2 Meters is considered "Giant" now?

[Valkerie]

It could also be that round numbers sound better than non round numbers. Two meters sounds col; two point seven three meters, not so cool.

[Kawauso]

Two metres -is- giant...I don't care what anyone says.

Especially when you add in that Astartes are super bulky on top of that.

Then, consider that it's rare anyone outside of a chapter's support staff sees them without armour.

I think it's very safe to call a power-armoured marine a 'giant of a man'. Basically a marine in armour would be about the size of Andre the Giant.

Yeah, it's possible that human beings can get that big without genetic modification, as per the above example - it's highly unusual, however, and even though some rare examples of humanity could in fact exceed the height or bulk of a marine, doesn't mean that a marine isn't 'giant'.

At the end of the day I guess it's all relative - but I have no problems viewing a breed of 2-metre (average) tall super-bulky super-humans as 'giant'.

[scadugenga]

Actually, "giant" is defined as having gigantism. You can be over 2m and not have gigantism.

Elsewise---don't make me grind your bones for my bread...

[Necron2.0]

I flatly refuse to call anyone a mere 8 inches taller than me a giant. Even in power armor, that's not going to be a giant. Power armor won't affect the Marine's height much, not unless he's wearing Elton John's "spank me" boots.

If you look at anyone who has ever been called a giant, such as Andre, Yao Ming, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal and the like, they start at seven foot at a minimum. For these, the word "giant" carries with it a high degree of hyperbole, usually because a promoter is attempting to make the athlete seem more imposing. Even as tall as these people may be, we're still talking about unaugmented human size. From what I've read, everything about a Space Marine screams MONSTROUS, so that when a description says they're giants, that's not hyperbole, that's literal fact. Seven foot tall would be a short Space Marine, therefore. Eight foot (~2.5 meters) would probably be an average marine's height.

See [url=http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/a/ae/SpaceMarineAnatomyPhilipGibbering.jpg]>>this<<[/url] for illustration.

[Danny CYanide]

I wouldn't consider 2 meters giant either, 2.5 at least. I picture Space Marines to be at least 7 feet tall.

[scadugenga]

I flatly refuse to call anyone a mere 8 inches taller than me a giant. Even in power armor, that's not going to be a giant. Power armor won't affect the Marine's height much, not unless he's wearing Elton John's "spank me" boots.

If you look at anyone who has ever been called a giant, such as Andre, Yao Ming, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal and the like, they start at seven foot at a minimum. For these, the word "giant" carries with it a high degree of hyperbole, usually because a promoter is attempting to make the athlete seem more imposing. Even as tall as these people may be, we're still talking about unaugmented human size. From what I've read, everything about a Space Marine screams MONSTROUS, so that when a description says they're giants, that's not hyperbole, that's literal fact. Seven foot tall would be a short Space Marine, therefore. Eight foot (~2.5 meters) would probably be an average marine's height.

See [url=http://images.wikia.com/warhammer40k/images/a/ae/SpaceMarineAnatomyPhilipGibbering.jpg]>>this<<[/url] for illustration.

Your link is a bit...subjective.

For example, your average NBA player is not 7'6" weighing in at 350lbs....

A credible source, [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball#Height[/url] , shows that the average NBA player is 6'7" tall, and weighs in around 222lbs.

In fact, the tallest NBA player,Gheorghe Mureşan, at 7'7" weighed 315 lbs.

So, I"m sorry...but your link's illustration is just one person's POV, not necessarily even close to accurate.

Jes Goodwin's sketch says it all--7' tall. (given that the sketch starts at 1' and ends at 8'. And I don't care what genetic enhancements you have--at 7'6" 768lbs is wildly out of whack. Even Heavyweight MMA fighters (who don't carry around a lot of flab) are in the 265lb range after cutting, (UFC) and probably in the low 300's walking around. And if you've ever seen a fighter in person, you'll know they are frickin' huge.

According to the original RT book--Ogryns are 2.5-3 meters in height. Something tells me that Ogryns are taller than Space Marines.

I wouldn't consider 2 meters giant either, 2.5 at least. I picture Space Marines to be at least 7 feet tall.

7' is only 2.13 meters.

[Necron2.0]

I agree that what the image shows as an average height for an NBA player is subjective, even though many NBA players are over 7' tall. That wasn't the point, however. The point is 6'7" tall is NOT a giant, and nobody has been able to say otherwise. If a space marine is merely 6'7" tall, I don't care how much he weighs, he's not a giant. Period. He may be a brick wall, but a brick wall does not a tower make.

Either they stop referring to Space Marines as giants, or they admit Space Marines are over 2 meters tall ... simply put, it can only be one or the other.

[Deadlift]

I think the new space marine game is a good visual example of how a space marine should look. The cut scenes showing the interaction between marine and guardsman shows just how big these boys would be.

[eldargal]

I still think looking at the average height of the populace is better, basketball players by necessity are an extreme. Marines could be a foot Ior 14-15 inches going by Mr Goodwins sketch) or so taller than the average today and much wider and muscled even out of power armour.

[Denzark]

This is all a bit subjective, n'est pas?

2m is a big man, as is 7'. I have always understood giant to imply not just tall but bulk, mass, girth - a 7' SM would be rather large and imposing.

People have mentioned 'average' humans. This is probably a misnomer in an Empire of 1m worlds. No one has taken into account gravity, the effects of interstellar travel, differing nutrition levels, Imperial rejuvenat treatments a la Eisenhorn, gene-fixed Imp Guard regiments etc.

Basically, all you need to know is your common or garden SM is a big-arsed b*stard who probably stands around 8' tall in power armour and is probably worth around 10 conventional troops (whatever that is...).