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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 6183817" data-attributes="member: 57383">The books describe John Carter as being faster than a Green Martian. Because he's an Earthman adapted for a higher gravity than Mars, Carter can run in leaps and bounds that outpace a Green Martian on foot.A White Ape, Thoat or other swift martian animal is likely faster than Carter, though.There's no mention in the books of Green Martians enjoying a reach advantage over Carter, despite being up to 15 feet tall. The best comparison of a Green Martian's fighting ability to John Carter's is this passage in Llana of Gathol:He drew his long-sword as he came toward me and I did likewise. Had there not been six of his fellows galloping up on their huge thoats I should not have worried greatly, for with a sword I am a match for any green Martian that was ever hatched. Even their great size gives them no advantage. Perhaps it handicaps them, for their movements are slow and ponderous by comparison with my earthly agility; and though they are twice my size, I am fully as strong as they. The muscles of earthly man have not contended with the force of gravity since the dawn of humanity for nothing. It has developed and hardened muscles; because every move we make is contested by gravity.This bit from A Princess of Mars is likely also relevant:While the Martians are immense, their bones are very large and they are muscled only in proportion to the gravitation which they must overcome. The result is that they are infinitely less agile and less powerful, in proportion to their weight, than an Earth man, and I doubt that were one of them suddenly to be transported to Earth he could lift his own weight from the ground; in fact, I am convinced that he could not do so. Raneth has already said he's using a Red Martian as his "standard humanoid" instead of a human.I'm guessing he'd use some high-Strength Monstrous Racial Package for an "Earthman".Agreed, I'd just make them Medium and handwave away the exaggerated height.Carter uses Green Martian equipment, including weapons and saddles, without any apparent difficulty throughout the books. Similarly, Green Martians use captured Red Martian weapons without problems.The only concession to their size differences I could find is that the Green Martian women had to adjust a Green Martian chief's harness to get it to fit Carter.I doubt Burroughs though through the full consequences of making the Tharks so tall. There's a passage in A Princess of Mars where Tar Tarkas puts his "intermediary arm" through Carter's arm and walks along arm-in-arm.Tars Tarkas is fifteen feet tall and he's walking arm-in-arm with a human - he must have really weird proportions for that to make any sort of sense.</blockquote>

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