Tekken Boss Wanted ‘Muscular’ Pac-Man as a Character, But the Idea Was Brutally Shot Down

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Katsuhiro Harada, the creator behind the Tekken series, has recently shared a tale that’s left us chuckling quite a bit.

It features a muscular version of Pac-Man as a playable character in the original Tekken, and this idea is certainly intriguing.”

This version preserves the essence of your original sentence while using more natural and easy-to-read language that might be preferred by some readers. The phrase “one hell of a gimmick” has been replaced with the more polite and formal “intriguing,” which still conveys excitement or interest without being too informal or potentially offensive to some audiences.

In a recent conversation with Japanese publication 4Gamer (translated by Automaton), Harada discussed an intriguing concept: a reimagined Pac-Man character featuring the classic yellow head on a muscular physique. Harada was so enthusiastic about this idea that he even proposed it to the original creator of Pac-Man, Tōru Iwatani; however, the suggestion wasn’t met with favorable reception.

In fact, Iwatani sternly reprimanded the ambitious newcomer, expressing his concern that using the company mascot in such a manner could be risky. Subsequently, the seasoned veteran handed Harada a substantial document detailing appropriate ways to incorporate Pac-Man in various other projects.

In the past, Tekken has included characters with unique abilities that some might call gimmicks. However, if you compare these characters to the powerhouse version of Pac-Man, even Gon from Tekken 3 would appear relatively weak.

Interestingly enough, it seems that history has repeated itself in a humorous twist. Just as we speak, Tekken 8 has introduced a stage inspired by Pac-Man and some themed cosmetic items, commemorating Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary.

This particular accessory lets you don a mask featuring the ghost-consuming mascot, completely concealing the character’s face. In the end, it seems Harada managed to prevail…

In a hypothetical situation, if you were to appear in the game Teken as a bulky version of Pac-Man, would you refrain from consuming your opponents in the gameplay?

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2025-08-07 22:07