'Tekken' Once Considered Adding KFC Founder Colonel Sanders as a Fighter But was Rejected

Renowned Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada has revealed that they previously had a plan to include KFC's founder, Colonel Sanders, in the action game. However, they were rejected by the management during their pitch, and despite how this could have been one of the largest crossovers in the fighting game industry, it did not come to fruition.

In the past years, Tekken has had some iconic crossovers from other game franchises, but many are probably surprised that the iconic Colonel Sanders was once considered for it.

'Tekken' Once Considered Adding KFC Founder Colonel Sanders

Harada explained to TheGamer via an interview that they once tried to add Kentucky Fried Chicken's founder and mascot, Colonel Sanders, to Tekken as a fighter to square up against its renowned roster. However, Harada did not mention which game they originally planned for Colonel Sanders to join.

According to Harada, they event went to KFC's Japan office to pitch the idea to the fried chicken restaurant chain. However, Harada said that he received a "bad look" from the KFC team as he introduced this plan to have Colonel Sanders join the game and be a playable character.

KFC Japan Did Not Allow Colonel Sanders to Join 'Tekken'

Michael Murray, Tekken 8's designer, corroborated this story (via ComicBook Gaming), saying that the renowned director's idea was rejected by the executives, and that was the end of the story. Murray said that KFC may have been against having Colonel Sanders, its face and founder, being portrayed as someone who fights.

Furthermore, Murray added that these types of collaboration discussions are "difficult," considering that KFC is a global brand.

'Tekken's' Iconic DLCs Released in the Past

Bandai Namco Entertainment's renowned arcade fighting game, Tekken, saw significant changes since it was first released, and while the franchise kept to itself for years, contemporary releases saw DLCs inviting other game fighters to join. One of the most iconic characters to join "Tekken" was Akuma, a renowned villain in Capcom's Street Fighter series.

It was in Tekken 7 when Bandai Namco first debuted third-party characters who were playable fighters in the game as part of its DLCs and Season Pass. This included the likes of Geese Howard from SNK's Fatal Fury, Noctis from Final Fantasy XV, and Negan from The Walking Dead.

DLCs have brought significant experiences to games for many years, and these collaborations opened doors for gamers to enjoy dream-come-true crossovers.