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Obviously a giant would have to be more than just a large man. He would need much thicker and stronger bones than a human otherwise he would break bones regularly. And he would have to be stronger than humans so as to hold up his body.

My question is how much stronger would the giant's muscles and bones need to be in order to support his own weight and preform complex tasks?

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One way for a giant to support its weight would be if its "bones" were made of a much stronger material such as carbon nanotubes for instance. Also if the muscles had carbon fiber in them that could help make them stronger.

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Take a look at Gigantopithecus. That is how a 3-meter giant nearly homonid ape would look.

Any larger than that, you run into design issues. Try to make it work, and you end up with an elephant instead. But, you are tagged rather than science-based, so really anything goes and there is no need to figure out what it would "really" be like.

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  • $\begingroup$ If the OP wants a dose of realism in his story, he should keep in mind that a brute this size would have severe health issues, and probably not live that long. Even blue whales develop severe issues related to their size, and their weight is largely supported by water. $\endgroup$
    – AndreiROM
    May 24, 2016 at 13:25
  • $\begingroup$ @AndreiROM From an evolutionary standpoint, however, you don't really need to live longer than to rear your young to reproductive age. Strictly speaking, growing older than that just leads to a drain on resources that could better support your (reproductive) offspring than your (non-reproductive) self. $\endgroup$
    – user
    May 24, 2016 at 15:13
  • $\begingroup$ The tags indicate that he doesn't want realism. Magic, not reality-check or science-based. $\endgroup$
    – JDługosz
    May 24, 2016 at 17:47

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