Abby, a significant character in the story of The Last of Us 2, has been the target of angry gamers online. Even her voice actress Laura Bailey has been receiving death threats from fans who are upset at the female character's actions as well as her looks. Now, fans are trying to invalidate Abby's muscular figure by using the workout schedule that was located in her room at the stadium.
The Last of Us 2 has been subjected to a lot of criticism online. Many are upset at certain plot points that occurred in the game, while others see the game as an attack on "straight white cisgender men" due to aspects such as Naughty Dog's treatment of Joel or the largely diverse cast of characters. These players have actively campaigned against the game online, review bombing The Last of Us 2 on Metacritic and threatening people who have worked on the game's development.
Abby's body type has been prominently discussed online. Her figure is much more muscular than most characters in the game, far more than women usually are portrayed in games. While women characters can have muscles, they also tend to be skinny. Abby is built more like a bodybuilder, with incredibly muscular arms and broad shoulders. Earlier on, fans originally mistook Abby to be a transgender woman because of her body type, but the developer corrected that narrative to confirm that she was indeed assigned female at birth.
Some gamers are criticizing her body type in many ways, saying that it is impossible for a woman to be as muscular as she is shown to be in the game. One player found Abby's workout schedule written out in her room and posted it to Reddit. Some gamers jumped on that, saying that the schedule only listed arm workouts on Thursdays, which indicated that Abby only performed arm exercises four times in a month. Along with the shortage of food due to the Washington Liberation Front rationing their meals, this would make it highly unlikely for her to gain muscle mass like she has in The Last of Us 2.
Video games are full of muscular characters, and players typically don't make a big deal about it. However, as soon as a woman is proportioned in a more masculine way, some gamers question the logistics of the character. Games are not always realistic in their execution, but when they contain characters or plots that conflict with societal norms, players' expectations are also violated, leading to responses like this.
However, fans of The Last of Us 2 and other games that challenge the mainstream narrative can understand that the mainstream narrative isn't everyone's narrative, and this game's story may speak to some players in a way that other games do not.
