Memes / Tekken

DAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMN!

Considering how the third installment was a staple title of the original PlayStation and was exposed to a wide audience back in the day (and the same is true for the seventh installment), where there's a vast, large audience comes plenty of memes.

• The meme. ^Explanation The explanation behind the meme.
  • Further mutations and successor memes, if any.

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Series-Wide/Meta

• #BuffLars ^ExplanationMade the rounds across the community rather swiftly when it became widely accepted that Lars has been weakened after two games' worth of top-tier dominance. The meme stems from the extent to which the character was nerfed, rendering him less than a shell of his former self that is outshone by majority of the cast in every aspect (movement, frame data, punishment, etc.) Upon the release of Season 2, however, suffice it to say this is now Hilarious in Hindsight.
• Don't ask me for shit ^ExplanationSeries producer Katsuhiro Harada has practically turned this into his catchphrase after having to deal with his series' fanbase, to the point where he's taken to wearing a shirt bearing the phrase upon it. Now ascended as Negan says this in his trailer.
• Email Harada/Harada's Finger^Explanation The default reaction whenever anyone online experiences the series' trademark Hitbox Dissonance. To a lesser extent, it's also used to complain about, well, balancing issues in general, really.
• Teh Ken ^ExplanationAt The Game Awards 2019, when Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesel went up to present the Game of the Year award, Michelle proceeded to pull an Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable regarding the series' name in a very cringeworthy moment.
• I'm a bricklayer, I work for three days! Without a salary! ^ExplanationIn 2005, two Russian students made a parody translation of Bryan Fury's ending in 3, turning it into a story of a bricklayer who tries to escape the armed police after stealing a loaf of bread from a bakery stall. The resulting video exploded in ex-USSR years later thanks to its hammy qualities and memorable quotes, turning into a source of parodies in itself and receiving translations to different languages (including an authentic English dub).
• Mardick/DON'T SEARCH UP "EDDY GORDO" ON GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH! WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!^ExplanationA warning from various Tekken community from searching up Eddy Gordo on Google image search. Should anyone do just that, well... they will be greeted by (WARNING! NOT SAFE FOR WORK! Access at your own risk!) an image of Craig Marduk with his "interesting assets" out from an unassuming free image hosting website. The name "Mardick" has become a Fan Nickname for Marduk because of this.
• "Hadouken" - Terry Bogard^ExplanationA four way crossover meme, that's just an image of Jin Kazama, with the aforementioned caption displayed, and with the Mortal Kombat logo right next to him. Makes the rounds quite frequently as a deliberate Cowboy BeBop at His Computer act to troll fans.
• I'M NOT GONNA SUGARCOAT IT. ^ExplanationEach time Kazuya spams his Electric Wind God Fist to a wall cornered opponent, fans tend to put an image of him with the caption "I'M NOT GONNA SUGARCOAT IT" with the Tekken 2 game font at the top and the command of the aforementioned special at the bottom, which is f, n, d/f+2. It's been crossed over with a lot of other spammable video game moves, such as Krohnen's Heat Shield, Kiryu's Tiger Drop, or the Taunt/Parry button in Pizza Tower. And it also ironically fits Kazuya's personality, since he's not the type to sugarcoat how evil he is.
• 3-bar Law/The 3-bar Bandits ^ExplanationMarshall and Forest Law players are infamous among the Tekken community for having some of the worst internet connections, as well as using tactics specifically designed to grant them success and allow them to thrive in lag due to their moves being very difficult to react to with input delay. It's sometimes exaggerated to the point where they purposefully throttle their connection if they somehow start losing, just to get an advantage. "3-bar Law" is essentially the Tekken equivalent to the "Online/Brazilian Ken" meme from Street Fighter.
• Sneakerhead Kazuya.^Explanation With Kazuya's profile in Tekken 1 mentioning that he has a hobby of collecting sneakers, many fans like to take what amounts to a throwaway line used to obscure his evil nature and run with it, giving Kazuya a Memetic Personality Change in which his love of sneakers eclipses all of his other traits. This would become an Ascended Meme of sorts when 8 shows Kazuya possessing an enormous room filled to the brim with sneakers, showing that, yes, he really has continued to collect them all this time.

