LAST EDITED ON 06-25-13 AT 12:11 PM (EST)I have a personal RL entry for a trope that is similar in nature, and was an experience that may ring a bell with some of you:
When I was in high school I had a friend named Frank. Frank was 6'-6"+, and 250+ non-fat lbs from 14 yo on. Frank had a baby face and a sweet disposition, and never imposed himself on anyone. Coaches tried to get him on the football team, but Frank was much too pacifistic to be any good at that in spite of his size.
He was Ferdinand. Perfectly willing to laze under a tree smelling daisys.
After high school we both worked in a heavy steel fabrication plant, he as a full time welder and me as a summer hire helper/grinder. He had a better job than I, so although we actually worked in the same fabrication area, we hung out with different groups and only occasionally got together at work.
And there was this guy, another welder, smallish in stature, that would taunt Frank every day and at every opportunity. Finally, during one of our twice daily 15 minute breaks Frank exploded. The taunts were apparently being laid on especially thick and Frank, red faced and as frightening as I ever saw him, hit the taunter one time and launched him over a work fixture (an impressive distance, both vertically and horizontally), rendering him bloody and unconscious. His hard hat and welding shield landed quite a distance away.
Frank was disciplined, but just about everyone who was there spoke up for him so all he got a hand slap (a week off, as I recall) . And the other fellow never showed up for work there again.
Looking back, I am relieved and surprised that murder didn’t happen, that would have been a supreme tragedy. Frank went on to be a career State Trooper, still the nicest guy you ever met.