the actual model for his animations was a really slim guy who did tricking/ninjitsu. but it somehow works. they somehow decided to make him fat so its still awesome. I prefer slim bob tho he just looks tons cooler
We finally got this totally right with Goldlewis in Strive, who I think is the first fat character in a video game I've seen that has no references to his weight or food, just that he's strong
He does have a thing for hamburgers, but it's more a "haha American" joke than a "haha fat guy" joke. But yeah, Goldlewis is the best. Dude's built like actual strong people instead of a bodybuilder.
he has exactly two, in one scene at or near the end of the 4 hour story mode. another character chastizes him for eating too much fast food. And one victory line where he gets a pizza prank call and says "it's meal time anyway" (which I think fits his american cowboy deal more than the fat character thing) that is literally it, and I love it it's not a defining character trait, just a believable mild habit that the character has. All of his fight dialogue is focused on him enthusiasm for UMA's (which I understand as effectively cryptids) or his role as the secretary of defense. He's allowed to have a character, and it's a great one
Still my favorite means of making a heavy character has to be "Let's have him hit people with instruments." "Okay, which instrument? Like a tuba or-" "All of them." "How would he-" "Put a whole band under his coat!"
"Also squeeze in a little Dio there" "Wait, what?" "Give him a trumpet command that stops time" "But Tuba-" "Make him punch people really fast while yelling "TUBA" repeatedly"
Love the detail with the weight description they have. The game says Big Band is 5000 lbs but his real body is only 95 lbs. The iron lung he’s in and all those instruments makes the ground shake as he moves.
I actually love Rufus' design. The way he wears that long braid makes him look like a cartoon bomb. That "short fuse" both underlines his unpredictability, (which is his most prominent gameplay strength) and his tendency to "go off" at a moment's notice (his most prominent character trait). Along with the ill-fitting Bruce Lee jumpsuit you mentioned, his look says everything there is to say about him in a manner that's both original and subtle. Just because a character's an asshole doesn't mean they're a bad character.
I think his point that is that while it is a well designed character, it does nothing to break a stereotype that's very harmful, and tbh, well designed characters that help prop up stereotypes are more harmful than badly designed ones, so him having that aesthetic actually causes more issues than not.
But there is people that is fat and have a chip on their shoulder because of it. Not every character should defy stereotypes, some can play with them and give them depth and a reason. There is truth behind some stereotypes, I think a complex character can be based off of one if it goes beyond the basic traits and first impression.
I don't exactly get what stereotype Rufus portrays, even after watching the video. Like... is it that he's a jerk? Is that a fat person stereotype? If you actually listen to and read his dialogue he's incredibly satisfied with his body, he has an attractive(although ditzy) girlfriend, and he believes he should be the best and actually put effort into becoming the best, even if it was the incredibly wrong way of doing it. If the stereotype is that he's ugly, again HE thinks he looks amazing. I thought he looked ugly too at first, but he grew on me. None of his moves or personality traits are about his looks at all, he just... looks that way, and he's proud of how he looks. He doesn't do anything like eat on the battlefield. In fact you never see him eating at all except for in his SSFIV artwork Furthermore, nobody in the cast laughed at him, as far as I'm aware. Some people were against his personality, but nobody shamed him for his weight or anything. I think the closest was Fei Long's win quote where he just said "You're huge, man! Huge!" Honestly, Rufus would take it as a compliment towards his popularity anyway.... I can't really think of another vain, arrogant, but competent and light on his feet fat guy. Honestly they could just button up one of his buttons on his jumpsuit so he was less... revealing... and there wouldn't be any issues with him. Not every character has to be beautiful to be good. ... oh yeah, his girlfriend was named Candy. So, he's a fat guy who loves Candy... okay Capcom.
As a big dude I personally like Rufus a little bit more. Going with Joe's comment I want to add that I personally I like that he's a jerk, I like that he's a slob, I like that he makes crappy jokes. I don't associate all fat people like this. I associate it with Rufus. Bob is cool and all but he is honeslty he is a pretty bland person. Breaking stereotypes is cool and all but what use is that when you have the personality of a slice of white bread. I mean what other character is going to spin around hit you in the face and then proudly say "I'm sexy." Don't get me wrong I like the video, but this is a different view that should be voiced as well. Gameplay wise both of these characters are great. Personality wise, Rufus is more memorable than Bob.
As a fat person myself, I hate the stigma. I've always been fast, strong, and has always been athletic (even though I don't look it). I love sports, running in sand, and lifting weights. I have a love hate relationship with working out (except weight training or yoga) and have a bad relationship with food (my on and off eating disorders). I'm good at all I do, better than so many of the people I'm around. It just sucks that people only see me as fat even with all my hard earned muscle.
How can you be athletic and love sports if you are fat? If you exercise and live a healthy lifestyle like you claim you wouldn’t be fat, you’d be a healthy weight.
@@bab3419 This is patently untrue and ignores so many things like genetic conditions or a huge variety of other factors. I was very active as a child but got fat anyways because I have a genetic condition that created fatty tissue. Different types of exercise also target different things, and not every fat person is inherently unhealthy. That is false. You're looking at things too narrow mindedly without really considering if you actually know what you're talking about, as well as putting down someone who by all accounts does not need your opinion.
but what makes Rufus great is that he doesnt give a damn and went his own way. Rufus is not trying to defy the stereotype, he is purposely diving straight in, and making it glorious. Think of the life rufus has, he goes wherever he pleases, gets to fight to his heart's content, actually went to china to complement his observations and has a hot girlfriend who adores him. Isnt that enough compensation for being a "weird" fat guy?
Honestly I hope he comes back and has a sort of "redemption arc", kind of like Dan Habaki, who started out as a completely pathetic person personality wise to becoming unironically one of the best characters in the canon
That Capcom manager's reply is literally the mindset of the bad guys of the X-Men lmao, that all that matters about them is their powers and nothing else
All the reasons you list why Rufus “doesn’t work” is exactly the reason why I liked him back in SFIV. I think he’s fun and goofy, and I like his character design. I think Capcom could’ve developed his character in later games too, but they sadly kept him as a one note joke character. They could’ve given him a character arc similar to Po from Kung Fu Panda, where he’s brash, clumsy, and dumb in the beggining, but overtime he becomes humbled, and maybe learns some real kung fu. I think that would’ve helped in making him a more likeable character to other people like you.
I love Bob! He’s an amazing character. The type i would love to be friends with in real life. I also wish there was more fat female characters who are not are just there to be a scarecrow for male characters (like “ewwww look it’s fat woman so ugly run awaaaay”). And not just “thin waist + enormous hips” combo. Someone fat and confident and likeable. We need more of that!
Big ups for Dulia-Chai from FFXIV: Shadowbringers. The circumstances surrounding her size aren't terribly dignified, representing a portrayal of decadent high society existing in immediate proximity to poverty and starvation, but it has little bearing on her actual personality, being a genuinely loving and honest character amid a sea of ignorant and unempathetic aristocrats. Ask anyone who's played through if they would die for her and the answer will universally be yes.
not a fighting game, but wild guns reloaded actually has a pretty cool fat woman character with lightning gauntlets and weird stun shit, and she genuinely might be the most fun character in the game and has a cool design.
I think what makes Gold Dick better than these two is that sure, he's another fat American character who is kinda associated with food (but not really) but unlike Bob and Rufus he isn't defined by the "fat/fast" joke. Sometimes that design can feel like a workaround for not actually dealing with the design challenges of making a heavyweight character. Goldlewis has impeded mobility but makes up for it with his oppressive pressure and guard crush with his coffin, which is the main centerpiece for his character. He also uses a drone and heavy weaponry, fitting with his job title. I also think designing an American character around a cryptid/area 51 is very clever due to how prevalent it is in US culture, as well as being really funny
I think Bob was made to be a cool character, but Rufus is meant just to be a Goofy one that makes us laugh and look down on him, but the fact that he can back up all the bragging he does, unlike Dan, just make him a lot more interesting because of the shock value. He is a unconventional fighter and I love those types of characters. Not everyone needs to look "cool", beign unique is so much more important for me. I hope we see more of Rufus somewhere in the future (and hopefully throw away some of the shotos).
Rufus definitely didn't work for everyone, but I agree that there was definitely something there that would be worth salvaging and maybe refining for future use. The concept of a self trained fighter certainly isn't a bad one, I'd say a lot of fighting game fans, especially ones that practice the arts, were inspired by films or games and probably tried to emulate what they saw. Taking that to the extreme seems like a fine idea to me.
I think the primary difference between these two is that, for the Tekken universe, Bob is a straight archetype with a twist and Rufus is a joke character. And I'm pretty sure the oldest design stereotype in the fighting game book is the Japanese karate guy whose entire life is about finding a strong opponent to improve his karate.
I don't really feel that Rufus is a bad character. I feel that Bob is supposed to be cool and respectable while Rufus isn't. I think you assume that Rufus is supposed to be serious.
Hold Guard Rufus is not meant to be a stereotypical FAT character, his obesity is incidental. He’s a stereotypical AMERICAN: Blonde, fat, oversexualized, reckless, rude, informed by movies, bombastic, red-faced, volatile and ignorant. He’s a caricature of how most other populations view Americans.
Roadhog is perfect blend of stereotypes about fat characters, even having a pig on his belly and doing the whole biker thing to boot.. he is aggressive and depraved (criminal).. but he’s silent and holds an air of respectability, denotes traits of understanding and compassion as well as the deepest patience for junkrat buffoonery lol .. he’s shown to be way more clever then his appearance at first conveys.. its a nuance that makes him feel more real even with the fantastical elements he embodies and that trait oozes out of the entire cast and world.. overwatch has incredible character and world building.. a masterclass of simple yet deep game design
Hell, he made a drug that's able to get rid of radiation poisoning just by inhaling the stuff. He's a freaking genius who fought in a war, and he's earned his badassery. Plus, you can see both his professionalism and his own personal flair when he takes down foes. I'd honestly love it if Roadhog got into a fighting game as a guest character (especially if he were to go up against Bob or another large character).
character with no flaws: well designed character character with flaws: poorly designed character. sorry dude but thats not how this works...also doing the opposite of whatever stereotype there is about your character is a much bigger stereotype than the fat lazy character.
I actually relate to Bob a lot. I struggled with heavier people than me even when I have better technique and speed, I didn't use it, I was stubborn and wanted to stand my ground but got put in my place really easily. Thank god I know how to listen to advice nowadays
Actually, rufus is the only gat stereotype function character I like, as he's honestly hilarious. Sure he has a bit of gross traits, bit they aren't his focus most the time. More so his focus is that he's great at fighting, able to perfect moves by merely watching them, but his moves chosen to copy are usually meant for style rather than practicality, but despite this he puts them to use, using his body as a means to use moves that otherwise would not be as effective, like is spin move more than likely uses his gut as a means to increase the momentum. And in spire of what seems like laziness, he clearly works put more than you'd think, as he pushed a motorcycle with his girlfriend it many MANY miles through the desert and came put walking fine, only needing a brief drench of water when he finally made it to the gas station. He just doesn't show his muscle like the freak of nature Honda does... abs don't work like that... He's also lost in his own little world, as anyone who is blonde or wears a karate gi he mistakes for his rival, and is stuck thinking he's the protagonist of his own movie world, as he thinks DeeJay wants to be his apprentice. This is hilarious as he seems to go on a rant about how great he is or even just how his day went or how ninjas look. His girlfriend also committed dine and dash, but because he learned from movies that a woman in distress must be innocent and in need of protecting, he beats up the wrong people, and Candy becomes his girl, because he looked cool doing it, and as a result, she constantly feeds into his delusions of the world. All of this aligns into a bizarrely hilarious concoction that other fat archetypes only WISH they could be, and makes the world of streetfighter a more interesting place... Now if only they'd give him a better outfit...
@@superkid2815 He probably won't, but the dude's still right. Rufus isn't really the bad fat character stereotype that Sugarpunch desperately wants them to be.
Another aspect od his moves that I feel works is that he was trained by legit kung fu masters, so they likely helped him to use a form of Kung Fu that plays to his major strength, that being momentum. You see a lot of his moves place an emphasis on movement.
Hey, you mentioned you’re a GG fan, so I’d like your opinion on Goldlewis, seeing that he’s also a fat character. He does fall under the category of being a fat guy who’s a leader, but I personally love how strong willed the dude is, even willing to put himself on the front lines for his country. Sure, he can be a bit oblivious at times, but overall, I think he’s a well designed character, in terms of gameplay and personality.
In terms of their visual designs, I agree 100% with everything brought out in this video. BUT, I respectfully disagree with the thesis that Bob > Rufus, on a narrative level. According to you, Bob is fat because, when he was a slim fighter, larger ones would best him, so his solution wasn't to bulk up muscle, but to... become obese? At least Rufus' story of being a biker who likes martial arts movies who then one day decides to train and become a martial artist is, in that context alone, inspirational. Speaking as a fat person myself, I am telling you, definitively, that none of us would have made the conscious choice to be obese for ANY reason. So Bob, as a concept, offends me. "I got fat to be a better fighter" What? No.
Bob actually didn't do that at first, he tried bulking up, but he lost his flexibility. And he became slower. He began stress eating because he couldn't find a solution. Wen he saw he was getting fat, he quickly trained to loose weight, but in doing so he found he had better balance and he had mass behind his strikes now. I myself am quite fat. I'm 140kgs Even with my size I can do a full split and I can now do Splits on 2 chairs. I owe that to Aikido excercises. Bob is an exaggeration yes. But wats important her is that bob became who he is through his own efforts. Hes not gonna encourage anyone to be like him because he's focused on himself. I always thought he was cool because he's the best version of himself. And that's inspiring. Rufus thinks hes at the pinical and he deserves respect because he says so. Which is actually rather damaging for him and others around him. It's not his fat that makes Rufus bad. Hes bad because hes a entitled selfish idiot. And I like both characters. But bob is better.
walter conley how does it could that offend you? Makes zero sense that you should be offended by someone who chooses to become obese not caring for what people have to say about his body. Unlike others that get fat, don’t do anything about it but get mad when someone brings it up (Rufus)
I actually like E. Honda...and could care less about Bob, and hate Rufus. Honda is a fun loving, yet honorable character. Plus, he actually plays like a large character- and he's never presented as "fat' like Rufus or SFV Birdie, but rather just big- and plays as such.
I always loved playing Rufus. he was my main for so many years playing SF4 and SFxT. So many years and I kinda miss him in the recent capcom game ^^'...
I remember meeting this capoeira master from Brazil that was literally nicknamed "mountain" for his size. You can imagine my surprise and awe when I witnessed this guy literally defying gravity in a fight. I rarely play Tekken or fighting games in general but I remember Bob as a nice breath of fresh air.
(Constructive Critism) The quality for this video is great but I honestly don't understand the message of the video. I watched all way thru and enjoyed it but for the most part the video was you telling the backstory of 2 (fat) characters from different games. It might be that i dont understand the type of videos you make. But Rufus is great at being a slob while Bob has a good backstory that makes sense (for the most part) The video was missing a very needed conclusion because I'm sure a lot of people were left in the dark by the end of your video. (I'm sure it's annoying to have a long comment like this pop up and see it's on an 11 month old video so I hope you are having a nice day :) Also this video did show me how awesome of a character bob is
I don’t care about the differences of these characters. Just because Rufus is “ugly” and “repulsive” doesn’t make him a bad character. A character is everything that they envelop whether you like it or not.
Funnily enough Bob falls under the E Honda problem while Rufus is more complex a character than most people realise. Bob's entire schtick is speed and weight and there is little else about Bob otherwise Rufus went to China to learn Kung Fu, he biked his way to various kung fu masters to sort out the movie magic from the practical moves. Rufus is a legend amongst bikers, has a girlfriend, and is one of only 2 characters in street fighter who recognize E Honda is undermining his own goal of promoting sumo by street fighting. There is more to Rufus than meets the eye, and you not seeing that kinda shows that you, too, have fallen under the trap of obese sterotypes despite warning your audience against it.
Other who also recognizes Honda's bad effect is Dan Hibiki who has more "realistic" build as well. Self-taught, not a prodigy and always broke and still soldiers on.