Tekken 2

• "Black Winter Night Sky" (the opening theme of Tekken 2) seems to have become a minor one, It's being used for everything from Sailor Moon to Dead Space.
• Google Images Tekken 2 Box Art^Explanation Bandai Namco has repeatedly used this parody of 2's box art which features notorious Off-Model renders of characters from other fighting games photoshopped alongside the old pre-rendered models of the original game. This image is among the first results on Google for "Tekken 2 Box Art," implying that they are literally just grabbing it from Google image search and calling it a day.

Tekken 4

• "You ain't got one? WELL I DO!" ^ExplanationFrom Hwoarang's ending in Tekken 4, after Jin says that there's no reason for them to fight again. This one became memeworthy due to Hwoarang's overly hammy English voice acting. Fans also get a kick out of Jin's oddly accented "There's no reason to fight" since that is in fact Isshin Chiba (Jin's VA) trying to speak English.
• Tekken 4 intro parodies^Explanation The Darker and Edgier direction of Tekken 4 as a whole paired with the somewhat robotic announcer of that game led to more dramatic prologues and epilogues. Some AI-based magic and a couple of editing tricks later and you have a rather exploitable template.

Tekken 7

• Early 2017 ^ExplanationThe initial estimated release period of Tekken 7. Only a day after 2017 began, Namco released a trailer revealing the game's official release date: June 2, 2017 (read: nowhere close to early 2017, more like mid-2017). As such, "Early 2017" is now used sarcastically, especially by the FGC.
• THIS IS REAL TIGER UPPERCUT!!!!!!!!! ^ExplanationHarada-san tweeted this exact line alongside Kazumi Mishima's playable reveal trailer, in reference to the fact that she can summon a tiger to do an uppercut for her. The FGC quickly caught on.
• It's definitely not a ____ fighting game./It's not ____. ^ExplanationTekken 7's Virtual Paper Doll feature is surprisingly robust for what it is. Several characters are customized to resemble characters from another franchise, and it's made to look like it's a fighting game based on that franchise.
• THE PIZZA, HE-MAN! EAT IT!!! ^ExplanationJoel from Vinesauce streamed Tekken 7 using Bryan, customized to resemble Skeletor. He eventually found an opponent using Dragunov customized to resemble He-Man. Hilarity did indeed ensue.
• WHINING FOOLS BEGONE! ^ExplanationThe reveal trailer for Geese Howard includes this line. The fans interpreted it as a not-so subtle meta jab thrown in by Harada, who has been known for trolling antics on Twitter.
• Akuma with a Shotgun ^ExplanationTekken allows every single fighter to be customized and some of the items that they can be given can be used with secret input so the Idea of customizing Akuma in of itself is hilarious. But what has fans rolling is the fact that you can give Akuma of all people a shotgun and then have him use it.
• Negan in Tekken 7 created one for the whole FGC. After his announcement, a lot of people started making equally out there predictions in-line with it stating that all bets are off now. These include Arrow in Dead or Alive 6 and Jon Snow in Soulcalibur VI.
  • Some people like to misspell Negan as Megan, leading to jokes like "Megan from Drake and Josh joins the fight".
• LEEROOOOOOYYYY SMMMIIITTTHH!!!^ExplanationTekken 7's Season 3's newcomer is named 'Leroy Smith'. Of course, in the face of the internet, the first thing they think of the name 'Leroy' would be... Leeroy Jenkins of the viral video from World of Warcraft. So fans like to meme Smith out to act more like Jenkins. In Leroy's reveal trailer in 8, Lenne Hardt announces his name loudly in a similar manner with the video (albeit with the "Smith" in a Japanese pronunciation), making some people think that she could switch out from 'Smith' into 'Jenkins' and it will still feel the same.
• Fuck Ur Mom ^ExplanationThe newest character, Fahkumram, has been instantly christened "Fuck Ur Mom" by the fans due to being unable to properly pronounce his name and his intimidating appearance.
• Lili Dancing goes with anything^Explanation At the end of Asuka's character episode in Tekken 7, Lili declares herself owner of Asuka's entire home and dojo upon the former's defeat. Then she takes the time to detail her plans for Asuka by way of prancing around like a ballet dancer (appropriate given her background as a gymnast) to Asuka's confusion. This is usually overlayed with random music in the background, ranging from Let's Groove to Let's Dance, and so on.
• Josiebee's ^Explanation Someone made an edit of the Jollibee (a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants; Josie being a Filipina herself) logo with Josie's face on it in the style of the original. Hilarity ensued. In fact, it was even acknowledged by Harada himself!

