Fighting Games Friday: …in Waffle House!?

The chances of Tekken 8 receiving a Waffle House-themed stage are now more than zero.

Well, maybe. Tekken series director and producer Katsuhiro Harada tweeted that he was curious about why he and the development team have received so many requests for a Waffle House stage. He was looking forward to “an explanation from someone who knows more.” Harada was clearly curious about the sheer volume of requests, as someone who reads every tweet (I’m still calling them that) and replies to several of them. But his open tweet about it and the follow-up significantly raises the chance of this happening, because they’re at least considering the addition.

Waffle House is a popular chain for southern American-style breakfast food in certain parts of the United States of America. I’ve personally never been to one thanks to those “parts” sadly not including Philadelphia, where I’m from and still live. It would be a long drive to the closest one (in Newark, Delaware). But it’s been difficult to avoid stories about the place on social media. I’ve read about how good their food can be whenever it doesn’t need to be reheated before serving.

Let’s be real here, though: The reason why it would be good for Tekken involves the constant stories about fights happening in the place, with plenty of footage to boot. Some scuffles can get vicious, including a legendary one from December 2022 that’s remained on the minds of all those who’ve seen the recorded footage in its entirety. The phenomenon of fights has led to social media accounts, news stories, and even mini documentaries about why so many fights have happened in there. Some, notably, can get deadly. This is America we’re talking about.

This has led to many fighting game-related and side-scrolling brawler-related memes featuring a Waffle House stage. There are several, but my personal favorite is this extremely cool old school The King of Fighters-style one, down to featuring cameos in the restaurant itself (note Hinako Shijo and Li Xiangfei on the right).

There are more reasons why a Waffle House-themed stage would make the most sense for a Tekken title. As a Black American, I will say that I’ve noticed how many of the fights have involved my fellow folks, even though that certainly hasn’t been the case for all of them. But Waffle House is very popular among the community, so they’d inevitably be featured in most of the fights there. The fact that most Waffle House restaurants are open for 24 hours practically invites fights.

Tekken is the most popular fighting game franchise with the Black American community, as it has been for years. There’s a good reason why Snoop Dogg was chosen as a marketing partner for Tekken Tag Tournament 2, to the point of having his own stage with that unique track in the home console version. The Waffle House stage would make the most sense here.

There’s no telling how difficult it will be to get a stage with a Waffle House theme in the game as DLC. It depends on how friendly the franchise’s owners are regarding licensing, and whether they actually appreciate how popular the chain is for fights. The chances of an actual Waffle House stage or a parody one coming are higher than they’ve ever been. The phenomenon and Harada’s tweet about it makes me very certain that one of these scenarios will come to pass, though I’m not a big-enough fool to bet on it.

While we’re on the topic of Tekken and the Black community: Black-Brazilian Capoeira fighter Eddy Gordo arrived in Tekken 8 this week. The character keeps the same style he’s had since his introduction in Tekken 3, with a bunch of new techniques. Others are attached to the new mechanics introduced in this game. This is what I’ve understood from watching the trailer and seeing him in action, since I sadly lack the ability to play this game at the moment. But I’d love to get into it someday. Perhaps they’ll have a Waffle House-themed stage by then.

Eddy’s also worth noting thanks to his haircut, helpfully known as The Killmonger Cut™. The hairstyle is overly popular with video game developers now, though it looks fine enough on Eddy. It’s nice that game studios are noticing that more Black male haircuts exist beyond afros, cornrows, and dreadlocks, but this is already getting a bit excessive. At least Eddy has the basic dreads as an option for one of his alternate outfits.

Eddy is the first of four DLC characters releasing as part of the first season, with future characters coming in the summer, autumn, and winter. Who they could be is anyone’s guess. There are so many fake leaks out there that it’s tough to tell which ones could be legit. If I was a conspiracist, I’d say this was part of Bandai Namco’s plan. Let’s just hope those future characters don’t come with more boneheaded decisions, like post-release in-game microtransactions.