Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Tsuki Character Design Controversy — Xenoblade Chronicles 2 character Tsuki with white hair and blue floral dress

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Tsuki Character Design Controversy

2017eventclassic

Published October 8, 2026

In December 2017, players unlocking the rare Blade character Tsuki (localized as Dahlia in English) in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sparked a Twitter and Reddit argument over her exaggerated bust and hunched posture1. The design pulled in jokes, parody edits and heated takes within days of the Switch game's launch, producing some of the most-shared image macros of that December2.

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Overview

The controversy centered on Tsuki, a rare Blade companion unlockable in Monolith Soft's Xenoblade Chronicles 2, renamed Dahlia for the English release1. Her chest-forward slouch and exaggerated proportions were the specific points of complaint, with early critics calling the design ugly and misogynistic rather than merely horny2.

The meme side of the story quickly swallowed the critique. Edits placed objects between the character's breasts, Reddit threads tagged her with the T H I C C spaced-letter format, and one widely shared redraw replaced her head with Danny DeVito's face3. The joke format borrowed the Pepsi can gag and object-balancing visuals that had already circulated for other exaggerated anime characters, applied squarely to screenshots pulled from the Switch game4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (initial critique) / Reddit (parody spread)
Date
2017

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 launched for the Nintendo Switch on December 1st, 2017, and players began unlocking the rare Blade Tsuki, who was given the name Dahlia in the English localization1. The design catalyst arrived on December 2nd, when Twitter user @botwzelink posted a screenshot of the character paired with criticism calling the design ugly and misogynistic; the tweet pulled in over 6,300 likes and 2,800 retweets within four days1.

The meme format arrived the next day. On December 3rd, Shane (@FourScore64) tweeted a short video that answered the critique by balancing a Pepsi can between the character's breasts, which racked up more than 18,000 likes and 8,400 retweets inside 72 hours2.

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How It Spread

The parody edits spread faster than the original complaint. On December 4th, Reddit user RexVAGorgeous submitted a Dahlia screenshot to r/Xenoblade_Chronicles under the title Dahlia is T H I C C, folding the design into the already popular spaced-letter format3. The same stretch saw the Pepsi can video keep climbing engagement on Twitter2.

On December 5th, Twitter user @mombot posted a redesign that swapped the character's face for Danny DeVito, drawing over 3,100 likes and 950 retweets in roughly a day1. Humor site Dorkly published a listicle rounding up reactions and jokes about the design that same day, pulling the back-and-forth from Twitter and Reddit onto a general-interest comedy site1. The core screenshots, the T H I C C framing, and the DeVito edit stayed in circulation as the standard reference points whenever the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Tsuki Character Design Controversy came up again4.

Timeline

2017-12-01

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 launches on Nintendo Switch, introducing the rare Blade Tsuki (Dahlia in English).

2017-12-02

@botwzelink tweets a screenshot calling the character design ugly and misogynistic, hitting 6,300+ likes within four days.

2017-12-03

@FourScore64 posts a video parody placing a Pepsi can between the character's breasts, reaching 18,000+ likes in 72 hours.

2017-12-04

Reddit user RexVAGorgeous posts to r/Xenoblade_Chronicles with the T H I C C framing.

2017-12-05

@mombot posts a Danny DeVito redesign; Dorkly publishes a listicle of the humorous reactions.

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