Your speach at the end got me all kinds of hype as a fan of various character types, a writer, and a slightly over weight 31 year old man. I still need to loose a 100 pounds, but that doesn't mean I can't, and shouldn't, be awesome as is.
You hype up bob like hes more than Rufus or sfv birdie, but at the end of the day they're identical. Bob's only trait is that he is fat but also fast, at least birdie and rufus have actual personalities. Bob has never gotten even a smidgeon of character development, he is a one note joke character.
Bob is one of my absolute favorite characters due to how much he flipped the script on fat characters. His personality is dripping is coolness and confidence. Has a smooth, deep voice courtesy of Patrick Seitz. His fighting style is usually done by slim/shredded people, so to see him pull off 540 kicks, sideswipes, and corkscrews just makes him so memorable. Also, I’m glad that they introduced a fighter to represent XMA/tricking. Another great example of Bob’s swag, is his ending with Julia in SFXT. He basically had her swooning. Lol
This video started out pretty cool, I thought it was going to be about function of how fat characters work vs. other archetypes. This turned out to be an anti-fat shaming ad.
Yes, big people can be cool, Heroic etc...but noticed how 98% of these more rotund game characters are Men? There are only 2 more heavily laden game ladies to my recollection. The main princess in the game "Fat Princess" and that exercise coach in the first Ratchet & Clank game (who's mechanical).
All I’m gonna say is that this is a video game and we don’t always need correct representation because any narrative can be adjusted onto any character such as how instead of saying that Bob is who is jealous of bigger body sizes, instead you can say he’s a fallen legend who’s trying to get back on track. Social commentary doesn’t automatically make a character good and it isn’t really necessary needed especially in a fighting game where characters are beating the ever loving shit out of each other. I’m not saying that social commentary shouldn’t be added to a game, I just believe that it shouldn’t take president over the base enjoyability of the character
I have a problem with Rufus that goes beyond just him - it's that Street Fighter has too many joke characters. Not only characters designed from the ground up to be silly and dumb, like Rufus and Hakan, but also taking established characters and making them into jokes. For example, take Hugo. Hugo has a past as a criminal and is based off Andre The Giant who personified the "I'm unstoppable and I know it" Juggernaut-like giant inside the wrestling business, and was an enormously entertaining larger than life personality in real life. What does Capcom make out of that? A functionally braindead moron from a German backwater that's only dimly aware of what's going on around him and thus has barely anything interesting to do with any of the other characters. Sweet. This is irritating, in my opinion, because it makes so much of the cast into roadblocks and non-entities. You can never believe that these people are legitimate contenders, and even if they seem strong they're just taking screen time from other, better characters. Street Fighter already has the perfect joke character in Dan Hibiki, they never needed any more.
@@WattieWasTaken - Day one was *Street Fighter I* and even after that, there was Street Fighter '89, which was later turned into Final Fight (which is probably the reason why all of those Street Fighter/Final Fight crossovers happened to the point where the Final Fight series became part of Street Fighter lore), so there. Also, the silliness from Street Fighter II is what one Zeusdaz has complained about a lot in the descriptions of his Street Fighter I playthroughs, in which he has also complained about Birdie being blackwashed, a point with which I do agree. I've never really seen black Birdie as the white Birdie who was an opponent in the very first Street Fighter, despite him have a remix of white Birdie's theme as a theme (which, fun fact, was the only Street Fighter I character theme to be officially remixed *and* used as a character theme in subsequent games) and white Birdie's moves, alongside his own. There's even one win quote of his that doesn't make sense, either and of course I'm typing about the one in which he claims that him appearing to be a white person was just him being "pale" because of his "sickness". No black person can appear that pale without suffering from vitiligo (but then again, there's the so-called "re-vitiligo", as mentioned by the self-proclaimed sufferer Uncle Ruckus in The Boondocks). And, I kind of hate that he was turned into a dimwitted glutton in Street Fighter V as well and on top of that, given a Rufus costume. Honestly.
I agree as far as characters go. I think Bob is unique and I love playing as Bob. On the other hand, there IS a connection between being a pig and fat. As a former fat guy who went the opposite of Bob (I undertook a training and eating regiment to become a smaller martial artist)....I am saying this from personal experience, not from a hatred of fat people. And it's a spectrum, I know not everyone is the exact same or was the same as me. But I think, being 100% honest, being fat generally shows a trend towards specific characteristics. I don't hate fat people, actually I feel sympathetic for the situation they're in and I would rather help them. Being a little chubby isn't a big deal. Being obese is a different story.
Don't you think having a fat character like Bob being associated with coolness and confidence could make an unhealthy association between obesity and health?
I always loved Bob, because he managed to show that his skill is undefined by weight, but for the fact that it gives him strength, as in par with his catchphrase "Speed and Weight" I also find it funny how playing as skinny bob makes his moves seem like a disadvantage to him when he does any move that uses his stomach.
Super old video at this point, but I think it would be remiss not to mention that outside the world of fighting games, the Yakuza series actually broke new ground in terms of fat character design by introducing Ed in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. He's a triad enforcer who, on the one hand, is absolutely massive, but on the other hand, is shown to be both incredibly dexterous and strong. His weapon of choice is a karambit, which just from its design suggests what it (and by extension him) are all about: fluid motion and precise strikes. He was the first minor fat antagonist who wasn't just a big, slow mountain of an enemy, and he had one of the best themes in the game, to boot. Of course, Yakuza being Yakuza, they promptly followed this massive step forward with Sakakiba in Judgment, a gang leader who is fat, stupid, eats food, and is constantly goaded into fights with the promise of a free meal. His fighting style is based around flailing his limbs wildly and squishing you. It astonishes me that both of these characters appeared 1. So close to each other, and 2. In the order that they did. We haven't seen another fat character with any story significance since then, and if we do get one in the future, I imagine they'll be more like Sakakiba than Ed.
My favorite fat character in fiction is without a doubt. Chien - Po from Disney's Mulan. Big and strong yet kind and moving with the grace of a hummingbird.
You certainly missed the entire point of not only Bob, but Rufus as well. You act like Bob isn't a joke character, but he is and it sounds like you're letting some weird bias get in to the way of your assessment.
My favorite fat character in gaming is the Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2 (for those 2 people that didn't know him). I specifically love the way he is portrayed in the comics, where he is shown to be intelligent, kind, and not quite as loud as when murdering tiny baby men. He likes himself his guns, murder and sandwich, while maintaining a friendly relationship with the Doc. Cosmetics and taunts don't express what he is like because this: knowyourmeme.com/memes/pootis is all the community sees of him.
One of my favorite fat characters is the Duke from RE Village. He's such a humble jolly guy, yet he's also a man of mystery and wisdom. I'd hang out with him if I could.
While I think Bobs looks and personality are fantastic and Rufus looks and personality are terrible, I actually think of the two warriors its Rufus who has the much more interesting and clever concept. The idea of a guy who became a Kung fu master by obsessively watching and studying old Kung fu flicks is actually really funny imo, we can all relate to mimicking something cool we saw and inspired to be like at one point or another and Rufus is that incarnate. Not to mention it also would explain Rufus obesity, hes sitting down watching movies all day eating buttered popcorn and junk snacks while drinking soda most likely. Hell, it even adds some depth to Rufus character, is he really just a goofy gajin who watched one too many Kung fu movies and is somehow REALLY lucky to win fights, or is he possibly some sort of secret prodigy who could mimic and even master these intense skills by simply watching them to then somehow pull them off and win fights in world tournaments EVEN in his incredibly poor physical state? Imo there is a lot more to Rufus then I think you gave credit for in this comparison video lol. Bob on the other hand CHOOSES to becomes obese because... the added weight will give him the statistic advantage...? as apposed to simply being a giant muscular body build instead? With Bobs life style and personality his obesity doesn't actually match, and if anything it completely ignores ANY of the downsides of being extremely overweight (such as fatigue as an example). It throws out absolutely all logic for the sake of being different and while I can absolutely respect that on a visual level it doesn't all seem to culminate into one smooth melt like I feel Rufus concept does. Where I think Rufus absolutely does fail though is in his visual design, what an ugly, unlikable, eyesore of a character design lol. Say what you will about his personality, but good god the man looks like a yellow colored bomb from the 1870's and I think they tried just WAY too hard to be funny with his design. But visual gags are still a really big thing in Japanese culture, so while I personally hate it I understand why they went with it lol. Bob on the other hand looks cool and confident and has an extremely fashionable and charismatic personality, visually and personality wise I think Bob takes it with nearly zero competition. Bob is the perfect visual example of sometimes "less is more". Fun video tho, thanks for sharing.
