It's an old stereotype that physical strength and high intelligence are mutually exclusive. Supposedly, you can't be a strong-bodied combatant without being a little clueless, and you can't be a certified genius without being weaker than your morning coffee. However, neither of these is true, both in real life and especially in the realm of gaming.
Certain video game characters possess both formidable strength, either hidden or obviously indicated by impressive physiques, as well as powerful, analytical minds with deep knowledge in either general topics or certain specialties. These double threats will bury you in the ground before giving you a TED talk on how they were able to do it.
10 Iron Tager - Blazblue Series
Tager's gigantic size, combat skill, and distinctive appearance earned him the nickname of "Red Demon," and most folk who meet him for the first time are terrified of him. As the first and foremost subordinate to Professor Kokonoe Mercury of Blazblue's Sector Seven, he's definitely not someone you want bearing down on you.
Beneath his demonic guise, though, is a calm and polite gentleman with an intellect only outclassed by Kokonoe herself. He is well-versed in various kinds of technology and magic (he kind of has to be, considering how much makes up his body), and in his downtime he enjoys reading mystery novels. He also has a strong sense of combat intuition, knowing the best times to engage with an enemy and the best times to make a tactical retreat.
9 Nekomaru Nidai - Danganronpa 2
Given his intense appearance and boisterous attitude, it'd be easy to write Danganronpa's Nekomaru off as a brainless brute. Indeed, in terms of typical booksmarts, he's a bit lacking. However, he didn't become the Ultimate Team Manager just by being tough; Nekomaru is extremely knowledgeable about the human body, as well as the best practices to maintain it.
Nekomaru was confined to a hospital bed due to a heart defect for most of his childhood, but when he met a team manager who gave his all in spite of a similar condition, he was inspired to carry on his dream. Nekomaru is a wellspring of health advice, including tips to keep your body regular and various pressure points. He's also a skilled massage therapist, whose talent for relieving stress is almost unrivalled.
8 Fawkes - Fallout 3
Generally speaking, the vast majority of the Super Mutants that roam the wasteland in Fallout 3 aren't especially smart. They don't really have any need of intelligence, since their brute strength and warlike tendencies can solve most problems for them. However, there are exceptions to this, and one of the most prominent is Fawkes.
After being locked in an isolated cell with nothing to do but read and learn for years on end, Fawkes became a surprisingly intelligent — not to mention philosophical — individual. While he can smash and blast things as well as any Super Mutant, he also relishes the opportunity to learn new things, and will pick the path of peace should it present itself. When he's not in your party, he spends his time studying the exhibits at the derelict Museum of History, for no other reason than genuine interest.
7 Cid Highwind - Final Fantasy 7
If you encountered Cid out of his element, you'd probably write him off as a scraggly old guy with a hot temper and a rude mouth. He definitely is that, but he is also one of Cloud's most valuable party members in Final Fantasy 7 due to both his mind and his muscle. Cid boasts surprising strength and skill with a spear, not to mention powerful legs that let him leap to extraordinary heights.
What Cid is really known for, though, is his unparalleled aeronautics knowledge. He designed and constructed his namesake airship, the Highwind, entirely from scratch. His house is absolutely loaded with blueprints, meaning he always has engineering on the brain. Heck, he was technically the world's first astronaut, even if his initial launch had to be halted due to safety concerns. Of course, he was the one who halted it, so he was also smart enough to know a problem when he saw it.
6 Jayce - League Of Legends
Jayce, also known as the "Defender of Tomorrow," is one of the most renowned inventors in Piltover, and a staunch advocate of its scientific progress. Jayce was one of the major brains behind Hextech technology in League of Legends, cooking up new and fascinating innovations in the field in the hopes of improving the lives of Piltover's populace.
Jayce is no lab-dwelling egghead, though. He makes regular use of the giant, undoubtedly heavy Mercury Hammer in a fight, and maintains quite the physique besides. Jayce doesn't just believe in creating stuff to help and protect the people, he believes in putting it to use, preferably with his own hands.
5 Solid Snake - Metal Gear Solid Series
As a clone of the "Greatest Soldier in the World," Big Boss, Solid Snake already has some quality genes ensuring his physical aptitude in Metal Gear Solid. Indeed, his capabilities as a soldier and infiltration specialist are world-renowned. Even when armed with a pistol and knife, his raw skill and technique allow him to conquer foes twice his size.
Of course, you don't become a legendary soldier with strength alone. Thanks to a combination of genetic conditioning and personal study, Snake is a certified genius with an IQ of 180. He possesses an uncanny ability to quickly analyze dangerous situations and determine optimal outcomes, as well as at least a rudimentary understanding of many scientific concepts. He's also fluent in six languages, though whether this came before or after some of his weird pop culture interests isn't known.
4 Ridley - Metroid Series
Anyone who catches a glimpse of Metroid's Ridley in his element usually assumes that he's nothing but a brainless monster, casually swatting aside opponents and roaring in bloodlust. Beneath that chitinous skull, however, ticks the mind of a certified tactical genius. His fellow Space Pirates don't call him the "Cunning God of Death" for nothing.
Ridley is wise in a variety of fields, mostly militaristic in application, including survival, strategy, psychology, and science. It's thanks to these many skillsets that he is able to concoct new and terrible plans to put the galaxy in jeopardy, and how he is able to rebuild himself each time Samus gets ahead of him. As for the aforementioned bloodlust, that's just Ridley enjoying himself. He's not a mindless beast, he just genuinely loves hurting people.
3 Oleg Kirrlov - Saints Row The Third
As an eight-foot-tall muscular bald guy in Saints Row, Oleg is the kind of indivudal that most people would be reluctant to share a zip code with, let alone engage him in conversation. Anyone who does have a chat with Oleg, however, would find that he's a remarkably intelligent individual with an affinity for chess, poetry, Latin, and other mind-stimulating pursuits.
Thanks to his past status as a KGB agent, Oleg is also savvy in a variety of militaristic and criminal pursuits. When STAG first lands in Steelport, he's immediately able to recognize their tech is military-grade. To put Oleg's intelligence in perspective, he is literally the only person that Kinzie, objectively the smartest member of the Saints and one of the smartest people in the world, has ever acknowledged as an equal.
2 Zasalamel - Soulcalibur Series
Even before he was cursed with perpetual reincarnation, Soulcalibur's Zasalamel was a talented scholar and mage, possessing a particular talent with magics both benign and forbidden. While he absolutely despises his cursed existence, it has given him literal lifetimes to accumulate knowledge and experience, making him quite the academic.
Zasalamel's greatest skill is his ability to play the long game. He's knowledgeable enough about people and the world that he can set a plan in motion and let it unfurl just as he predicted, even years in advance. It helps that he's a natural with his favorite death scythe, not to mention the fact that he's built like a bodybuilding star. On the off chance something in his plans goes sideways, he can correct it with a little (or a lot) physical force.
1 Trevor Phillips - Grand Theft Auto 5
Trevor is unhinged, to put the matter politely. His scraggly appearance in Grand Theft Auto 5 is fairly indicative of his personality as a violent, impulsive, and borderline psychopathic criminal, capable of numerous feats of wanton destruction. But while Trevor appears frighteningly chaotic, everything he does is for a reason.
Trevor possesses a naturally sharp instinct for the ways of crime. He always has a plan in reserve, and backup plans to follow. He's also surprisingly booksmart as well, able to quickly calculate things like the value of a pallet of gold bricks on the spot. Trevor actually qualified to be a pilot for the United States Air Force, a position that you can't have without at least a bachelor's degree, which means he has had at least some formal schooling.