I was watching a Road Runner cartoon the other day, where Wile E. Coyote takes Leg Muscle Vitamins to help him catch the Road Runner, and suddenly I realized I never saw a proper list of cartoon characters with muscles. Well, since I’m sort of an expert on ripped cartoon characters I decided to accept my own challenge and conjure up the most elaborate list online of the top 30 muscular cartoon characters. To make this even more interesting, I will rank the characters from less muscular to most muscular. So, From Popeye to Jorgen Von Strangle, get ready for the posedown of buff cartoon characters of a lifetime!
30. Popeye from Popeye the Sailor Man Cartoons
I don’t know if spinach really helps with muscle growth, but Popeye the Sailor Man is an obvious pick for muscular cartoon characters. Even before he eats his spinach, he already possesses enormous forearms made all the more bulbous by his very thin upper arms and other body parts. However, after ingesting spinach his biceps gain oversized muscles, accompanied on occasion by an enlargement of his chest. At this point, he becomes seemingly unstoppable to his enemies. Still, I think Popeye’s forearms are way ripped in size and shape for his body, so he loses points on that one. If he will take my advice, he will skip arms for a few months and develop the rest of his body to match.
29. Stan Smith from American Dad
Continuing this list of muscular cartoon characters is American Dad, Stan Smith. I’m not saying Stan Smith is Mr. Olympia material, but he certainly has buff muscles. As a CIA agent, Stan keeps in shape and is considered very skilled in unarmed combat. He once even entered a bodybuilding competition, but that was just to beat his wife Francine who became a bodybuilder.
28. Benny Bulldog from the Tom & Jerry Show
Benny is a bully! He constantly bullies Tom and Jerry to the point they are turned into his servants. Benny is of course much bigger than Tom and Jerry but also seen to be stronger and bulkier than Spike, who used to be the “Top Dog” of the neighborhood before Benny. His arms/front legs are also much more muscular than Spike’s. Having said that, and despite his buff physique, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Benny is a true contender in this sort of “best bod” competition, as he lacks definition and is not shredded at all.
27. Beardy from Gravity Falls
Half bull and half man, Beardy is a Manotaur, which is a Minotaur, but extremely manly. Like the rest of his kind, Beardy lives in a cave in the town of Gravity Falls. His name is after his brown beard, and he is extremely muscular.
26. Alice from Superjail animated TV series
Unfortunately the only female on this list of ripped cartoon characters, Alice is the hulking muscular head prison guard of the jail who is transgender. Big Al is extremely strong and can break anything with her arms and legs. The only character who was able to beat Alice so far in the show is Hunter.
25. Alejandro from Total Drama Island
With his deep tan skin and a ripped defined muscle mass, Alejandro is to die for. Probably the most attractive male in the show ever, Alejandro’s good looks have been the downfall of many campers. He holds the record for the second-highest number of eliminations caused. Of course, he is not muscular enough to rank high on this list.
24. McBain from The Simpsons
A fictional action movie hero appearing in the McBain movies, Mcbain is a mix between Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, including the thick Austrian accent. As such, Mcbain is heavily equipped with cartoon muscles and is extremely strong.
23. Mighty Mouse from Mighty Mouse Playhouse Cartoon
Like many other buff cartoon superheroes, especially ones made as parodies of Superman, Mighty Mouse has super strength, invulnerability, and Flight. However, unlike most superheroes, he doesn’t have a logo on his chest or cape. Mighty Mouse is extremely ripped He punched a crocodile so hard it turned into a bunch of suitcases, lifted buildings and threw plains, and did all that stuff with ease. As you can see, Mighty Mouse has good biceps, a chest, and a great V-Taper. However, since he’s always wearing his yellow bodysuit with red trunks, it is hard to tell how ripped he is. Anyway, since his legs are pretty regular-looking, he can’t place high on this list.
22. Joe from Family Guy
Joe Swanson is a paraplegic police officer with severe anger problems which often manifest in explosively violent outbursts at random times. Despite his condition, he has shown the ability to take on multiple enemies at once and even defeat a giant mutated rat. Joe is regularly depicted as an “alpha” male type, where he’s just naturally good at everything and a kind of a super cop. As you can see, Joe is pretty muscular.
