I'm a bit dismayed at how quick you folks are to lose your faith in the Inhabitants. You see one CONCEPT drawing, mind you, and all flip out about how Oddworld has abandoned its legacy of great characters. Are three great protagonists not enough to prove to you that their heroes always have the goods? While my heart didn't leap into my throat upon seeing Fangus, I have confidence in Lorne and crew to make any creature a compelling character with a story to tell. Plus, Oddworld always likes to make their heroes unexpected and unlikely, and at this point where they've all been scrawny, what's more unexpected than a big brute?
I think that the key point in the Fangus article is that he's racing against the madness of rabies. Given that he's a shepherd, I don't think that Fangus starts out as some unholy badass. If he did, he'd have been a soldier or a bounty hunter, not a shepherd. With that kind of quiet, rural job, I think it makes sense that he's a big gentle guy, muscular because of a hard life, and that the story shows the psychological horror of the disease stripping away his niceness and making him commit violence that horrifies even himself. That's just one theory, but there are a host of plot-lines that can make this big lion guy a sympathetic character, and I'm sure Oddworld has written a doozie.
Also, don't instantly assume that that drawing is the final version of the character, nor that it even shows him entirely. I mean, you couldn't tell the Stranger's true nature from the early drawings of him. Plus, do you really think Oddworld would choose so simple a design route as a big panther-man? Give them some credit. This Fangus guy, if he's the real deal, is going to be a good character, or they wouldn't be making a game about him. These people made Abe's Oddysee, they made Stranger's Wrath, they can make anything.
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