Resident Evil Village bashed for promoting fat-shaming, as The Duke’s appearance offends fans

The recently released Resident Evil Village has come under scrutiny from part of the gaming community due to its’ portrayal of the character “The Duke.”

The Duke is a merchant and is one of the only NPCs in Resident Evil 8 who does not intend to kill the protagonist, Ethan Winters. Players can buy supplies and weapons from the Duke.

Seen people are complaining about the character of The Duke in Resident Evil The Village. Here's my thoughts: There will ALWAYS be these people.Add Character: "That's literally fat shaming"Don't add the Character: "Where's the fat representation?"Developers can't win. pic.twitter.com/WWjakuNys2

— Anthony Brown (@Propaneman1968) May 13, 2021

However, part of the internet has criticized the portrayal of the obese Resident Evil 8 character. Some people have said that The Duke is a mere “vehicle for fat-shaming,” although most seemed to deny the allegations.

Cw fat hatredLooks like my suspicions of how Resident Evil Village was going to handle the character of The Duke were confirmed. From Polygon's review https://t.co/qWmYZWNF9M pic.twitter.com/RTPpG3QVoo

— BOARLORD (@boarlord_) May 5, 2021

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Resident Evil Village gets criticized for promoting fat-shaming due to its portrayal of “The Duke”

The Duke is a quaint character that most gamers/fans have appreciated. The developers of the Resident Evil Village put in separate animations for The Duke each time players throw a pipe-bomb at him. The Duke “coughs” and waves his arms around to clear the smoke when the bomb goes off around him.

Hence, The Duke has actually been appreciated by most fans. However, his obese portrayal has led to allegations of the game promoting “fat-shaming.” Resident Evil 8 has been criticized, with multiple articles pointing out how such exaggerated obese characters lead to increased “anti-fat” bias in people.

It’s not surprising that a Japanese game handles a fat character poorly. It’s not surprising that Resident Evil handles secondary characters as a freak show.Even so, The Duke is as boringly predictable as I feared. He won’t be remembered fondly like RE4’s merchant. pic.twitter.com/2YeAAxk4pn

— Mark Lawson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺 Wear a Mask (@Born2beSlicker) May 8, 2021

"Resident Evil Village's Duke Represents A Tired Trope Of Fat-Shaming"Actually it represents an older real life issue where rich people were fat because they could afford to get food like rice hulled. (with out the fiber that helps keep weight down) I see nothing wrong...

— 𝔏𝔲𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔞 (@LumLotus) January 30, 2021

The Internet collectively pining for the tall vampire lady in Resident Evil 8 has been fun, though we haven't seen much said about "The Duke," who appears to be a vehicle for frustrating fat jokes. They couldn't even give him clothes that fit, which tells you all you need to know pic.twitter.com/a8NBt4xZf0

— Jennifer/Aster Unkle (@jbu3) January 27, 2021

It sucks that game designers only put effort into making fat people if they're making fun of them or they're villainous in some way. Bc The Duke in the new Resident Evil game looks good to me. Fat is a very beautiful part of the body. I just wish it wasn't loathed like it is.

— ☀️ Shiiba, The Fat Black Leftist ˎˊ˗ (@HappyShiiba) May 9, 2021

Additionally, various scientific sources have been cited to support the claim.

For example, the following journal article states:

“Images and video of fat people eating junk food or laying on the couch watching television, for example – increases people’s explicit anti-fat bias”

The Duke is just such a weird shitty design choice in what is otherwise, so far in my experience, an ideal sequel to Resident Evil 7. Village is SO GOOD, but The Duke being a shitty fat joke just sucks. https://t.co/GKjGnNDYug

— TONBERRY QUEEN (@TEANTACLES) May 8, 2021

leave fatness in general alone and learn to write how about that

— No Escape from time as a flat circle (@noescapevg) January 22, 2021

wrote about how it's shockingly unsurprising that the first thing you see of resident evil duke's is not his face, but his belly, and obviously he's greedy because "fat" usually means a) greedy, b) bad, or c) the punchline of a joke https://t.co/30oGsr9EkD

— cian maher (@cianmaher0) January 28, 2021

Seeing the Duke in our RE8 playthrough made us angrier with his existence as a vehicle for fat jokes. If they cut those parts out, having a fairly chill shopkeeper casually chatting about your adventures is an interesting evolution of the RE4 shopkeeper! But he sucks to be around

— Jennifer/Aster Unkle (@jbu3) May 8, 2021

As can be seen, quite a few people on Twitter agreed and tried to bring awareness to the situation. It has been claimed that The Duke’s representation in Resident Evil Village is merely there to make fun of fat people.

People complaining about the new Duke merchant character in Resident Evil Village is "fat shaming" lmao.Can't wait to play the game.

— (ロバート) Robert (@NehemiahTheVamp) February 5, 2021

regarding VA by the way, when i saw that 'the duke' character in the new resident evil, i was like'okay, his japanese voice actor has to be chafurin, right', because that guy is typecast into the role of doing the groanworthy 'doofy fat guy' voicei was 100% on the money

— Melly 🏳️‍⚧️ (@MelvanaChainsII) May 8, 2021

People that are calling resident evils duke fat shaming need to pull their head out of their ass

— Stukonister (@Stukonister) January 31, 2021

Why not care about NONE of it and just enjoy a new Resident Evil game?. I mean, does it even matter if a character is fat or gay?. Why draw so much attention to something as petty as weight or sexuality?. We are who we are and if Capcom says The Duke is a lardass that's who he is

— Pustulio81 (@pustulio81) January 31, 2021

So apparently people are offended over Resident Evil Village's character called The Duke... cos he's fat and therefore, Fatshaming...Why so weak? S O W E A K !Cry me a fat fucking river of oil lmfao pic.twitter.com/OKnyfYJbNs

— 🔞GRose🔞 (@1eyed_devil) January 31, 2021

Regardless, most gamers seem to appreciate the character and have criticized those who are claiming that it promotes fat-shaming. The tweets above were all posted by people who thought that people criticizing Resident Evil 8’s portrayal of The Duke were being over-sensitive. Resident Evil Village has received largely favorable reviews and has been well-received by fans as well.