Let’s Talk – Goldlewis Dickinson from Guilty Gear -Strive- and why fat character representation is important.

This does mention anti-fatness topics, as well as Guilty Gear Strive story spoilers, be warned before going through this!

For those who don’t know, in the fighting game series Guilty Gear -Strive-, the newest DLC character was announced to join the roster: Goldlewis Dickinson. For someone who would like a fighting character who’s bigger/fat in any fighting game that’s not a negative stereotype, Goldlewis’ inclusion brought a lot of joy because it was similar to representing a character who could be my size; not exactly the same but definitely not thin, or straight-sized to be sure.

If you want to ask “yes but have you forgotten about the likes of Wario, King K. Rool and King Dedede from Smash?”, they are all negative stereotypes as mentioned above, that meaning that as with most depictions of bigger/fat characters in the media, they tend to be any of the follow or either of these: the antagonist, comedic relief, lazy, foolish or food-obsessed, all for the purpose of looking bad in comparison to other smaller characters in the media they appear in. Even weight gain of characters like Thor from Endgame or Alexis (Red Guardian) from Black Widow is taking that stereotype in some capacity, and I’m aware that there’s rarely much bigger/fat women represented in the media positively either as well.

Goldlewis Dickinson in Guilty Gear, from seeing the story in -Strive-, had none of these stereotypes; from what I gathered of the story, he’s a respected military leader of the US Government who had assisted in analysing the situation caused by Happy Chaos (the main antagonist of the games) and helped defend those who weren’t under the latter’s control briefly. Even when nearing the end of the story he had some fast food, it wasn’t like he was remarked on the presumed stereotype, it was more that it would be the last time he’d enjoy the particular place he got his food from before… something had to happen. (It’s been a while so I can’t recall EVERYTHING).

But Goldlewis was definitely positively represented and being the new DLC for the game itself to be playable again such good news, and his skillset from the trailer is amazing too with his gadgets and his Area 51... shield/minigun/alien companion hybrid weapon. And for a Japanese company to have incorporated him as he was into the game itself for the story as well is pretty big as well to incorporate him as a bigger/fat character, rather than thin or muscular like most of Guilty Gear’s cast.

My problem is, at least based off the memes of him being included even before Goldlewis was officially announced and one particular YouTube comment on his reveal trailer on the official channel, was the fact people would remark on his body or compare him to Heavy from Team Fortress 2 (also by appearance and not just the fact both characters wield a mini-gun). One particular comment from the YouTube trailer comments lead to a chain in regards to fatness in general and remarking on dieting and exercising and people’s weight losses and “as a former fat person” remarks. It felt pretty destructive to look at because this came from the original comment that mentioned “someone I could cosplay” to which an early reply was “lose weight”, and the chaos ensued. It’s the internet though so… it shouldn’t have been surprising, really.

If you have a problem with the existence of bigger/fat characters in media, as well as just bigger/fat people existing in the world, that’s really a “you” issue.

Goldlewis wouldn’t have been the first character to have been criticised or caused some sort of uproar in media; there was one character from She-Ra and Princesses of Power series (Spinnerella, below) who was bigger slightly compared to the other characters that was criticised heavily because it didn’t line up to the original series from decades ago (and also that, as anti-fatness does to minds, “doesn’t depict her as healthy”).

While I’m sure there’s more in media that I haven’t caught onto, the likeliness is that the reason you might have a problem with bigger/fat characters and to that extent the people around you who may fit into that category (and at worse anyone who isn’t thin and maybe “average” or straight-sized), even when they’re not the stereotype you expect them to be, is that you simply hate fat people.

We’ve been ingrained since young and growing up to believe fat people are inferior through the aforementioned negative stereotypes but also the inclusion of health as well; it doesn’t simply extend to media representation, it’s also seeing people in real life and making presumptions about them.

Taking it from my experiences since young, being around an anti-fat upbringing watching shows like The Biggest Loser and how some folks remarked on characters in fat suits or enjoyed mockery, and then I who gained weight myself had to face a mix of mockery and fears of people’s perceptions around me being implemented on me, and then “concern for my health” as well (granted with home the latter is understandable, but the approaches of getting forced into weight loss or restricting food would’ve been bad for me had I let that happen).

There was a major lack of representation positively being in a bigger/fat body, and it wasn’t until I came across characters like Heavy from TF2, Rose from Detroit: Become Human, and Goldlewis among others that there were some positive representations. Because otherwise the message was in other media was that “as long as you’re fat, you’re worthless”, which also emphasises the “empowerment” of characters who pursue weight loss.

The reality is that there are fat and healthy people living in the world, and among other representations Goldlewis definitely shows it in Guilty Gear. There are also fat and unhealthy people living in the world as well, but it should NEVER be a justification as to why you should throw bigger/fat people under the bus or harass them online or in person (I mean, would you do the same to a thin person who’s unhealthy? Probably not).

So long as you choose to be fatphobic, toxic and cruel and downright negative towards people based on their appearance, you’re also being responsible to hindering their health (remember mental health does exist). The media (including news and advertisements as well) doesn’t help, but I hope from reading it you understand that fat-shaming or remarking on someone’s food choices, health or their body isn’t the hot stuff you think it is, and to apply that onto fictional characters is just… not good.

The world’s changing to be more open and aware of the toxic humour and behaviour that appears in a range of other contexts as well, we’re not at fault if you feel like you can’t make jokes without being called out on it. Deal with it.

But otherwise, I’m happy to play and thrash folks as Goldlewis when he drops in-game at the end of the month. And his battle track to listen to as well.