On the contrary I don't like bob. Tekkens problem is it just want to make almost every character COOL, even the fat guy, and keep telling you if he is slim he is also a handsome guy like the other male characters. That to me is lack of imagination and risk control.
I had no idea that Bob existed and I am here as fuck for him. I am flabbergasted by how refreshing and positive it is to see a character like Bob, who is confident, skilled, and also fat but purposeful and controlled about it. He is exactly who he wants to be and derives many positive benefits from the success of his discipline.
I strongly think it's due to the fact that fat people are not respected in Japan. In fact, if you are considered in overweight, you'll be taxed. People will do remarks to you if you are not taking charge of your body. It's to prevent overweightness.
I have to agree that Bob is a more interesting character than Rufus. Aside from the general difference in each character's likeability, Bob simply has more character to talk about. Rufus just kind of exists, with no real motivation other than to defeat Ken Masters for no real reason. Bob has a generic, but solid motivation to prove himself against people's perception of him. Rufus doesn't do anything but show up and fight people for no reason, but he could've had some interesting qualities. His character page on the Street Fighter wiki has interesting info about his original character concept. Maybe if players were shown a reason why Rufus hates Ken, or if he was given a different reason to fight other than to prove he's strong, he'd be more appreciated. I'd like to think that if Rufus was just canonically faceblind, and had some kind of sincere apologetic side to him, he'd be more interesting. Adjusting his personality to focus more on why he hates Ken could ask some interesting questions about Rufus that could give some interesting results. Maybe Rufus is gross because he neglects his hygiene and manners in favor of training to defeat Ken, instead of being gross for no reason. Lots of altered character traits he already has could give him some room for character growth.
Function must be the reason why Gamefreak has been more or less recently been streamlining the monsters added to the new Pokemon games added in the Switch games. It is their way of balancing the options the player may pick and choose to add to their team. Unfortunately for a Pokemon they gave the idea of catching them all as a motto making simply giving each new monster as Function to replace an old favorite monster will not sit well to most players.
Even though Bob is charismatic and rather likeable, I think there are better ways to make an overweight character interesting instead of "what if he looks reaally heavy, but actually is superfast?!" Good character design is supposed to make you know what a character is all about by how they look. A fighting game character's look is supposed to represent not only their personality to some extent, but also their archetype and moveset. Making an overweight character move like he had the weight of a feather isn't revolutionary or interesting, it's just an easy cop out in an attempt to make a fat player easily playable and not angry anyone. Goldlewis from Guilty Gear Strive accomplishes making an overweight character be badass while having attacks that aren't slow at all, yet have weight in animation, I think he's the perfect example of a well made overweight fighting game character. It's 100 times better than having him be just a regular martial artist that shouts "speed and weight!" and has a huge belly he uses to attack you quickly with (?). I'm not with you on this one at all, very bad take. Don't get me wrong, I think Bob is better than Rufus, but to say he's good because of that would be setting the bar very low. (By the way, you cited Bo' Rai Cho as a bad case, but his thing isn't that he's overweight, it is that he's a drunken mess, hence why his name is literally "drunken" in spanish, he just has a belly because he's constantly drinking alcohol, and pukes because he's drunk. I'd think such a consistently high quality channel would have some care for giving correct information.)
Does heavy count, i mean yeah the joke is he's fat but he's more of a psychopath seeing as he was born in a gulag, the comics show he is well versed to survive in his home country as his fats insulate him from the cold and his body mass lets him wrestle bears bigger than a car, he's also kind of intellectual on a villainous side seeing as he's even broken into the Administrator's office
I don't think Bob is revolutionary. He's just living out the Japanese ideal of ‘shokunin' or "singular focus". Its the idea that whatever you do. Do it to perfection. If you're going to be a fat fighter be serious about it until the point of obsession.
So I was surprised the actor Sammo Hung never got mentioned - he's a large guy who's subversively agile for his size, and might even have inspired Bob somewhat, although I'm not claiming that was ever deliberate. It was interesting seeing the Bo'Rai Cho clip pop up as well. The idea behind his character is that he is also agile despite his size. He staggers about because his style is drunken boxing, and thus it's because he drinks so heavily that he is fat, pukes, and farts; he doesn't puke and fart just because he's fat.
As someone who hasn’t played tekken I always expected bob to be just about the same as Rufus, but maybe a bit more serious to fit tekken’s more serious looking style, and I’m actually pleasantly surprised. bob actually sounds pretty cool!
I don't love Bob aesthetically, but you can't hate a character that is so confident and proud about his physique.
Ikr?
He at least has good reason and control in combat for that and with that weight. I can like him very easily.
Good point. I love how fast and deliberate his moves are. It really flips your expectation on its head.
SPEED AND WEIGHT
the actual model for his animations was a really slim guy who did tricking/ninjitsu. but it somehow works. they somehow decided to make him fat so its still awesome. I prefer slim bob tho he just looks tons cooler
We finally got this totally right with Goldlewis in Strive, who I think is the first fat character in a video game I've seen that has no references to his weight or food, just that he's strong
He does have a thing for hamburgers, but it's more a "haha American" joke than a "haha fat guy" joke. But yeah, Goldlewis is the best. Dude's built like actual strong people instead of a bodybuilder.
Too bad Strive sucks.
@@FA-nd9uk Quiet, the adults are talking.
Its also bc his brother is the burger sheriff @Twisted_Logic
he has exactly two, in one scene at or near the end of the 4 hour story mode. another character chastizes him for eating too much fast food. And one victory line where he gets a pizza prank call and says "it's meal time anyway" (which I think fits his american cowboy deal more than the fat character thing) that is literally it, and I love it
it's not a defining character trait, just a believable mild habit that the character has. All of his fight dialogue is focused on him enthusiasm for UMA's (which I understand as effectively cryptids) or his role as the secretary of defense. He's allowed to have a character, and it's a great one
Still my favorite means of making a heavy character has to be
"Let's have him hit people with instruments."
"Okay, which instrument? Like a tuba or-"
"All of them."
"How would he-"
"Put a whole band under his coat!"
"Also squeeze in a little Dio there"
"Wait, what?"
"Give him a trumpet command that stops time"
"But Tuba-"
"Make him punch people really fast while yelling "TUBA" repeatedly"
Big band? 😂😂😂
And make his body an augmented iron lung!
You done funked
*up*
*_NOW!_*
Love the detail with the weight description they have. The game says Big Band is 5000 lbs but his real body is only 95 lbs. The iron lung he’s in and all those instruments makes the ground shake as he moves.
Finally somebody giving my boy Bob the recognition he deserves. Definitely the most underrated character to come out of T6
he was op in T6
Underrated? Man he was the most op and most used in that game ☠️
@@aileenamador3747 underrated mean good i think
@@techdream8587 dude that's the think he was past good he was god tier the joke was made that Bob has the best hellsweep
I actually love Rufus' design. The way he wears that long braid makes him look like a cartoon bomb. That "short fuse" both underlines his unpredictability, (which is his most prominent gameplay strength) and his tendency to "go off" at a moment's notice (his most prominent character trait). Along with the ill-fitting Bruce Lee jumpsuit you mentioned, his look says everything there is to say about him in a manner that's both original and subtle. Just because a character's an asshole doesn't mean they're a bad character.
Joe Curry-Stodder ^
I think his point that is that while it is a well designed character, it does nothing to break a stereotype that's very harmful, and tbh, well designed characters that help prop up stereotypes are more harmful than badly designed ones, so him having that aesthetic actually causes more issues than not.
But there is people that is fat and have a chip on their shoulder because of it. Not every character should defy stereotypes, some can play with them and give them depth and a reason. There is truth behind some stereotypes, I think a complex character can be based off of one if it goes beyond the basic traits and first impression.
