Here’s What ‘Brolic’ Actually Means
There are all kinds of slang words used in the fitness community to describe physical appearance and progress, from "gains" to "swole". Another one which has less obvious origins is "brolic."
The word brolic is a term to describe somebody who has an extremely muscular physique, and is used in much the same way as other adjectives like buff or swole. The word is believed to have originated in the fandom of the popular anime Dragon Ball Z, and inspired by the character Broly, who was in turn named after the vegetable broccoli (a meal prep staple).
While the original "Base Form Broly" version of the character was lean in appearance, later iterations, such as the "Legendary Super Saiyan Broly," has huge, bulging muscles. In fact, Broly has one of the most famous oversized muscular bodies in all of mainstream animation.
However, an alternative definition of the word "brolic," according to The Online Slang Dictionary, is "a person who likes to fight" or "someone who can stand up for themselves." This meaning of the word seems to predate the usage of brolic as a descriptor for being muscular. For instance, on the 2001 diss track 'Ether', Nas raps that his rival Jay-Z is "tryna get brolic," or in other words, is starting trouble.
It's possible that this usage was then influenced by the Dragon Ball character Broly to include physical attributes. After all, in addition to being hench, he is also an antagonist in the franchise, and therefore brolic by nature as well as in appearance.
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