[!=]

I didn't not really want to post in that thread, since I don't understand half of it, but couldn't the focus on children and "cute" things be merely a factor of 2d graphics?

Working on my supergame bakedown entry, I was originally trying to make a normally sized 2d character. But then I saw this wasn't making a very good use of the 4/3 screen we have: taking much more height than width, imbalanced and screenspace-hungry.

The obvious answer to that observation is to change the character's proportions, making your character squat rather than slim, short rather than tall. Either some sort of fantasy animal or children.