I don't exactly get what stereotype Rufus portrays, even after watching the video. Like... is it that he's a jerk? Is that a fat person stereotype? If you actually listen to and read his dialogue he's incredibly satisfied with his body, he has an attractive(although ditzy) girlfriend, and he believes he should be the best and actually put effort into becoming the best, even if it was the incredibly wrong way of doing it. If the stereotype is that he's ugly, again HE thinks he looks amazing. I thought he looked ugly too at first, but he grew on me. None of his moves or personality traits are about his looks at all, he just... looks that way, and he's proud of how he looks. He doesn't do anything like eat on the battlefield. In fact you never see him eating at all except for in his SSFIV artwork
Furthermore, nobody in the cast laughed at him, as far as I'm aware. Some people were against his personality, but nobody shamed him for his weight or anything. I think the closest was Fei Long's win quote where he just said "You're huge, man! Huge!" Honestly, Rufus would take it as a compliment towards his popularity anyway....
I can't really think of another vain, arrogant, but competent and light on his feet fat guy. Honestly they could just button up one of his buttons on his jumpsuit so he was less... revealing... and there wouldn't be any issues with him. Not every character has to be beautiful to be good.
... oh yeah, his girlfriend was named Candy. So, he's a fat guy who loves Candy... okay Capcom.
As a big dude I personally like Rufus a little bit more. Going with Joe's comment I want to add that I personally I like that he's a jerk, I like that he's a slob, I like that he makes crappy jokes. I don't associate all fat people like this. I associate it with Rufus. Bob is cool and all but he is honeslty he is a pretty bland person. Breaking stereotypes is cool and all but what use is that when you have the personality of a slice of white bread. I mean what other character is going to spin around hit you in the face and then proudly say "I'm sexy." Don't get me wrong I like the video, but this is a different view that should be voiced as well. Gameplay wise both of these characters are great. Personality wise, Rufus is more memorable than Bob.
As a fat person myself, I hate the stigma. I've always been fast, strong, and has always been athletic (even though I don't look it). I love sports, running in sand, and lifting weights. I have a love hate relationship with working out (except weight training or yoga) and have a bad relationship with food (my on and off eating disorders). I'm good at all I do, better than so many of the people I'm around. It just sucks that people only see me as fat even with all my hard earned muscle.
How can you be athletic and love sports if you are fat? If you exercise and live a healthy lifestyle like you claim you wouldn’t be fat, you’d be a healthy weight.
@@bab3419 you missed the point ☠️☠️☠️
@@bab3419 yeah because you only think fat people are fat because they're lazy ☠️☠️☠️
@@bab3419 This is patently untrue and ignores so many things like genetic conditions or a huge variety of other factors. I was very active as a child but got fat anyways because I have a genetic condition that created fatty tissue. Different types of exercise also target different things, and not every fat person is inherently unhealthy. That is false. You're looking at things too narrow mindedly without really considering if you actually know what you're talking about, as well as putting down someone who by all accounts does not need your opinion.
but what makes Rufus great is that he doesnt give a damn and went his own way. Rufus is not trying to defy the stereotype, he is purposely diving straight in, and making it glorious.
Think of the life rufus has, he goes wherever he pleases, gets to fight to his heart's content, actually went to china to complement his observations and has a hot girlfriend who adores him. Isnt that enough compensation for being a "weird" fat guy?
Honestly I hope he comes back and has a sort of "redemption arc", kind of like Dan Habaki, who started out as a completely pathetic person personality wise to becoming unironically one of the best characters in the canon
That Capcom manager's reply is literally the mindset of the bad guys of the X-Men lmao, that all that matters about them is their powers and nothing else
He didnt even mention that rufus has some nice traits like his relationship between him and his girlfriend which imo is kinda cute.
MrMickio1 that’s not very important because it’s not a big part of his character overall
All the reasons you list why Rufus “doesn’t work” is exactly the reason why I liked him back in SFIV. I think he’s fun and goofy, and I like his character design.
I think Capcom could’ve developed his character in later games too, but they sadly kept him as a one note joke character.
They could’ve given him a character arc similar to Po from Kung Fu Panda, where he’s brash, clumsy, and dumb in the beggining, but overtime he becomes humbled, and maybe learns some real kung fu. I think that would’ve helped in making him a more likeable character to other people like you.
I love Bob! He’s an amazing character. The type i would love to be friends with in real life.
I also wish there was more fat female characters who are not are just there to be a scarecrow for male characters (like “ewwww look it’s fat woman so ugly run awaaaay”). And not just “thin waist + enormous hips” combo.
Someone fat and confident and likeable. We need more of that!
Yessss 100% agree with that
Big ups for Dulia-Chai from FFXIV: Shadowbringers. The circumstances surrounding her size aren't terribly dignified, representing a portrayal of decadent high society existing in immediate proximity to poverty and starvation, but it has little bearing on her actual personality, being a genuinely loving and honest character amid a sea of ignorant and unempathetic aristocrats. Ask anyone who's played through if they would die for her and the answer will universally be yes.
Entirely agreed
not a fighting game, but wild guns reloaded actually has a pretty cool fat woman character with lightning gauntlets and weird stun shit, and she genuinely might be the most fun character in the game and has a cool design.
@@xanious3759 oooo!! Thanks!! She looks cool!!
4 years later, Guilty Gear has joined in and given us another cool fat character not defined by his weight in Goldlewis Dickinson.
I think what makes Gold Dick better than these two is that sure, he's another fat American character who is kinda associated with food (but not really) but unlike Bob and Rufus he isn't defined by the "fat/fast" joke. Sometimes that design can feel like a workaround for not actually dealing with the design challenges of making a heavyweight character. Goldlewis has impeded mobility but makes up for it with his oppressive pressure and guard crush with his coffin, which is the main centerpiece for his character. He also uses a drone and heavy weaponry, fitting with his job title.
I also think designing an American character around a cryptid/area 51 is very clever due to how prevalent it is in US culture, as well as being really funny
I hope we see more fat characters whose entire personality isn't just slob behavior. Being fat doesn't make you stupid, lazy, or weak.
Idk I just like to eat a lot I legit like running and moving. 🤷♀️🤷♀️ (I don't consider my self fat but by other people's standards I suppose I am)
I think Bob was made to be a cool character, but Rufus is meant just to be a Goofy one that makes us laugh and look down on him, but the fact that he can back up all the bragging he does, unlike Dan, just make him a lot more interesting because of the shock value. He is a unconventional fighter and I love those types of characters. Not everyone needs to look "cool", beign unique is so much more important for me. I hope we see more of Rufus somewhere in the future (and hopefully throw away some of the shotos).
Exactly.
Rufus definitely didn't work for everyone, but I agree that there was definitely something there that would be worth salvaging and maybe refining for future use. The concept of a self trained fighter certainly isn't a bad one, I'd say a lot of fighting game fans, especially ones that practice the arts, were inspired by films or games and probably tried to emulate what they saw. Taking that to the extreme seems like a fine idea to me.
Oof.
5 years later and not a single sign of him as D.L.C
I think the primary difference between these two is that, for the Tekken universe, Bob is a straight archetype with a twist and Rufus is a joke character. And I'm pretty sure the oldest design stereotype in the fighting game book is the Japanese karate guy whose entire life is about finding a strong opponent to improve his karate.
I don't really feel that Rufus is a bad character. I feel that Bob is supposed to be cool and respectable while Rufus isn't. I think you assume that Rufus is supposed to be serious.
Archbishop Mactasty yup
Well the problem isn't Rufus being a bad character it's the fact that he's the epitomy of a stereotypical fat character so he uses him as an example
Hold Guard true
I don't think *anyone* thinks Rufus is serious
Hold Guard Rufus is not meant to be a stereotypical FAT character, his obesity is incidental. He’s a stereotypical AMERICAN: Blonde, fat, oversexualized, reckless, rude, informed by movies, bombastic, red-faced, volatile and ignorant. He’s a caricature of how most other populations view Americans.
Roadhog is perfect blend of stereotypes about fat characters, even having a pig on his belly and doing the whole biker thing to boot.. he is aggressive and depraved (criminal)..
but he’s silent and holds an air of respectability, denotes traits of understanding and compassion as well as the deepest patience for junkrat buffoonery lol .. he’s shown to be way more clever then his appearance at first conveys.. its a nuance that makes him feel more real even with the fantastical elements he embodies and that trait oozes out of the entire cast and world.. overwatch has incredible character and world building.. a masterclass of simple yet deep game design
Hell, he made a drug that's able to get rid of radiation poisoning just by inhaling the stuff. He's a freaking genius who fought in a war, and he's earned his badassery.
