[Alcar]

Courtesy of the Oddworld Encyclopaedia:

In Japan, there existed a meat packing sub-class who so frequently would lose a finger by accident that a four-fingered hand came to represent these people. The whole thing would rather be forgotten by most people. However, there is a group that tackles the use of this cultural-historical insult, and unless the creators can stump up a whole load of money, the character is seen as a terrible insult to Japan's history. The Walt Disney Corporation pays five million dollars a year to keep a four-fingered Mickey Mouse in Japan. Oddworld Inhabitants, being a much smaller company, elected not to churn up the cash and instead altered Abe's image. Characters such as Sligs, which in a black-and-white world would be classified as being 'bad' characters, have been able to keep their four-digit hands.

Of course, the whole thing is a corporate scandal, because although this group claims to be keeping the memory out of the country, they are in fact the only people keeping the dark past in everybody's minds, and what's more they're acquiring vast sums of wealth by doing so. We tend to call that extortion. What makes this case especially ironic is that Abe does work in a meat factory.

Oh yes, and the number four displayed on a moon is a sign of evil.

Note that later publications of Abe's Oddysee had three-fingered Mudokons - strangely enough, the finger that was omitted is different in Abe's Oddysee than in Abe's Exoddus.

Alcar...