Tekken 8

• Such pathetic words, X.^ExplanationKazuya's response to Jin's "People like us shouldn't even exist in this world" in the Tekken 8 gameplay video quickly became a source of memes for taking jabs at certain people, like drama queens.
• Jun putting Kazuya on child support ^Explanation Not even a day after, and considering how long she's been Put on a Bus as far as mainline games are concerned - nevermind that Kazuya was dead in the timeframe between Tekken 2 and 3 - a lot of child support jokes have been made at Kazuya's expense upon Jun's Tekken 8 character reveal trailer.
• King's charismatic promo cut.^ExplanationKing's reveal trailer in 8 features him doing a promo cut, complete with mics. The problem is, he just does jaguar growls, like usual. People then starts making jokes at just how awesome and charismatic King's promo cut (and whatever he says) is, that a bunch of uncertain jaguar growls can move people to tears or cheering. In fact, he actually gets tons of UN Soldiers to cheer him on with his promo skills wile he takes on hordes of G Corp goons and Jack 7 robots in the story mode.
• Grandmaster of Drip^Explanation Leroy's official title in Tekken 8 is the "Grandmaster of Drip". Given how much of a hit he was with the fanbase before his release (and consequently, before he became a High-Tier Scrappy), this might also count as an Ascended Meme in itself, since common consensus of Leroy's previous design was that he "had the drip" (meaning he has style).
• Asuka joined House Gryffindor ^Explanation Asuka's new design in Tekken 8 split people down the middle between liking it and complimenting her Cute Bruiser nature, or disliking it not only because it's something that doesn't suit her, but also like she's going to the wrong school. Given the British influence on her attire, many comparisons to Harry Potter were made as a result. And given her encounter with Lili in the last game, some common speculation is that the outfit is more than likely a result of Lili's tastes, seeing as their respective Character Episode is canon to this game.
• Hwoarang's Tekken 8 appearance and most notably his very striking facial features, have been compared to that of Akira Nishikiyama from Like a Dragon. Cue the memes associated with Nishiki from the first game's English dub. All together now:
  Nishiki: Ten years in the joint made you a fucking pussy!
• DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN^Explanation "Kakuri-yo Kagura", the background track for the Sanctum stage in Tekken 8 - while praised - has a rather pronounced breakdown in both the first and final round versions that produces the aforementioned sound.
• OUR TIME IS NOOOOOOOOOOOOW^ExplanationIn a similar vein, the opening lyric of "My Last Stand", already a very well received opening theme to the game, has resonated especially well with the fan base.
• Where's Yoshimitsu?^ExplanationMost of the mainstays from the first game (Kazuya, Paul, Marshall, King, Jack, Nina) were revealed fairly early on...save for Yoshimitsu, whose absence from promotional materials became a recurring question as more and more characters were revealed over the course of 2023, including ones that had been introduced to the series much later (Asuka, Lili, Raven, Leroy). Yoshimitsu himself was finally revealed in August 2023, but the long wait to see him was odd for many, to say the least.
• Dragunov is 26 years old.^ExplanationWhen Dragunov was revealed, many took notice of how his description mentioned that he was 26 years old while his render made him look much, much older than he actually was.
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as an 18-year-old Japanese Girl / Heihachi got isekai'd!^Explanation Given how Reina shares similar mannerisms as Heihachi (on top of having the Mishima staples like the Electric Wind God Fist and Omen Thunder God Fist, to name a few), comparisons were inevitably made to her (rumored) father, Heihachi. No sooner after her reveal did people immediately start making jokes that Heihachi got the isekai treatment, and was outright reincarnated as Reina.