Plus, you can see both his professionalism and his own personal flair when he takes down foes.
I'd honestly love it if Roadhog got into a fighting game as a guest character (especially if he were to go up against Bob or another large character).
The Kingpin from marvel is actually like 85% muscle.
He is a big boy
character with no flaws: well designed character
character with flaws: poorly designed character.
sorry dude but thats not how this works...also doing the opposite of whatever stereotype there is about your character is a much bigger stereotype than the fat lazy character.
its not a "much bigger stereotype" lol thats the stupidest thing ive ever heard someone say
I actually relate to Bob a lot. I struggled with heavier people than me even when I have better technique and speed, I didn't use it, I was stubborn and wanted to stand my ground but got put in my place really easily. Thank god I know how to listen to advice nowadays
I'm glad you showed the Kingpin at the end doesn't matter what version of him Ive seen but Ive learned you don't fuck with Kingpin
Honestly I just watch this video occasionally just for that Bob montage, It's really well done!
Actually, rufus is the only gat stereotype function character I like, as he's honestly hilarious.
Sure he has a bit of gross traits, bit they aren't his focus most the time.
More so his focus is that he's great at fighting, able to perfect moves by merely watching them, but his moves chosen to copy are usually meant for style rather than practicality, but despite this he puts them to use, using his body as a means to use moves that otherwise would not be as effective, like is spin move more than likely uses his gut as a means to increase the momentum. And in spire of what seems like laziness, he clearly works put more than you'd think, as he pushed a motorcycle with his girlfriend it many MANY miles through the desert and came put walking fine, only needing a brief drench of water when he finally made it to the gas station. He just doesn't show his muscle like the freak of nature Honda does... abs don't work like that...
He's also lost in his own little world, as anyone who is blonde or wears a karate gi he mistakes for his rival, and is stuck thinking he's the protagonist of his own movie world, as he thinks DeeJay wants to be his apprentice. This is hilarious as he seems to go on a rant about how great he is or even just how his day went or how ninjas look.
His girlfriend also committed dine and dash, but because he learned from movies that a woman in distress must be innocent and in need of protecting, he beats up the wrong people, and Candy becomes his girl, because he looked cool doing it, and as a result, she constantly feeds into his delusions of the world.
All of this aligns into a bizarrely hilarious concoction that other fat archetypes only WISH they could be, and makes the world of streetfighter a more interesting place...
Now if only they'd give him a better outfit...
Not like he's gonna read a comment on a 4 year old video...
@@superkid2815 He probably won't, but the dude's still right. Rufus isn't really the bad fat character stereotype that Sugarpunch desperately wants them to be.
Another aspect od his moves that I feel works is that he was trained by legit kung fu masters, so they likely helped him to use a form of Kung Fu that plays to his major strength, that being momentum. You see a lot of his moves place an emphasis on movement.
@@hysterical5408I don't like Rufus having a weird delusion honestly.
Hard to respect when a trait like thay pops up.
Hey, you mentioned you’re a GG fan, so I’d like your opinion on Goldlewis, seeing that he’s also a fat character. He does fall under the category of being a fat guy who’s a leader, but I personally love how strong willed the dude is, even willing to put himself on the front lines for his country. Sure, he can be a bit oblivious at times, but overall, I think he’s a well designed character, in terms of gameplay and personality.
Gold Lewis snaps that stereotype in half and is just flat out cool as fuck.
In terms of their visual designs, I agree 100% with everything brought out in this video.
BUT, I respectfully disagree with the thesis that Bob > Rufus, on a narrative level.
According to you, Bob is fat because, when he was a slim fighter, larger ones would best him, so his solution wasn't to bulk up muscle, but to... become obese? At least Rufus' story of being a biker who likes martial arts movies who then one day decides to train and become a martial artist is, in that context alone, inspirational.
Speaking as a fat person myself, I am telling you, definitively, that none of us would have made the conscious choice to be obese for ANY reason. So Bob, as a concept, offends me.
"I got fat to be a better fighter"
What?
No.
Bob actually didn't do that at first, he tried bulking up, but he lost his flexibility. And he became slower.
He began stress eating because he couldn't find a solution. Wen he saw he was getting fat, he quickly trained to loose weight, but in doing so he found he had better balance and he had mass behind his strikes now.
I myself am quite fat. I'm 140kgs
Even with my size I can do a full split and I can now do Splits on 2 chairs. I owe that to Aikido excercises.
Bob is an exaggeration yes. But wats important her is that bob became who he is through his own efforts. Hes not gonna encourage anyone to be like him because he's focused on himself.
I always thought he was cool because he's the best version of himself. And that's inspiring.
Rufus thinks hes at the pinical and he deserves respect because he says so.
Which is actually rather damaging for him and others around him.
It's not his fat that makes Rufus bad.
Hes bad because hes a entitled selfish idiot.
And I like both characters.
But bob is better.
walter conley how does it could that offend you? Makes zero sense that you should be offended by someone who chooses to become obese not caring for what people have to say about his body. Unlike others that get fat, don’t do anything about it but get mad when someone brings it up (Rufus)
Great production and topics bro 😎
I actually like E. Honda...and could care less about Bob, and hate Rufus.
Honda is a fun loving, yet honorable character.
Plus, he actually plays like a large character- and he's never presented as "fat' like Rufus or SFV Birdie, but rather just big- and plays as such.
He has multiple moves that involve jumping ass-first in his opponent.
I always loved playing Rufus. he was my main for so many years playing SF4 and SFxT. So many years and I kinda miss him in the recent capcom game ^^'...
Tekken's Bob: "Sammo Hung" potrayal.
I remember meeting this capoeira master from Brazil that was literally nicknamed "mountain" for his size. You can imagine my surprise and awe when I witnessed this guy literally defying gravity in a fight. I rarely play Tekken or fighting games in general but I remember Bob as a nice breath of fresh air.
Smash is just sitting in the corner droppin a mic because K. Rool is just the coolest of em all and he’s the only fat guy we got.
(Constructive Critism) The quality for this video is great but I honestly don't understand the message of the video. I watched all way thru and enjoyed it but for the most part the video was you telling the backstory of 2 (fat) characters from different games. It might be that i dont understand the type of videos you make. But Rufus is great at being a slob while Bob has a good backstory that makes sense (for the most part) The video was missing a very needed conclusion because I'm sure a lot of people were left in the dark by the end of your video. (I'm sure it's annoying to have a long comment like this pop up and see it's on an 11 month old video so I hope you are having a nice day :) Also this video did show me how awesome of a character bob is
damn bob is one of my favorite fighter character ever. brilliant analyzation. just found your channel and im eager to stay. great content :3
I don’t care about the differences of these characters. Just because Rufus is “ugly” and “repulsive” doesn’t make him a bad character. A character is everything that they envelop whether you like it or not.
Tbh, everytime I look at Rufus, I always wish Capcom kept the King Cobra design.
Funnily enough Bob falls under the E Honda problem while Rufus is more complex a character than most people realise.
Bob's entire schtick is speed and weight and there is little else about Bob otherwise
Rufus went to China to learn Kung Fu, he biked his way to various kung fu masters to sort out the movie magic from the practical moves.
Rufus is a legend amongst bikers, has a girlfriend, and is one of only 2 characters in street fighter who recognize E Honda is undermining his own goal of promoting sumo by street fighting.
There is more to Rufus than meets the eye, and you not seeing that kinda shows that you, too, have fallen under the trap of obese sterotypes despite warning your audience against it.
Other who also recognizes Honda's bad effect is Dan Hibiki who has more "realistic" build as well. Self-taught, not a prodigy and always broke and still soldiers on.
Goldlewis Dickinson is a great new addition
Your speach at the end got me all kinds of hype as a fan of various character types, a writer, and a slightly over weight 31 year old man. I still need to loose a 100 pounds, but that doesn't mean I can't, and shouldn't, be awesome as is.