21. Clean Gene from Rocko’s Modern Life
If you didn’t know there is such a thing as a Clean Gene, then you probably haven’t watched the tenth episode of the third season of Rocko’s Modern Life. In short, after an embarrassing incident involving spinach in his teeth, Rocko has a dream about personal hygiene, where he meets Clean Gene the Hygiene Genie. The Gene, who looks like an ape, is obsessed with hygiene and tried to re-educate Rocko about hygiene. Being a gene, the Clean Gene is muscular and has a very developed upper body.
20. Powdered Toast Man from Ren & Stimpy
A superhero and presenter for the Powdered Toast product, Powdered Toast Man possesses various traditional superpowers, like super-strength and flying. He can also launch himself from a toaster, which I find weird. Despite his busy schedule, PTM finds time to work out. I mean, from chest to cartoon abs to quads to calves, this guy is set.
19. Sgt. Slaughter from G.I. Joe
Sgt. Slaughter’s character is based on the real-world persona of wrestler Robert Rudolph Remus, known as Sgt. Slaughter. As such, Sgt. Slaughter is the most stacked out of all the Joes – which is a compliment, because every Joe, man or woman, works out daily. Sarge is a muscular cartoon character with big arms. Although he is one of the toughest guys on this list, he lacks the definition and mass required to make it into the top 15 on this list.
18. Johnny Bravo from Johnny Bravo Animated TV series
According to Johnny himself, he used to be a bag of bones before started working out. Using the Flex Big Arms workout kit, it took him only six weeks to become the giant burger with extra beef we all know and love. If only it were that easy in the real world! Johnny has a fantastically developed upper body that makes him look great in his Polo shirt. Unfortunately, he seemed very concerned with having muscular shoulders and biceps and forgot the important aspect of the equation – which is the legs! Because of this, he can’t get very far on this list, but he’s still one of the most muscular cartoon characters ever shown and always looks good.
17. Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles
You can’t get much brawnier than Bob Parr! Bob is an exceptionally muscular man with a broad chest, shoulders, arms, and legs. Obviously, in his twenties, when he was more slim-waisted, he could have made it higher on this list, but now in his forties, he became somewhat obese with a large gut, which seriously harms his ranking.
16. Genie from Aladdin Disney Film
As a genie of the lamp, Genie is a bald wish-granter who is himself granted phenomenal cosmic powers. It is hinted he is the most powerful being in the universe. Accordingly, he is barrel-chested and has tremendous arms. I’m not going to address his leg muscles, because he is seen mostly with his lower half as smoke.
15. SpongeBob from SpongeBob SquarePants
There have been a few times that SpongeBob got muscular. And I’m not talking about the episode where orders fake arms with inflatable muscles to impress Sandy! No, on some occasions our favorite sponge actually hit the gym and became one of the most spectacularly buff cartoon characters ever. Of course, the fact that his arms usually look like extra thin spaghetti seriously hurt his rank on my list.
14. Sanjay and Craig from Sanjay and Craig
In the Muscle C.O.P.S episode, Sanjay and Craig want to join a very weird police squad called Muscle C.O.P.S- which stands for Cops Opposed to Proportional Strength! For that, they go to Muscle Lake, a place where the squad trains, and meet their fellow officers. Sanjay grows giant calf muscles and Craig develops amazing cartoon abs. They join the police force, but do they have what it takes? Since their “muscle condition” only lasted one episode, they only get the 14th spot on this list.
13. Bupkus from Space Jam 1996 Film
One of the fearful aliens in the film, Bupkus is the buff purple cartoon monster. Bupkus, who stole Larry Johnson’s talent, is a very cocky alien who takes pleasure in hurting the Looney Tunes. He is a dangerous individual with huge bulging shoulders and matching gigantic arms.
12. Tarzan from The Legend of Tarzan TV series
They say the Tarzan animators used a professor of anatomy to help show them how to depict a ripped man at the peak of his physical prowess. The result is Tarzan’s magnificent physique. In the “Tarzan and the Return of La” episode, we get to see Tarzan buffing up his chest and flexing his awesome ripped bicep. As you can see, he looks great in this pose! However, judging by this photo, Tarzan is around 170 pounds which will make him a light-heavyweight and I have much bigger guys on this list. So, Tarzan only gets the respectable 12th spot.
11. Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. TV Series
The ultra-violent secret agent Brock Samson is known for his muscular physique. True, at the beginning of Season four, after quitting his job, Brock’s body fell horribly out of shape, resulting in a potbelly, but later he regained his fit build. Aka “Walking Swedish Murder Machine”, Brock is built like a tank and can endure physical punishment like one. However, like so many on my current list, he falls short in the legs department. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Never skip leg day!
10. Hercules from Hercules 1997 Disney Film
By the looks of it, Hercules must be using the Arnold Schwarzenegger bicep routine! Of course, being a Demigod, Hercules’ muscle mass isn’t a good indicator of his raw strength – meaning, his muscle bulk is fairly poor compared to what his body is capable of physically reaching. Hercules must have been trained in bench-pressing heavy boulders or dragging large ships up and down beaches. Whatever he did – it worked, and he has a place in my top 10.
9. Pecs from Pink Panther
Pecs is the leader of the superhero team 7 Manly Men. Like the rest of the members of the team, Pecs is the uncle of Touty, a small girl who is disappointed in the toy surprise in a box of “Bongo Smacks” cereal. Together with his teammates, Uncle Pecs confronts the company’s owner to get a replacement for their beloved niece. As you can see, Pecs is packed with muscles on muscles. He does have tiny legs, though, which will impair his ranking.
8. Rick and Summer from Rick and Morty Animated Series
In the Rick and Morty episode “Something Ricked This Way Comes”, Rick and Summer get jacked to beat up the devil. They lift weights and do whatever it takes to become incredibly muscular. They then proceed to beat up other people who do bad things. In these versions, Rick and Summer have ripped and proportional cartoon muscles with a low percentage of fat that entitles them to be in the top ten of this list.
7. Major Man from PowerPuff Girls
What a phony. Major Man is a superhero who set up all the disasters he allegedly prevented! Luckily, the PowerPuff Girls witnessed his vicious act and made him confess everything. Major Man was last seen leaving town, humiliated. He is muscular, though.
6 Jorgen Von Strangle from Fairly Oddparents
Jorgen has a very buff body with giant bulging muscles that are accentuated by his naturally tanned complexion. He likes showing off his large muscles and one time even suffocated Binky with his enormous pecs. Jorgen is the strongest fairy in Fairy World and probably in existence. However, Jorgen is not that ripped, so I’m going to give him the sixth spot and look for even more muscular cartoon characters.
5. Superman from Superman/Batman Public Enemies Animated Film
In this animated film, where Superman and Batman join forces to take down U.S. president Lex Luthor, Superman exhibits huge muscles and tremendous cartoon abs. I mean, when I first saw the film I thought the animators went a little crazy with those abs, but then I rushed to the gym for an intense abs workout.
4. Arnold the Pit Bull from Tiny Toon Adventures
I already had a Bulldog on this list, so why not a Pit Bull? A regular reader of the Bodybuilder Bible, Arnold is just bursting with muscles. Seriously, if he was more of a major character in the show, he might have been the top dog on this list. As you can probably guess, Arnold is loosely based on bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger and speaks similarly to him as well. With his usual sunglasses, he sometimes looks like the Terminator.
3. He-Man from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man is the most powerful man in the universe and has the muscles to prove it. The original 1981 He-Man toy was conceived to make other boys’ toys look “wimpy” and thus was created massively muscular. He-Man remained brawny ever since, with big shoulders and highly developed cartoon abs. In a way, he has the perfect body and was probably designed that way. However, it seems that Mattel Toys tried not to make him TOO muscular, so there are still some cartoon characters with muscles who can defeat him.
2. The Tick from The Tick 1994 Animated Series
The superhero assigned by the National Super Institute to protect The City, The Tick is an extremely ripped and durable individual. Muscle-wise, The Tick is the total package! Not only is he absurdly buff in his upper body, but also has extremely muscular legs that give him his enhanced jumping.
1. Hulk from The Incredible Hulk 1982 TV Series
Hulk is crazy jacked! I don’t know if it was the bodybuilder’s Lou Ferrigno effect from the 1977-1981 live-action TV series, but the muscles on Hulk in the 1982 cartoon were INCREDIBLE. Hulk was always the top jacked character in fiction, so why would they change that in the cartoon? So, in conclusion, Hulk is not only the “strongest there is”, but also the most muscular cartoon character.