• Bread Face Reina^Explanation Akin to Akuma grabbing a shotgun in the previous game, one of the new customization items in 8 is a bread-shaped hat, which was showcased on Reina. And the rest is history.
• Drake Everywhere.^Explanation The character customization, as usual, provides a lot of opportunities, but one of the most common things that many people did during the launch period was turning their characters into Drake, no matter their original ethnicity, by giving them Drake's hair, beard and glasses.
• So long, Eh-zazel!/So long, Gay-zazel! ^{Explanation (Massive Story Spoilers!)}After defeating Azazel, Kazuya proceeds to grab it by the tail and toss the monster in the air. Fans compared this scene with Super Mario 64 where Mario also does the same thing on Bowser, prompting a line "So long-a, Bowser" to pop-up.
• "I can fix him."^ExplanationJun returns to the roster, and she still wants to save Kazuya from darkness. Even after Kazuya states that he's Beyond Redemption, which would render the efforts futile, Jun still insists. For that, Jun is considered by the fans to be the incarnation of "I can fix him." This is a phrase usually thrown by a character/fan who wishes to 'fix/redeem' an evil character who is given a Draco in Leather Pants treatment by either said character/fan or the whole fandom (similar to the page quote). In this case, even the fans think that Kazuya doesn't deserve redemption for all the atrocities he has done willingly for selfish reasons, but Jun simply doesn't give a shit; she wants to save him, and that's final. And by the game's canon ending, Jun's tenacity pays off, as she comes back and encounters the unconscious Kazuya, now purged of the Devil Gene, and she can now act on her plan to "fix" him. Can't say the lady isn't determined.
• "I hate RICH PEOPLE!" ^ExplanationThis line, dramatically uttered by Law against specific characters who are established as being rich and powerful within the Tekken universe, instantly became popular among the fanbase, especially American fans since the statement is a very real sentiment shared by many Americans.
• "Lee is such a nice wingman!"^{Explanation with arcade ending spoilers}Continuing the trend set by 6 and 7, in Lars's ending, after filming a recruitment spot for Yggdrasil, both Lars and Alisa exchange compliments with clear happy faces on them. Cue Lee walking slowly away, and triggering a spotlight on them, exclaiming "Excellent!" and leaving the scene, so we're left with Lars and Alisa's heartwarming exchanges.
• Austrian Painter customizations. ^Explanation Because this is the internet, players figured out a ton of ways to make dress characters up to look like they're wearing Nazi uniforms.
• Penis/PINGAS Coffee ^ExplanationA Mondegreen of Azucena's Rage Art quote "Tienes cafe? (How do you like your coffee?) popularized by Maximilian Dood. A "safe for work" variation eventually spawned, crossing over with an iconic Sonic meme.
• Waffle House Stage ^ExplanationDue to the shocking amount of fights that break out there, a common request for a stage in the game is a location for the American chain diner Waffle House. Harada himself has heard these claims, and says that he is more than willing to add such a stage to the game, but it ultimately comes down to Waffle House themselves to approve it.
• Jin goes to the Midnight Channel/Devil Jin: "I am thou, thou art I."^{Explanation (Massive Story Spoilers!)}Jin's confrontation with Devil Jin and eventually accepting him just sounds very similar to most main missions in Persona 4, where someone's repressed inner self could go berserk if they reject it, and the only way to grow and develop one's character is to accept their dark sides. Because of this, many compare that part with how Tekken suddenly takes cues from the Persona series (and in particular Jin going to the Midnight Channel where Shadows of this type lurk), and Devil Jin is likened to be Jin's Shadow-turned-Persona.

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Harada: Shut up and sit the hell down! Go back to the main page and don't ask me for shit!