"At their worst fat characters create a harmful association between obesity and piggishness" 😂
You hype up bob like hes more than Rufus or sfv birdie, but at the end of the day they're identical. Bob's only trait is that he is fat but also fast, at least birdie and rufus have actual personalities. Bob has never gotten even a smidgeon of character development, he is a one note joke character.
Bob is one of my absolute favorite characters due to how much he flipped the script on fat characters. His personality is dripping is coolness and confidence. Has a smooth, deep voice courtesy of Patrick Seitz. His fighting style is usually done by slim/shredded people, so to see him pull off 540 kicks, sideswipes, and corkscrews just makes him so memorable. Also, I’m glad that they introduced a fighter to represent XMA/tricking.
Another great example of Bob’s swag, is his ending with Julia in SFXT. He basically had her swooning. Lol
If I start punching at the edge of the screen. The fat chacter will lose health. Because the fat chacter's hitbox will register it!
That confidence Bob has makes me happy that i have a bit of timber on me. I actually do wonder what his training regimen was.
I always liked Bob. Just how fast he was for his size was amazing and just look at his beautiful smile!
"This Rock Paper Scissors thing is getting old. What if.... Rock was *also* Scissors"
And so Bob was born.
This video started out pretty cool, I thought it was going to be about function of how fat characters work vs. other archetypes. This turned out to be an anti-fat shaming ad.
Yes, big people can be cool, Heroic etc...but noticed how 98% of these more rotund game characters are Men?
There are only 2 more heavily laden game ladies to my recollection. The main princess in the game "Fat Princess" and that exercise coach in the first Ratchet & Clank game (who's mechanical).
If only this was made in 2021. Then we could talk about the glory of GOLDDICK LEWISON
Those characters that reach really far.
The Stretchy as I call them
Damn, this made me fairly proud of Bob and made me realise why i decided play with him in the first place
All I’m gonna say is that this is a video game and we don’t always need correct representation because any narrative can be adjusted onto any character such as how instead of saying that Bob is who is jealous of bigger body sizes, instead you can say he’s a fallen legend who’s trying to get back on track. Social commentary doesn’t automatically make a character good and it isn’t really necessary needed especially in a fighting game where characters are beating the ever loving shit out of each other. I’m not saying that social commentary shouldn’t be added to a game, I just believe that it shouldn’t take president over the base enjoyability of the character
The tl;dw of this episode:
- Bob = Sammo Hung
- Rufus = Chris Farley in Beverly Hills Ninja
This is more of a "I like Bob, I don't like Rufus" video than a fat character one. Was expecting a karnov's revenge nod
I have a problem with Rufus that goes beyond just him - it's that Street Fighter has too many joke characters. Not only characters designed from the ground up to be silly and dumb, like Rufus and Hakan, but also taking established characters and making them into jokes.
For example, take Hugo. Hugo has a past as a criminal and is based off Andre The Giant who personified the "I'm unstoppable and I know it" Juggernaut-like giant inside the wrestling business, and was an enormously entertaining larger than life personality in real life. What does Capcom make out of that? A functionally braindead moron from a German backwater that's only dimly aware of what's going on around him and thus has barely anything interesting to do with any of the other characters. Sweet.
This is irritating, in my opinion, because it makes so much of the cast into roadblocks and non-entities. You can never believe that these people are legitimate contenders, and even if they seem strong they're just taking screen time from other, better characters.
Street Fighter already has the perfect joke character in Dan Hibiki, they never needed any more.
What's funny is that in SF3 Hugo was not fucking dumb and could actually communicate with people, this goofyness is almost all Ono's doing.
Your comment nailed it. That's why people hate Fang (forgive the pun).
Dhalsim is stretchy because he does yoga, he does yoga because he's Indian.
The silliness has been there since day one.
@@WattieWasTaken - Day one was *Street Fighter I* and even after that, there was Street Fighter '89, which was later turned into Final Fight (which is probably the reason why all of those Street Fighter/Final Fight crossovers happened to the point where the Final Fight series became part of Street Fighter lore), so there.
Also, the silliness from Street Fighter II is what one Zeusdaz has complained about a lot in the descriptions of his Street Fighter I playthroughs, in which he has also complained about Birdie being blackwashed, a point with which I do agree. I've never really seen black Birdie as the white Birdie who was an opponent in the very first Street Fighter, despite him have a remix of white Birdie's theme as a theme (which, fun fact, was the only Street Fighter I character theme to be officially remixed *and* used as a character theme in subsequent games) and white Birdie's moves, alongside his own. There's even one win quote of his that doesn't make sense, either and of course I'm typing about the one in which he claims that him appearing to be a white person was just him being "pale" because of his "sickness". No black person can appear that pale without suffering from vitiligo (but then again, there's the so-called "re-vitiligo", as mentioned by the self-proclaimed sufferer Uncle Ruckus in The Boondocks). And, I kind of hate that he was turned into a dimwitted glutton in Street Fighter V as well and on top of that, given a Rufus costume. Honestly.
I agree as far as characters go. I think Bob is unique and I love playing as Bob. On the other hand, there IS a connection between being a pig and fat. As a former fat guy who went the opposite of Bob (I undertook a training and eating regiment to become a smaller martial artist)....I am saying this from personal experience, not from a hatred of fat people. And it's a spectrum, I know not everyone is the exact same or was the same as me. But I think, being 100% honest, being fat generally shows a trend towards specific characteristics. I don't hate fat people, actually I feel sympathetic for the situation they're in and I would rather help them. Being a little chubby isn't a big deal. Being obese is a different story.
i love how you used a song from arms as the background in this video
Don't you think having a fat character like Bob being associated with coolness and confidence could make an unhealthy association between obesity and health?
Bob is hilariously agile for his size
I always loved Bob, because he managed to show that his skill is undefined by weight, but for the fact that it gives him strength, as in par with his catchphrase "Speed and Weight"
I also find it funny how playing as skinny bob makes his moves seem like a disadvantage to him when he does any move that uses his stomach.
I really like this style of "man talks directly to his computer while designing episode with pen in hand".
Character flaws don’t make a character poorly made, quite the opposite in fact
I wonder if a military vet who’s fat because he can’t work out as well as he did would work.
I'm thinking a fat guy who trained while under house arrest and so they gained skill and muscle but not the weight.
@@stephensmith7327 hmm, that could work.
Super old video at this point, but I think it would be remiss not to mention that outside the world of fighting games, the Yakuza series actually broke new ground in terms of fat character design by introducing Ed in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. He's a triad enforcer who, on the one hand, is absolutely massive, but on the other hand, is shown to be both incredibly dexterous and strong. His weapon of choice is a karambit, which just from its design suggests what it (and by extension him) are all about: fluid motion and precise strikes. He was the first minor fat antagonist who wasn't just a big, slow mountain of an enemy, and he had one of the best themes in the game, to boot.
Of course, Yakuza being Yakuza, they promptly followed this massive step forward with Sakakiba in Judgment, a gang leader who is fat, stupid, eats food, and is constantly goaded into fights with the promise of a free meal. His fighting style is based around flailing his limbs wildly and squishing you. It astonishes me that both of these characters appeared 1. So close to each other, and 2. In the order that they did. We haven't seen another fat character with any story significance since then, and if we do get one in the future, I imagine they'll be more like Sakakiba than Ed.
A bad pr card? My man hit the self-destruct card.
Kingpin would squish you into a tiny human meat ball for calling him fat
My favorite fat character in fiction is without a doubt. Chien - Po from Disney's Mulan. Big and strong yet kind and moving with the grace of a hummingbird.
You certainly missed the entire point of not only Bob, but Rufus as well. You act like Bob isn't a joke character, but he is and it sounds like you're letting some weird bias get in to the way of your assessment.
My favorite fat character in gaming is the Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2 (for those 2 people that didn't know him). I specifically love the way he is portrayed in the comics, where he is shown to be intelligent, kind, and not quite as loud as when murdering tiny baby men. He likes himself his guns, murder and sandwich, while maintaining a friendly relationship with the Doc. Cosmetics and taunts don't express what he is like because this: knowyourmeme.com/memes/pootis
is all the community sees of him.
Poor Birdie he was a really buff ripped grappler dude before devs made him an obese joke.
