Why does Fat Comic Relief disallow characters whose fatness is incidental to their being comic relief?

I don't think any other "demographic is stereotyped in a certain way" trope does this, like Scary Black Man doesn't require the characters specifically comment on that part of why they are intimidated by the character's size is because they are black, it's enough that the writer made the choice to make the big character who is intimidating because of their bulk black, and how that is a common stereotype when taken in aggregate. So how come Fat Comic Relief can't just refer to the tendency in aggregate of people making the Butt-Monkey or Plucky Comic Relief characters fat even if they aren't funny specifically because they are fat? If you held every stereotype trope to that standard you would barely be able to have any examples at all... does anyone think they should remove this requirement?

Strictly speaking, Scary Black Man should probably be held to stronger specifics in order to keep it to the stereotype it's meant to describe

I think it's a valid requirement for the trope, since "Comic Relief characters who just happen to be fat" is basically just Big Fun.

But I always thought with stereotype tropes they count as a Trope in Aggregate such that it is enough that there is a tendency to often depict group x in y way, even if the narrative doesn't draw attention to how the character is y BECAUSE they are from x group. Like Bury Your Gays doesn't require the characters die in-universe because they are gay, Sassy Black Woman doesn't require the character to say "I act sassy because I'm black", etc. By this standard it feels like every stereotype trope would have almost no trope worthy examples.

Is it a stereotype, though, or is it specifically about making someone's fatness the butt of jokes?

I've seen both. Some characters end up the butt of the jokes with people ribbing them for being fat, while others are written as just being naturally funny on their own while also being fat, with this gradually-developed understanding and coding that "fat = side character that provides comic relief", to a point that it's honestly still pretty darn rare to see a fat character that isn't designed to be a prominent source of comedy (or villainy).

Edited by number9robotic on Dec 27th 2023 at 10:57:33 AM

I think that a character that is both the fat one and the comic relief is enough. If all the characters are fat, then it might be questionable.

In short circumstanctial evidence should be allowed.

Edited by ry4n on Dec 29th 2023 at 8:52:17 AM