Why. is. birdie. fat?

[ratkingSALTY]

Love his style in 5, especially the golden birdie chain outfit you get at lvl 25 or the storymode costume. Makes his hitbox look even bigger its ridicolous

[PSYCH0J0SH]

Let me guess, all the people who dislike the fat design would just prefer that Birdie was another muscle hunk like most of the rest of the male cast so that they can better live out their power fantasies, but now they have to play as a fat guy and this makes them sad/mad because they hate fat people.

“Power fantasies”… oh boy, you’re one of THOSE idiots, aren’t you?

Regardless, no. I was simply asking why they made him fat. Why they changed his design. It’s a simple and reasonable question. Because he was ALREADY a “muscle hunk” (even though he was ugly and crude in the last games) and for him to become obese was a change no one asked for or expected. It’s one thing to introduce a new obese character and another to drastically change an existing one. Birdie was previously a wrestler and a bunch of other things and this game outright ignores the character’s past, so of course people are going to ask why.

It’s like if Ryu became a circus clown without any explanation. People would be asking why the unexpected change happened.

[IM_Amazon]

I was simply asking why they made him fat. Why they changed his design…Because he was ALREADY a “muscle hunk” (even though he was ugly and crude in the last games) and for him to become obese was a change no one asked for or expected. It’s one thing to introduce a new obese character and another to drastically change an existing one. Birdie was previously a wrestler and a bunch of other things and this game outright ignores the character’s past, so of course people are going to ask why.

They probably made him fat to stand out. Everyone’s swole in SF, yeah, but alongside big bodies like Zangief/Hawk/Sodom/Balrog/Sagat/Hugo his look was lacking in originality. Being Zangief and Balrog put together was practically his whole M.O. in Alpha, and it showed in how little he stood out. Going for the fat plays to the character’s strengths and gives him a more identifiable concept (and silhouette).

He was a wrestler and whatever shit before, but it’s all minor supplementary stuff. Birdie’s love of food was background before too, but it was part of his being an uncouth goon, which was always on display. I prefer the current take on Birdie because his past is frankly uninteresting. Playing up his campy side gives him something to do.

It’s like if Ryu became a circus clown without any explanation. People would be asking why the unexpected change happened.

I wouldn’t say Birdie’s change was unexplained–he’s lazy. I wouldn’t say being a lazy slob was ‘unexpected’ for Birdie, so him returning with a gut was totally in line with my expectations.