Tekken 8’s Roger Jr DLC Trailer Pays Homage to Iconic Kangaroo Punching Meme from Tekken 7
During the EVO livestream in Las Vegas yesterday, fans were thrilled to see the reveal of Roger Jr. and the beloved Bob as part of Tekken 8’s upcoming season 3 DLC roster. The announcement trailer for Roger Jr. sparked immediate recognition among fans, as it cleverly nods to a viral video from a decade ago featuring an Australian man punching a kangaroo. However, this reference is more layered than it appears; former Tekken director and executive producer Katsuhiro Harada mentioned back in 2017 that this same viral moment contributed to Roger Jr. being excluded from Tekken 7 due to concerns from animal activists.
For those who might not know, Roger Jr. is a kangaroo. This genetically engineered marsupial has been a fan favorite in the Tekken series, but both he and his father, Roger, were absent from Tekken 7. The excitement from the EVO crowd during the teaser trailer clearly shows that fans have missed him, as it’s been nearly 20 years since he was last playable.
The trailer indeed references the infamous 2016 video where a man punches a kangaroo to save his pet dog. In Tekken 8’s version, the man and his dog are swapped out for Leroy and his American Bully, Sugar. While the humor is evident, the deeper implications of the trailer seem to have flown under the radar for many fans.
In a 2017 interview, Harada explained that the kangaroo punching video led to Roger Jr. being cut from Tekken 7’s lineup: “There was a video of a man’s dog being headlocked by a kangaroo, and he punched it in the face… It turned into a big problem. People were complaining about him punching a kangaroo. It seems that in the last few years there’s a lot more animal activists—even though they probably wouldn’t play our game, they would still hear about that, about a kangaroo in our game being punched, and would complain about it.”
So, what has changed in the last decade? Have animal activists suddenly become more accepting of kangaroo punches? Or is it that many senior team members who worked on both Tekken 7 and Tekken 8, including Harada and director Kohei Ikeda, have left Bandai Namco recently?
Harada clarified that his earlier comments may have been misinterpreted. He mentioned on social media that his quote was likely taken out of context or misunderstood by the interviewer. “Then, a few years after that interview was published, this idea started circulating that Roger was removed from the game due to protests from some organization. But I never said we had actually received a protest, and I certainly never said we couldn’t include Roger because of that. It’s possible that the tone of my comments got twisted a bit during translation into English…”
He also noted that he only mentioned Roger Jr. during an interview with media from the Oceania region, suggesting that he brought up the kangaroo anecdote simply because he was speaking with an Australian interviewer.
