#deerchatter

from a design perspective, even though he's an alien, he has so many little anatomy quirks that make him a more believable fat character than many fat human designs in other media. I love the realistic sag and layering of the fat on his arms, the lack of neck definition, the rim of chub around his face and upper back, the way his back is rounded. his clothes pull taut and pinch in anatomically accurate places (e.g. shoulders are firmer = smoother outlines, the sides and back are squishier = bumpier outlines).

and he's stylized so well! all these great details boiled down to some simple shapes and pen strokes. IMO the Lilo and Stitch art style is extremely appealing - it's warm and clean and visually pleasing, but every character is super unique. Jumba isn't supposed to be pretty, but even though he's a very large, very fat, bald older guy who spends most of the movie in crop tops, the way he's stylized and staged makes it clear the audience is supposed to find him interesting to look at, and variably intimidating/cool/powerful/capable. he's often funny, but the physical aspect of his comedy is derived from being so hefty the other characters struggle to prevent him from barreling ahead and doing whatever he wants; being fat makes him come off more in control of the funny situations he gets into, not less. also, because the art style is what it is, a lot of his character acting also just makes him look kind of cute ... though that's universal across the cast

I also really like the fact that his size clearly gives him both realistic advantages and realistic disadvantages. along with having a stronger sense of agency in the comedic scenes, his size in combination with his impulsivity also makes him a more intimidating antagonist. you never know what he's going to do, and his size makes it difficult for other characters to stop him when he's made up his mind. at the same time, it seems to take him longer to catch his breath, he sometimes grunts when moving around a lot to imply it takes more effort, and he clearly struggled to find clothes that fit him when putting together his disguise. I think it's awesome that the character's size impacts how he interacts with the world so much, and again, in relatable ways

and personality wise, it is ALWAYS great to see fat characters portrayed as intelligent - not only is Jumba an accomplished scientist, he's also crafty and witty! a few quiet scenes imply a philosophical side, as he ponders on Stitch's existence and feelings as a living weapon. with Stitch explicitly being made in his own image to an extent, I'd argue there's even room to interpret some of the things he says about Stitch being hints to how he sees himself; we never learn much about Jumba's past, but it's clear he's a social misfit and strongly defiant. I don't think it's a stretch to assume some of what he said to Stitch about being a monster who can never belong anywhere was intended to read as projection (which makes it all the more heartwarming when both of them find a place to belong on Earth)

it's also a nice twist that toward the end, Jumba is the one who is unexpectedly compassionate toward Nani, while Pleakley tries to urge him to ignore her. again alluding to a level of emotional depth and intelligence that is often missing from even well-intentioned depictions of fat people. his character isn't even fully explored, and yet he's one of the most dynamic and interesting supporting characters in a movie full of fantastic characters. the audience is expected to find him fascinating and even sort of mysterious, and he is!

the sequels and spinoffs were more merchandise-driven franchise fluff for kids than the artsy direction of the original movie, but even so, I remember Jumba went on to become Lilo's lovable, amoral uncle figure, which I also thought was so fun as a kid. I love that they committed to the fact that he was more caring and compassionate than he seemed. not only was he a cool evil mad scientist character, but he was also eventually ... a friend ...

like ... it's such a major theme of both Deltarune and Undertale that everyone has someone who would miss them if they were gone. no one is expendable, no matter how "unimportant" they seem from your perspective. it's one of the first major genre subversions that Undertale explicitly spells out for you

a major twist at the end of Undertale is that even Flowey has the capacity to miss someone who is gone. everyone is connected in some way, no one is truly alone. Deltarune elaborates on this theme; Susie is ostracized in the beginning, but Noelle always wanted to be closer with her, Toriel divorced Asgore, but she still prays for him, Carol is feared by those closest to her, but the town she runs appreciates her efforts, King is a tyrant, but Lancer still loves his dad despite everything, many people in Cyber World are afraid of Queen, but the Swatchlings are devoted to her, Jevil was close with Seam once. if the player allows it, even Tenna, defined by his loneliness and obsolescence, can go on to be exactly what someone else (Mettaton) needs. Tenna himself seems to miss Spamton on some level, who is otherwise widely hated.

but not one character is shown to care about Ramb, and when he "dies", a random colleague shrugs it off and says no one will miss him. and not because he was uniquely evil or anything, he was just kind of annoying and no one around him found a reason to look past it. Tenna's a shitty boss who actively abuses the power he holds over his world to make others' lives miserable, but he's also tragic and fun and charismatic, so those around him warm up to him despite his problems. when the Knight cuts him up, depending on circumstance, there will be people around him to fix him up again, or at least to mourn him.

this even extends to a meta level. Tenna's character is fully explored and his popularity with fans is through the roof. Ramb is a blip on the fandom's radar by comparison. we just don't get to know him that well, and he's just not that engaging. he's just some guy, friendly enough to us, but with much subtler characterization than most of the quirky personalities in this game. Tenna is loved in part because he has a huge, ugly, violent meltdown; it makes him exciting! relatable! Ramb never seems to directly hurt anybody. no doubt if he actually had been chapter 3's secret boss, as was hinted he might be before that pattern was subverted, he would have been more popular. but he wasn't the secret boss. really, there's no solid evidence he ever wanted anything except to help Kris in the only way he knew how.

I wonder if Kris cared about him. I want to say "of course they did" because he's an old item they used to love playing with come to life, but there are hints that Kris has a complicated relationship to the Darkners in general, so I actually don't want to say for sure. the player is compelled to care about Ramb at least a little because he's friendly to us and ultimately enables us, but we are not Kris, and the path Ramb enables the player to take is clearly emotionally distressing to Kris.

idk. there's just something about someone dying unloved and unmissed. not because they "deserve" it, but mostly out of happenstance. he didn't meet the right people for him. he was kind of aggravating and nothing about him was interesting or charming enough for anyone to want to look past it. after he's gone, the only person who takes note of his passing takes time out of their day to figuratively spit on his grave. in a story that is so warm and so full of love, where everyone is so connected, he just kind of ... slipped through the cracks

is it the way she dresses? she's poor and seems to spend all day doing hard manual labor at jobs she isn't happy in. those are her work clothes. is it because she's unkempt? she seems to suffer from a psychotic disorder, which are often characterized by an inability to keep on top of personal grooming. is it because she's stout/muscled/fat? if so, why do you associate this body type with masculinity? would you still see her as masculine if she was thin?

between her pink heart earring, her long hair and her love for cute things and princesses, her interests seem to lean more feminine than Andi's, yet I haven't seen anyone call Andi butch.

a lot of the time he's right about needing to be more direct/deal with things in a way that may seem scary/needing to put your gut reaction aside. he tries not to make his friends uncomfortable and he puts up with a lot because he's trying to keep the peace, but he also pushes the others out of their comfort zones purposefully to try to get them to think more constructively. everyone else in the party is prone to acting on their gut instincts and avoiding uncomfortable situations even when facing them head-on is very much necessary. part of what makes laios such a great leader is the fact that he knows from experience how to put his own feelings aside to help someone else grow.

Rouge has it so fucking good. like oh hi normal girl who's just kind of nosey and has a pretty cool job. I see you brought a wrathful god in mortal form, is he helping you with errands? that checks out, after all you're like his favorite person. btw where's that bloodthirsty killing machine pinnacle of engineering that runs on hate and only likes two people. I think you might be his favorite person too, you guys are always hanging out