 In an era of gaming when protagonists were typically muscle-bound, imposing and carrying a weapon, Abe was the complete antithesis of that.Lanning said he wanted his protagonists to represent the everyman, the average chump, so they're not the "steroided out, muscle-bound heroes you want to be, they're the poor schumucks you actually are," so as to better symbolize the Average Joe that is exploited unknowingly by corporations.Oddworld's senior animator Scott Easley said Abe is "not a brainiac, he's not a jack of all trades, he's not a master anything, he's a goofbag... but he's indicative of a much greater world that's out there."