Strength of various humanoids

[Jedi Master Spock]

I've been thinking about strength and biomechanics lately.

Adult male human, athletic
Height: 1.75m
Mass: 75 kg
Strength: 1x athletic human
Top speed: 40 kph
Details: An "athletic human" benchmark here refers to a genetically normal human of typical size who has been subsequently trained to competitive levels in all manner of athletic capabilities. Thus, our benchmark here is a competitive powerlifter, decathlete, triathlete, martial artist at the amateur level, and within the top percentile of physical fitness of normal humanity. He is several times as strong as the average human adult male of similar size, and is stronger than many adult males twice his weight.

Adult male chimpanzee, typical
Height: 1m
Mass: 50 kg
Strength: 2x athletic human
Top speed: 40 kph
References: A chimpanzee has roughly 3 times the strength/weight ratio of an athletic human. With an adult male chimpanzee being about 2/3 the size of our benchmark athlete, he will be about twice as strong. Chimpanzees have long and thick arms for their size, and they are reportedly capable of tearing limbs off of humans. Their muscle tissue is intrinsically superior to humans' muscle tissue. A typical adult male chimpanzee is as strong as an Olympic weight lifter, has thick bones and skull, and a powerful bite, making them dangerous in unarmed combat. They frequently bite off parts of opponents. Favored targets reportedly include noses, genitals, and fingers. However, they exhibit limited capacity to use even the simplest of weapons, and are poor runners; while capable of short bursts of speed, an athletic human can match their sprinting speed and leave them well behind.

John Carter on Barsoom
Height: 1.9m
Mass: Est 90-100 kg
Strength: 5-10x athletic human
Top speed: Unk.
References: See here. Carter's leaping feats show that he is superhumanly strong; a contemporary Olympic athlete on Mars would have difficulty covering one fifth of his standing long jump distance in Martian gravity. Carter is also unaging and immortal, and claims to be a stellar swordsman, although some of this "skill" may be due to his sheer muscular capabilities. It is not clear whether or not Carter has similarly obscene levels of strength on Earth; however, his narration claims rather outstanding heroic feats. He also has psychic powers, with he himself being too strong-willed to be influenced by any lesser psyker. Hm... immortal soldier, mighty lord, super strength, immense psychic strength... Mr. Carter, what do you have on your schedule for the next 40,000 years? And do you mind if we turn you into a navigational beacon?

Wookiee, typical
Height: 2.1m
Mass: Est 120 kg
Strength: 2-3x athletic human
Top speed: Unk
References: Wookieepedia gives 2.1m as the average height of a Wookiee. It may be worth noting that the height of Peter Mayhew is listed as being 2.2m at the time of shooting ANH. The primary method of estimating Wookiee strength has relied on the line in ANH about Wookiees having been known to pull arms out of sockets - something which people commonly describe chimpanzees as prone to. It might be worth noting that not all SW sentient species (and certainly not all protocol droids) have equally well attached arms; being stronger than most powerlifters is probably sufficient to make dire rumors about de-arming opponents credible, but we see no signs of significantly greater strength at any point, and due to the small cross-section of Wookiee limbs, they need muscle efficiency comparable to or even superior to a chimpanzee in order to be able to exert similar total force in a straight pull. The particularly long limbs of Wookiees may give them exceptionally good leverage, and their strength may in fact be primarily concentrated in their upper body.

Human, Space Marine
Height: 2.1-2.4m
Mass: Est 350 kg.
Strength: 3.6x athletic human
Top speed: 40 kph (unk in armor)
References: In video game cutscenes and novels, space marines can rarely be quantified to match top human sprinters in speed, although they may sometimes seem to do so while wearing a significant amount of kit. In spite of frequent references to higher SM speeds on forums such as SB.com, these hyperbolic speeds tend not to be actually exhibited. Rarely, and occasionally, Space Marines appear to reach speeds of up to 35-40 kph (possibly while carrying some amount of gear); there are oft-cited (but rarely backed-up) higher speed figures of 55-60 kph. The mass is taken from this unofficial estimate based on a 3-D model that is based on the official GW Space Marine template and an assumed height of 2.3m. A mass of 350 kg and a height of 2.3m would, with a similar percentage of body mass in muscle and a skeletal build capable of taking full advantage of that muscle mass, would mean an average of 3.6x as much muscle per unit cross-section. Importantly, Space Marines have built-in body armor of sorts, rendering them difficult to kill.

