The announcement that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would include every character from every previous Smash title meant that some old favorites would be returning. Solid Snake, who was sadly absent for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, is officially on the roster and with his original voice actor returning, it seemed like everything was alright for fans of the Metal Gear character.

But further gameplay footage has revealed something disturbing in Solid Snake’s updated design.

Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai said that some characters are getting design tweaks in Ultimate, ranging from more expressive faces to slight variations in their sound effects and voice acting depending on their outfits. While most of these designs were received with little pushback, there was a major issue in Snake’s design. Namely — where dat booty at?

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Solid Snake was blessed with a voluptuous backside. This new rendition, while sporting Snake’s skintight stealth suit, is severely lacking in booty. And longtime fans of Smash and Metal Gear alike are not here for it.

things I like l:

Roy!

Mario alt colors

Inkling is interesting, love splatoon

pikachu libre



things I don’t like:

snake’s ass is small pic.twitter.com/Nwq7TppQjs — luke (toenas brother) (@undrink) June 12, 2018

Solid Snake doesnt have that Solid Cake anymore pic.twitter.com/RRXS1o5zun — Jobs (@Imbetweenjobs) June 13, 2018

Fans are turning towards other, more unorthodox characters in the Smash roster for their booty needs.

SUPER SMASH BROS



D A D D Y I S S U E S pic.twitter.com/M1CIz1w1So — Komodo (@KomodoMode) June 13, 2018

It’s been pointed out that while Snake’s butt size has been reduced, so has Zero Suit Samus’ breast size. Instead of unrealistically hanging from her chest like floating balloons, they actually resemble human breasts. She is also shown as more muscular and toned.

Gonna be completely honestly, I really like what they did to Samus' breasts, they actually like anatomically correct now and not like fake water balloons popping out of her chest. pic.twitter.com/8zn81bHVt9 — Aquaclaw - LetsGoSmash@E3 (@Aquaclaww) June 13, 2018

People are widely happier with Samus’s redesign than with Snake’s. It makes sense. In the Metroid games, Samus is usually in her heavy power suit and her new Smash design aligns more with her previous Zero Suit depictions.

As a lot of people may have noticed, ZSS' breast size has been reduced quite a bit and has more muscle definition than the Smash 4 version. She and her suit seems to resemble her Samus Return looks a bit and frankly, looks way better IMHO pic.twitter.com/B9yByBG1jK — MyJoJob (@MyJoJob) June 12, 2018

This raises the question — should we actually be complaining about Snake’s booty, when it’s clear that efforts have been made to reduce the male gaze on Samus?

To answer this, let’s take another look at the Smash roster and point out another character whose design is “sexy.” Bayonetta’s back-plunging, skin-tight outfit makes a return and she’s still hot as ever. The characters in the Bayonetta games were specifically designed to be “sexy” and “fashionable.”

Likewise, Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, intentionally designed his male characters to be attractive, and Snake is one of the few male game characters to be considered a sex icon. Though sex icon versions of Samus do, of course, exist online, her design is usually associated with the bulky power suit — very much not deliberately sexy.

If Bayonetta gets to keep her sexy, revealing design, specifically designed to be hot in the source material, then Solid Snake, whose body is a very prominent focus in his games, should keep his booty.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be out on Dec. 7, 2018 on Nintendo Switch. So there’s still time to fix this.

Update (June 23, 2018): Snake’s longtime voice actor, David Hayter himself, has now weighed in on the controversy: