The recent reveal and release of Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield as the latest DLC character for Tekken 8 has placed fan attention on the horizon of potential as we consider new and imaginative directions the franchise might go as it welcomes increasingly diverse guests.
If the likes of Negan, Akuma, Noctis, or Clive feel like stretches from the norm, Tekken 8 chief Katsuhiro Harada recently reminded IGN that he’s long had his sights on Bandai Namco’s most iconic figure: Pac-Man. What’s more, the stars may have suddenly aligned to allow such a thing to happen.
Pac-Man has already appeared in multiple fighting games, Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken and a few of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. entries, so he’s even thrown down with various Tekken characters in the past.
Harada explains how the yellow circle was actually considered for a mainline Tekken entry some years back, but the concept that would make him fit in better (small characters can be absolute nightmares in fighting games for hitbox reasons, alone) wound up being a deal breaker that he was actually scolded for even considering.
“Many years ago, Iwatani-san, the original creator of Pac-Man, was still in the company when we were here. And I thought about maybe using Pac-Man as a guest character,” Harada starts. “So I had the artist come up with a sketch and it turned out to be that the character had like a Pac-Man head, but the body was this really muscular bodybuilder type… I showed it to Iwatani-san, and Iwatani-san got so upset and scolded me quite heavily.” said Harada to IGN.
So what’s changed since the manifestation of this particular red light? Would the powers that be (and the community) suddenly be okay with an anthropomorphic, muscular take on Mrs. Pac-Man’s husband? Our guess would still be no, but Pac-Man is seeing some modernized action in setting that lends itself surprisingly well to Tekken.
At the Game Awards, the same event Clive was revealed at, Bandai Namco also showcased a trailer for an upcoming Metroidvania style platformer called Shadow Labyrinth. Though you wouldn’t know it by its initial dark and dramatic presentation, Shadow Labyrinth is a modern take on Pac-Man, and even includes the iconic character.
Pac-Man is a forever companion of the main character in Shadow Labyrinth, and though this doesn’t look to be much closely related to traditional Pac-Man style gameplay, the spirit is certainly there.
If not buff Pac, perhaps this Pac-Man/shadowy protagonist hybrid as a guest in Tekken 8? With all the legacy fighters yet to join the roster and the myriad of other potential guests that would admittedly be more exciting, we can’t say this would be our first choice, but we thought you all should know the idea does have a certain momentum to it right now.