10 Real Life Giants!

10 Real Life Giants! From the tallest people in the world to amazing heroes…stay tuned to number 1 to find out about 10 real life giants!

This top 10 brought to you by Zero2Hero!!

Number 10: The Potsdam Giants.
This may not be an individual giant, but it was a group of them per se. You see, the idea of having a large intimidating fight force is something many desire. But few took this as far as King Frederick The First did. The former ruler of the nation of Prussia once had the idea to create the largest unit ever conceived for war. Not in terms of numbers, mind you, but in literal size. He wanted a unit of giants, and he did all he could to make that happen.
Called the Potsdam Giants, King Frederick did indeed assemble a large group of very tall men. But he didn't stop with just the guys who were easily recruitable, when he found some he couldn't just recruit, he used his wits and money to get them on his side, making his unit even bigger. And he didn't want to stop, he wanted this unit to last for generations, literally, so he actually had his men mate with tall women in order to increase the odds of breeding another tall man.
Here's where things get a bit ironic. You see, the unit actually never made it to the field of combat...ever. In fact, many noted that King Frederick used them more as a morale booster, of sorts, rather than the grand fighting unit that they were supposed to be.
Sure enough, when King Frederick passed away, the unit was let go so more practical military units could be brought in.
Number 9: Fyodor Makhnov.
The year was 1878, when Fyodor Makhnov was born. And from an early age, people knew that something was very different about this kid. Mainly because he kept growing, and growing, and growing. In fact, by the time he was 14 he was already 6'7, which is already way above the average height for a human. Yet, he still wasn't done growing. By the time he had fully matured and grown, he was an astounding 8'2.
He was so tall that Fyodor Makhnov had to have clothes custom made for him, because the "standard" sizes just wouldn't work for him. As a career, he decided to join the circus, which makes sense when you think about it, for seeing a "giant" in Russia was not only worth the money, but a great story to tell.
On the genetics sides of things, Fyodor Makhnov was so tall that he was considered the "crown jewel" of many scientists. All of whom tried to get him to sign his body over to them when he passed away, so they could study how he got so tall. He refused all of them.
Thankfully for him, he did find happiness outside of work, he married a woman named Efrosinja Lebedeva, and had four children with her. Unfortunately, though, and likely due to his size, he passed away at the early age of 34.
Number 8: Yao Ming
Before we talk about this incredible story, take a moment to like this video and join the Zero2Hero community by using the buttons below!
When it comes to basketball, especially the NBA, you sometimes want a massively tall guy in the center position to protect the basketball and get the ball to your team. There have been many, MANY tall men in the game, but few were as tall as the legendary Yao Ming. A product of China, Yao Ming came to America to play with the Houston Rockets, and played for them his entire career. He was 7'7, and was remarkably good at basketball. He had won championships back home, in Shanghai, and so when he was made available to be drafted, the Houston Rockets took him as their first pick.
Despite what people believe, he wasn't the tallest player ever in the NBA, however, that being said, he was one of most popular. The idea of a giant coming from China was exciting for some reason, and so Yao got many endorsement deals and was one of the faces of the NBA during his career.
While he never did get that championship ring in the NBA, he did make quite an impact, and was selected to the All-NBA Team Five times, and was an NBA All-Star multiple times.
For the Rockets franchise, Yao Ming is their 6th leading scorer, 6th leading rebounder, and second in blocks.
Number 7: Adam Rainer
A more tragic story of a giant, Adam Rainer was honestly not born a giant, but rather, a dwarf. In fact, his major growth spurt didn't happen until he was 21 years old. Before then, he was only 4'6, and soon after turning 21 he grew to be 7'1 in no time flat. He actually had to have surgery to try and stop his growth, but it didn't work.
What's more, his body basically rejected his "giantness". So he slowly began to deteriorate, health wise. His spine was curved, he went blind in one eye, and deaf in one ear. He would eventually succumb to the injuries when he was 51.
Number 6: Yao Defen
What is interesting about giants, is that sometimes, it's genetics that make it happen. Other times, they have health issues that result in massive growth.

[ms.goodenergy]

Saturdays as a child, watching WWF and seeing Andre the Giant

[Viper-MotoVlogger]

I do remember the Andre the Giant when he wrestled in Montreal as Jean Ferre. I also remember seeing a very large and strong man in Montreal known as Grand Antonio.