A common character build in Competitive Balance which emphasizes raw power at the cost of speed and evasion. Strong but slow.
As the name implies, the Mighty Glacier is one of the strongest people in the world. A single hit from a Mighty Glacier is about ten hits from anyone else. Mighty Glaciers also tend to carry weapons that would break anyone else's arms just to pick up, and can hold open doors that would break a lesser person's fingers off when they slammed shut.
The catch is this: they're slow. Reeeeeeaaaaalllly slow. They would need rocket skates to be described as "inching along". Some games mitigate the Mighty Glacier's slowness by providing support units which can carry it around more quickly than it can move on its own. They tend to be uncommon as main characters in Platform Games, due to agility being a pivotal element of that genre.
A greater muscle mass (to a point) theoretically provides speed but the Mighty Glacier tends to use the heaviest equipment possible, sacrificing any speed for the pure crushing power that only he can achieve. Too much muscle can hinder speed and endurance to a degree, as some deconstructions of Mighty Glacier characters show.note
They tend to play as Difficult, but Awesome in video games, requiring intimate knowledge of their move-set in order to consistently land powerful blows. However, some games punish this build when landing more hits than the enemy over time is easier and just as effective as strong individual hits. Racing games tend to have a variant where the heavier vehicles have slow acceleration and turning, but once they get moving their powerful engines allow them to go really fast. They also tend to be able to knock lighter vehicles around. In fighting games, they are typically grapplers or defensive power hitters, and bulky zoners who hit much harder and are more durable than traditional zoners at the cost of speed and versatility are also common. In MOBAs, the few who aren't tanks or supports are typically either bulky mages with melee autoattacks, or melee casters who rely on skills rather than autoattacks.
Compare Glass Cannon, which sacrifices resilience (as opposed to speed) for the ability to deal massive damage. Also compare Gathering Steam, where the character may be reasonably fast once they get going, but has a delay in reaching that stage. Contrast the Lightning Bruiser, who is strong, and fast. Also contrast the Stone Wall, who sacrifices offensive strength for superior defensive ability. See Glacier Waif for when a Mighty Glacier is of average or below-average size, and Anchored Attack Stance for when a character becomes a Mighty Glacier to use certain attacks.
See also: Necessary Drawback, PVP Balanced, and Character Roster Global Warming, which they are frequent victims of because it appears to be harder to be "creative" with strong-and-slow characters.
Should not be confused with the pro wrestler Glacier, who, despite his name, is not this trope.
