(Update) Roger Jr. has been cut from Tekken 7 due to fear of ‘animal activists’

Now I can’t cosplay as Kangaroo Jack

[Update: Harada stated on Twitter recently that he “hasn’t talked to anyone,” and that Roger Jr. isn’t cut.]

One of the best things about the Tekken series is that it has never taken itself seriously. Sure, there is a ruff and gruff story about how screwed up the Mishima family is, but then you can fight a damn panda bear wearing a swimsuit with a shaolin wooden man. Clearly this isn’t meant to be some statement about human dominance over animals or even inspire animal cruelty, but it looks like series producer Katsuhiro Harada is trying to avoid any controversy whatsoever.

In an interview with VG 24/7, Harada explained, “There was a video of a man’s dog being head locked by a kangaroo, and he punched it in the face. It turned into a big problem… 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.”

The only reason Kuma is being left in is because he is, “obviously stronger than a human being.” Well, kangaroos can kick the shit out of a human on any given day, so I don’t follow that logic. I can understand being weary of potential backlash, though, as the internet is volatile even on the best of days. It just sucks since Roger Jr. has been a series staple since his introduction in Tekken 2.

Tekken 7: Roger the kangaroo cut due to “animal activists”, Kuma the bear still in because he’s “stronger than a human being” [VG 24/7]