Tekken boss asked KFC to let Colonel Sanders join the game’s roster

If you’ve always thought Tekken’s roster was lacking something but couldn’t put your finger (lickin’) on it, Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada knows – it’s Colonel Sanders.

Despite his best efforts, however, Harada hasn’t been able to convince KFC to give the all-clear to include Sanders as a fighter – or, indeed, fashion a Waffle House-inspired fighting stage.

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“A long time ago, I wanted to have Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken fight,” Harada said in an interview with The Gamer. “So, I asked to use Colonel Sanders and go to the head office in Japan.”

Harada says his suggestion was turned down by a “bad look”.

For a brief while, Harada simply concluded that KFC didn’t want to share its iconic mascot with any game, but given he’s since turned up in a dating simulator, the team has since presumed it’s the fighting FKC takes issue with, not gaming itself.

“[Harada] went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and tried to get Colonel Sanders,” game designer Michael Murray added. “They weren’t very open to the idea.

“[Colonel Sanders] appeared in games after that. So maybe it was just him fighting against someone [that] was posing a problem for them. But it just goes to show how difficult these types of discussions are.”

Don’t forget that Heihachi Mishima, antagonist of the Tekken series, is set to make a return to the series in Tekken 8 this autumn.

Heihachi’s reveal was announced at this year’s Evo fighting game esports event in a new trailer, along with a new story mode chapter called The Dark Awakens. He’ll be the third DLC character added to the game since its release earlier this year, following Eddy Gordo and Lidia Sobieska.