Damsel and Hunk Replaced with Rat?

[Typhoon]

Anyone else notice this? Were they taken out in the name of being PC? I've also seen the damsel is now playable. Miss the cartoon-y comedy of hauling people through the traps and caves.

[Swizard]

People complained about the damsel in distress trope - dev spoke about it in regards to spelunky 1 so figure that's why he removed it

[FrostySoftServe]

the main character is a younger kid so it would be a bit weird going around getting kissed by adults

[Space Cadet]

It's been 8 years since the last game. People get older, grow, their sensibilities and preferences change. Not everything is a SJW conspiracy theory.

[Typhoon]

Originally posted by Swizard:

People complained about the damsel in distress trope - dev spoke about it in regards to spelunky 1 so figure that's why he removed it

Ahhh that's too bad, I had thought that may be the case.

[THE PETROL BRIGADE]

hamsters > people

[Del_Duio]

Originally posted by Typhoon:

Were they taken out in the name of being PC?

That's what my wife and I think. Such a shame, everybody getting touchy over everything nowadays. Christ y'all, it's just a game! Can't toss a girl around to set off an arrow trap but it's cool if you do it to a cat or whatever haha.

Wait until cats figure out how to use the internet and complain, they'll have to change it again to shredded wheat in distress

[Sandra Borger]

Originally posted by Del_Duio:

Originally posted by Typhoon:

Were they taken out in the name of being PC?

That's what my wife and I think. Such a shame, everybody getting touchy over everything nowadays. Christ y'all, it's just a game! Can't toss a girl around to set off an arrow trap but it's cool if you do it to a cat or whatever haha.

Wait until cats figure out how to use the internet and complain, they'll have to change it again to shredded wheat in distress :blight:

The main character of the game is not 18 years old so it would be VERY weird to get some damsels and kiss her, that's probably why they removed them and added animals.

[Kurtino]

Originally posted by RuruKawaii:

Originally posted by Del_Duio:

That's what my wife and I think. Such a shame, everybody getting touchy over everything nowadays. Christ y'all, it's just a game! Can't toss a girl around to set off an arrow trap but it's cool if you do it to a cat or whatever haha.

Wait until cats figure out how to use the internet and complain, they'll have to change it again to shredded wheat in distress :blight:

The main character of the game is not 18 years old so it would be VERY weird to get some damsels and kiss her, that's probably why they removed them and added animals.

Why would that be weird? Think of all the Disney films where a young protagonist gets kissed by a woman on the cheek for doing a good deed, or the many games before it where the character wasn't of age either.

Don't push your own conclusions onto things, if the dev removed it because people complained, he removed it because they complained. This age theory thing is pointless because it's just a character being rescued and giving a kiss; you don't have to see dark in everything.

[Wormerine]

Ana being younger was one of the reason cited in an inteview from noclip. Also pug became somewhat of a Spelunky mascot. I don't care much for the hamster but the fluffy cat is amazing.

[EmmaKat]

Imagine being offended that a virtual woman won't kiss you in a game. People who complain about so called political correctness really need to evaluate themselves.

Besides dogs are so much better than people anyway.

[Space Cadet]

Originally posted by Toast_Burner:

Imagine being offended that a virtual woman won't kiss you in a game. People who complain about so called political correctness really need to evaluate themselves.

Besides dogs are so much better than people anyway.

This person gets it.

[mingyjongo]

This is an OUTRAGE!!!! On behalf of Hunks everywhere, WE demand REPRESENTATION!!!!!

[Chemtrail]

I personally hated the damsels in the first game, and not because of the trope. Early on in Spelunky 1 I'd get so mad that the damsels would run straight into spikes, death traps, etc. Always felt like they should know better than to run straight into spikes. Eventually it got to the point I was annoyed with them enough that I'd kill them on purpose. I didn't get good at Spelunky 1 until I switched to the dog damsel lol. I don't get that same feeling of "you should know better" from the animal damsels. I don't think I'll ever be able to play that new damsel character because I just get ptsd from my early spelunky 1 runs.

So yeah, I like the change. If it was only changed it because of the "damsel in distress" trope that's really lame though.

[Juno Brier]

If it's any consolation, the classic damsel is one of the playable characters now, as long as you can get far enough to actually find her.

[Chunky Apple Liquid]

The progression of the damsel across all three Spelunky games is actually pretty interesting.

Spelunky Classic was mostly just a pastiche of capital A Adventure films, and thus included many of the tropes of the genre. Gameplay elements like the Damsel or the boulder trap served as a way to emulate the feeling of watching one of those movies. It was still original enough to have its own identity, but you could still easily describe Spelunky Classic as "A Roguelike Indiana Jones."

Spelunky HD is a bit more self aware of its own tropes, and establishes it's own tone by taking things in a more silly direction. Like, you can go to Hell or get eaten by a giant worm, it's pretty clear that Spelunky isn't just emulating Indiana Jones at this point. Likewise, the fact that you can cycle through Damsel, Hunk, or Dog demonstrates another split from the classic adventure genre. There are still plenty of homages, but HD is much more comfortable playing with tropes than Classic was.

Spelunky 2 doesn't even seem to see itself as a pastiche anymore. You're on the moon, the damsels are now pets, and all the playable characters treat exploring the caves like it's a fun vacation. The only similarity to classic adventure movies at this point is the whip. You can choose to see the Pets as political correctness run amok or whatever, but it's pretty clear to me that the change wasn't just thoughtless pandering.