjon in height, then. Add another half a foot on top of him, and you get Clegane.

Besides, that Great Khali doesn't look built like Stone Cold Steve Austin or the Rock. He looks kind of lopsided. I doubt he is very strong in proportion to his height, as the giant men of Westeros are depicted to be.

What's Khali's strength in comparison with Andre the Giant?

The guy was around 7ft4, closer to Gregor's height.

[I'll pay the iron price]

Gregor is a beefed up evil Andre the Giant