Human, Elemental
Height: 2.4-2.7m
Mass: Est 280 kg
Strength: 2.5x athletic human
Top speed: 32 kph (in armor) unk out of armor
References: Images show that Elementals are approximately human-proportionate. Average estimated mass is based on normal human proportions scaled to appropriate height. Their biology is not as exotic as Space Marines, with normal human muscle tissue, and BT materials indicate a top speed on a level with a normal human rather than a top-level Olympic sprinter while in powered battle armor. Estimating their strength based on cross-sectional area of muscles gives them 2-2.5x the strength of a comparably athletic but normally sized human.

Abhuman, Ogryn
Height: 2.5-3m
Mass: Est 500 kg
Strength: 8-12x athletic human
Top speed: Unk.
References: Ogryn appear to be heftily built, with a combination of fat and muscle, similar to human powerlifters. They are designed for great strength. The commonly cited feat for the great strength of Ogryn is pulling a wrecked Chimera out of a ditch and dragging it 20 yards. The Chimera's listed weight is 38 tons. Interestingly, humans have pulled heavier objects, albeit mostly humans about twice the size of our benchmark, the standard athletic human, and with wheels on concrete rather than tracks on mud, a factor which increases the difficulty by one order of magnitude. Thus, pulling the Chimera on its treads through a muddy battlefield is like pulling a 380 ton vehicle on concrete - 3.8x as impressive as this pull, and 5.4 times as impressive as the competition 70-ton plane pull above. Our athletic human benchmark is slightly less than half the size of the heavyweights competing in these events and about half the overall strength, and so we arrive at the strength range listed above. Ogryn appear to have muscle efficiencies more similar to apes than humans - unsurprising given their evolutionary regression.

Navi
Height: 3m
Mass: Est 225-300 kg.
Strength: 5-8x
Top speed: Est 60-80 kph
References: See the thread here. The Navi's mass is estimated from their size and very lean proportions. Their strength is a natural consequence of their scaled-up and enhanced agility. The lower end of this range has been extended by one multiple to accommodate the official gravity level of Pandora; however, it is fairly certain Navi are at least five times as strong as an athletic human by a documentarian approach, with the film contradicting the "official fact" of four times as strong as an average human. A figure of four times the strength per cross-sectional unit area or four times the strength/weight ratio, both common methods for strength comparison, might be made to fit. Navi are fairly tough for their size, and have excellent aim.

Green Barsoomian, adult male, champion
Height: 4.5m
Mass: 180 kg
Strength: 5-10x athletic human
Top speed: Unk
References: From this review we can see that green warriors have similar brute strength to John Carter. John Carter being superhumanly strong, this means that the green men themselves are not pushovers. Heights vary from 3.6-4.8m (females 3-3.6m), with the height and weight above being the description of Tars Tarkas - either John Carter is terrible at estimating heights and weights, or the green men of Mars are exceptionally slender beings, moreso than most humans. With four arms, exceptional vision, and exceptional coordination, the green Martians are known to use spears up to 12m in length as lances, and are generally exceptionally skilled with both swordsmanship and marksmanship.

[Mike DiCenso]

What, no Klingons, Vulcans, Hirogen, Predators, Jaffa, or Augments?
-Mike

[Jedi Master Spock]

What, no Klingons, Vulcans, Hirogen, Predators, Jaffa, or Augments?
-Mike

If you like, you can take a swing at them in the same format.