I Do My Best To Avoid Posts If They Bother Me, But This One About The Duke Was Circulating Again And

I do my best to avoid posts if they bother me, but this one about The Duke was circulating again and I couldn't really ignore it. The post is a meme aimed at Capcom I seriously doubt what it's trying to say. I find the assumption that Capcom have bad intentions with The Duke unreasonable, so I won't reblog just to disagree with the content. I'm just downhearted to imagine the thoughts in above post crossing someone's mind while appreciating Duke as the genuinely attractive character he is.

I don't believe Capcom were saying look at this ugly/disgusting/grotesque/uncomfortable character for one moment. Because number one, it's obvious Duke isn't ugly. He can't be considered grotesque because of his looks, his face is beautiful. Is the "ugly" assumption based on his obesity then? Hopefully not, yet would anyone even jump to conclusions and think of a meme like the one above if Duke wasn't obese because it seems such a thing is only aimed at Duke for that reason. Taking everything about his character and size into consideration, I don't see why the criticism of Capcom would stem from it though. His fatness is not treated disrespectfully or demonised.

I'm not only puzzled about the creators being accused when they brought us such a great/great looking character, I'm also disappointed that someone would jump to that kind of conclusion on seeing Duke. In fact, the very idea that Capcom hope viewers find Duke [insert horrible adjective] is so random to me that it never entered my head until the above meme and similar comments stemming from that.

Of the 1,000+ people who interacted with the meme, I'm really glad some stated the obvious about Duke, such as him literally being adorable, a sweetheart, actually normal looking and handsome, they've never seen him as ugly or grotesque, etc. And that's a good point. He is a normal looking human, so why would Capcom market him as ugly and grotesque when there are plenty of characters who really are!

Then I noticed an important question under the meme: "was that really their [Capcom's] intent because they failed miserably?"

And the answer is no, there's no evidence that was really their intent, they didn't even hint that they wanted the audience to be repulsed by The Duke. There's no evidence the meme is Capcom's perspective at all. The meme is a personal opinion disguised as Capcom's perspective. They never said Duke was supposed to be seen in a bad light. He's a breath of fresh air. For him to be unique and a foodie are about the only things they mentioned about him. If someone jumps to the negative on seeing an obese man in revealing clothes, that's on them, not the designers.

Duke is one of the most inappropriate characters to include in a meme about ugliness. If Moreau was used I could understand it more because he's a distorted fish monster, but Duke? Why? He isn't monstrous. Disgusting to look at? Where? Again, he's physically attractive in both face and body! He's not even attractive in an acquired taste, ugly-cute kind of way. He's truly handsome, objectively so, for sure. Fan art is rarely able to capture his beauty. He's wearing a revealing outfit, doesn't mind showing his belly to the world, and looks hot doing it. More celebratory than shaming. Capcom are all about horror and could have made him into a monster if they desired, but they didn't. He may feature in a horror game, but his weight is not related to that. He's a normal, very likeable man who happens to be very obese. The weight is undeniably beautiful on him too and adds to the appeal. His character would be lacking without it. I can't imagine how someone might intepret his magnificent appearance negatively.

So, I don't believe Duke's beauty is accidental. Capcom had to know what they were doing in the best possible way for people to swoon over him and fall in love with him at first sight. They know what he looks like as much as we do, they designed him beautifully. I doubt it was a matter of just throwing a few ingredients together to make a character that ended up being attractive by chance. His design is perfect and very deliberate.

I think the real proof of their intention with The Duke is revealed when you consider the differences in the concept compared with the finished look. If they wanted people to find Duke ugly, they would have surely gone ahead with their original designs, the concept art where he looks very different and is not a beauty:

Not only did they think better of these designs by changing his face completely, make changes about his body and other features, they actually decided to take it even further by adding more weight than is seen on these concepts. They are not the overall fatter Duke we know:

We ended up with a much larger Duke than these, and good looking on top of that, which shows they intended him to be attractive as the obese man he is. They didn't just add more weight and keep the unappealing face, they actually combined extreme weight with a pretty face. For Capcom to think the fattest man we've ever seen should also be the best looking, how on earth is he supposed to be ugly? This is why I cannot justify the meme about Capcom, it doesn't make sense.

Even Aaron LaPlante mentioned the notable differences between the concept art and in-game, remarking on his grotesque looks in the original idea vs his cherubic looks afterwards.

Now, if Duke looked like the concept art in the final design and people were swooning over him like that, the ugly meme would make sense. I'd understand the he's made to be repulsive but we're surprisingly attracted to him remarks because they'd be true. It would be an unexpected attraction to a gross looking merchant. But in the end, Duke didn't look like that. He looks like this:

He's seriously gorgeous it's unreal, so it's not really shocking to desire and be attracted to him! If you can look at such an exquisite gentleman and your thoughts jump to Capcom having bad intent, hoping for the audience to be uncomfortable or disgusted or anything similar, I don't know what else to emphasise.

I don't think Capcom are cowards either. If they originally thought Duke should be extremely fat and attractive, but backed out at the last moment because they didn't want to admit a man of such size can be genuinely desirable and seen in a positive light, that would be a cowardly move. But they didn't back out. Nothing negative was mentioned when they introduced him to the world. They created the fattest man who's also the most beautiful, so if the majority of people see how beautiful he is, I'd say... that was their intention. Meaning they didn't fail miserably, they got a great result.

Not forgetting the Masked Duke who has the same image, the body and styling which is obviously required. And the same charm, just in an evil sense. His handsome face may be partially obscured due to the fact he's an imperfect copy, yet the mask they gave him is still appealing. Even as a villain, the designers couldn't make The Duke unpleasant in any way!

And people are really saying, take that Capcom, the positive response to The Duke really backfired on you. I don't see anything backfiring on them. Judging by the overhaul of Duke's design from the concept, their intention must have been to have an aesthetically pleasing Duke. Being drawn to him is a good result for them, we're seeing him for exactly what he is. So if anything, it's well done Capcom, you achieved what you set out to do! They nailed his design, he's perfect. An intriguing, sweet, sexy character, larger than life in every sense, and isn't hiding away in a perfectly fitting outfit. His figure is stunning and unapologetically on display, which makes the fan art that covers him in clothes that fit very disappointing.

Most RE fans and even people who aren't fans adore Duke. He became the main attraction for many people. Capcom went all the way with both his weight and his looks. This is a man who's as handsome as he is obese and as obese as he is handsome. That's a devastatingly attractive combination that's rarely put out there, expecially in a mainstream game. Plus, his extreme obesity is an undeniable part of the attraction. I personally wouldn't have played Village if he wasn't there or if he looked different!

In conclusion, there's no need for Capcom slander. They didn't do him dirty as some say, they obviously did him right to make Duke lovers of us all. I think their motivations are clear, so I don't agree with criticising Capcom over some baseless speculation. Instead they should be praised for such a wonderful creation that is The Duke.