Tekken 8's Roger Jr. Reveal Was Harada's Idea All Along

Roger Jr. is coming back to Tekken 8 as part of Season 3 DLC, and the kangaroo's cheeky reveal trailer — shown at EVO 2026 — turns out to have been sparked by former Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada himself.

Harada explained on social media that back in September of last year, when the team decided to bring Roger back, he sent them a YouTube link to the famous viral clip of an Australian man punching a kangaroo in the face to rescue his dog from a headlock. He wanted the team to recreate it for the reveal. "Some of the younger team members had never seen it before," he noted. Harada wasn't involved in editing the video himself, and by springtime he'd basically written the idea off — the team was apparently running short on time and hesitating over whether to include the recreation at all. It was Tekken 8 game director Kohei Ikeda who made the call: "We absolutely have to do it." Harada only found out it made the cut the day before the reveal. "So when I saw it yesterday, it genuinely made me smile. I thought, 'Ah, they actually did it!'" Roger Jr. last appeared in Tekken 6 back in 2007 and was cut entirely from Tekken 7, so the return is already a big deal for long-time fans. The teaser itself appears at the end of the Bob gameplay trailer, with a full Roger Jr. trailer confirmed for EVO France on October 11, 2026.

The behind-the-scenes story carries a bittersweet edge given recent departures. Harada left Bandai Namco in December 2025 after more than 30 years on the Tekken series and has since founded VS Studio in partnership with SNK Corporation. Ikeda — the director who greenlit the kangaroo punch — has also since left Bandai Namco after 20 years at the company. The Roger Jr. reveal is, in a way, one of the last fingerprints both men left on the franchise they helped define.

Fans can catch the full Roger Jr. trailer at EVO France on October 11, 2026. Given the warm reception to the teaser and the nostalgia surrounding the character's long absence, expectations are high.