One of my favorite fat characters is the Duke from RE Village. He's such a humble jolly guy, yet he's also a man of mystery and wisdom. I'd hang out with him if I could.
Eh, I see where you’re getting at, but Rufus wasn’t a good pick for the “how not to do it”
Yes it was
While I think Bobs looks and personality are fantastic and Rufus looks and personality are terrible, I actually think of the two warriors its Rufus who has the much more interesting and clever concept. The idea of a guy who became a Kung fu master by obsessively watching and studying old Kung fu flicks is actually really funny imo, we can all relate to mimicking something cool we saw and inspired to be like at one point or another and Rufus is that incarnate. Not to mention it also would explain Rufus obesity, hes sitting down watching movies all day eating buttered popcorn and junk snacks while drinking soda most likely. Hell, it even adds some depth to Rufus character, is he really just a goofy gajin who watched one too many Kung fu movies and is somehow REALLY lucky to win fights, or is he possibly some sort of secret prodigy who could mimic and even master these intense skills by simply watching them to then somehow pull them off and win fights in world tournaments EVEN in his incredibly poor physical state? Imo there is a lot more to Rufus then I think you gave credit for in this comparison video lol.
Bob on the other hand CHOOSES to becomes obese because... the added weight will give him the statistic advantage...? as apposed to simply being a giant muscular body build instead? With Bobs life style and personality his obesity doesn't actually match, and if anything it completely ignores ANY of the downsides of being extremely overweight (such as fatigue as an example). It throws out absolutely all logic for the sake of being different and while I can absolutely respect that on a visual level it doesn't all seem to culminate into one smooth melt like I feel Rufus concept does.
Where I think Rufus absolutely does fail though is in his visual design, what an ugly, unlikable, eyesore of a character design lol. Say what you will about his personality, but good god the man looks like a yellow colored bomb from the 1870's and I think they tried just WAY too hard to be funny with his design. But visual gags are still a really big thing in Japanese culture, so while I personally hate it I understand why they went with it lol. Bob on the other hand looks cool and confident and has an extremely fashionable and charismatic personality, visually and personality wise I think Bob takes it with nearly zero competition. Bob is the perfect visual example of sometimes "less is more".
Fun video tho, thanks for sharing.
On the contrary I don't like bob. Tekkens problem is it just want to make almost every character COOL, even the fat guy, and keep telling you if he is slim he is also a handsome guy like the other male characters. That to me is lack of imagination and risk control.
I like that they try to make cool characters that look different.
Very true. I never thought of Bob like that
I had no idea that Bob existed and I am here as fuck for him. I am flabbergasted by how refreshing and positive it is to see a character like Bob, who is confident, skilled, and also fat but purposeful and controlled about it. He is exactly who he wants to be and derives many positive benefits from the success of his discipline.
I strongly think it's due to the fact that fat people are not respected in Japan. In fact, if you are considered in overweight, you'll be taxed. People will do remarks to you if you are not taking charge of your body. It's to prevent overweightness.
I have to agree that Bob is a more interesting character than Rufus. Aside from the general difference in each character's likeability, Bob simply has more character to talk about. Rufus just kind of exists, with no real motivation other than to defeat Ken Masters for no real reason. Bob has a generic, but solid motivation to prove himself against people's perception of him. Rufus doesn't do anything but show up and fight people for no reason, but he could've had some interesting qualities. His character page on the Street Fighter wiki has interesting info about his original character concept.
Maybe if players were shown a reason why Rufus hates Ken, or if he was given a different reason to fight other than to prove he's strong, he'd be more appreciated. I'd like to think that if Rufus was just canonically faceblind, and had some kind of sincere apologetic side to him, he'd be more interesting. Adjusting his personality to focus more on why he hates Ken could ask some interesting questions about Rufus that could give some interesting results. Maybe Rufus is gross because he neglects his hygiene and manners in favor of training to defeat Ken, instead of being gross for no reason. Lots of altered character traits he already has could give him some room for character growth.
To be fair, Birdie was already a gross, dumb thug with zero discipline when he was ripped.
actually rufus have a unique style in sf4 i had a lot of fun with him, but yeah he could be more confident inside the story
if Rufus were a Female, She would have been a Parody of SJW.
uh... nope... and plz don't use a yellow light saber, blue blue is the color sorry.
Now I want to draw a fat awesome character like Bob now
Function must be the reason why Gamefreak has been more or less recently been streamlining the monsters added to the new Pokemon games added in the Switch games. It is their way of balancing the options the player may pick and choose to add to their team. Unfortunately for a Pokemon they gave the idea of catching them all as a motto making simply giving each new monster as Function to replace an old favorite monster will not sit well to most players.
The difference between a character that's fat vs. A Fat Character.
Even though Bob is charismatic and rather likeable, I think there are better ways to make an overweight character interesting instead of "what if he looks reaally heavy, but actually is superfast?!" Good character design is supposed to make you know what a character is all about by how they look. A fighting game character's look is supposed to represent not only their personality to some extent, but also their archetype and moveset. Making an overweight character move like he had the weight of a feather isn't revolutionary or interesting, it's just an easy cop out in an attempt to make a fat player easily playable and not angry anyone. Goldlewis from Guilty Gear Strive accomplishes making an overweight character be badass while having attacks that aren't slow at all, yet have weight in animation, I think he's the perfect example of a well made overweight fighting game character. It's 100 times better than having him be just a regular martial artist that shouts "speed and weight!" and has a huge belly he uses to attack you quickly with (?). I'm not with you on this one at all, very bad take. Don't get me wrong, I think Bob is better than Rufus, but to say he's good because of that would be setting the bar very low.
(By the way, you cited Bo' Rai Cho as a bad case, but his thing isn't that he's overweight, it is that he's a drunken mess, hence why his name is literally "drunken" in spanish, he just has a belly because he's constantly drinking alcohol, and pukes because he's drunk. I'd think such a consistently high quality channel would have some care for giving correct information.)
The main dude from Oldboy also learned martial arts from watching TV, but no one's laughing at him
Bob wouldn't be able to fly around due to joint issues because of his weight
2:40
"A harmful association between obesity and piggishness"? The fuck?
Does heavy count, i mean yeah the joke is he's fat but he's more of a psychopath seeing as he was born in a gulag, the comics show he is well versed to survive in his home country as his fats insulate him from the cold and his body mass lets him wrestle bears bigger than a car, he's also kind of intellectual on a villainous side seeing as he's even broken into the Administrator's office
I don't think Bob is revolutionary. He's just living out the Japanese ideal of ‘shokunin' or "singular focus". Its the idea that whatever you do. Do it to perfection. If you're going to be a fat fighter be serious about it until the point of obsession.
Bob it's one of my favorite characters in Tekken at general, sad that he didn't made his way to 8
So I was surprised the actor Sammo Hung never got mentioned - he's a large guy who's subversively agile for his size, and might even have inspired Bob somewhat, although I'm not claiming that was ever deliberate.
It was interesting seeing the Bo'Rai Cho clip pop up as well. The idea behind his character is that he is also agile despite his size. He staggers about because his style is drunken boxing, and thus it's because he drinks so heavily that he is fat, pukes, and farts; he doesn't puke and fart just because he's fat.
I have to say, while I prefer more Bob, Rufus is an pretty alright character. Not the worst, but neither the best.
Nothing scarrier than a heavyweight that moves like a featherweight
So nothing is scarier than Muhammad Ali
Fat character = Tank
Small character in suits of armour = squishy
Tell that the kawaii UwU barely legal Asian gamer girl waifu... sorry, I meant D.Va.
I just like Bob because he looked like a Fat Cody from FF, but boy is he one of my favorite coolest characters in Tekken.
As someone who hasn’t played tekken I always expected bob to be just about the same as Rufus, but maybe a bit more serious to fit tekken’s more serious looking style, and I’m actually pleasantly surprised.
bob actually sounds pretty cool!
When I was 13 I had a crush on Bob but my family shamed me for it 😂 I remember making a post on Miiverse saying “Bob from Tekken kinda…”
Rufus its like patrick star but from REALLY bad spongebob episode were patrick is A GIANT AHOLE like ink lemonade that rufus in a nutshell
The 3rd you mention is called Long Range.
Bob is my spirit animal.