Final Fantasy fiends want Tifa for Tekken 8, forcing the producer to respond

Final fantasy 7 fans, also known as Tifa Lockhart fans, have a suggestion for veteran Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada: Put Tifa in Tekken 8. They blasted Harada on social media for including their No. 1 girl so fanatically this week that the producer was forced to respond, telling the Tifa-loving masses that he fully appreciates their adoration, but that Tekken 8‘s guest list is still being determined.

“We all know she’s attractive and I understand that.” Harada said on X to one of the many requests Bandai Namco adds Tifa to Tekken 8. “But so far we haven’t decided anything about guest characters etc.”

It’s a surprisingly heartfelt response to what must be an annoying chorus of Tifa stans. Harada is of course known for his “Don’t ask me for shit” attitude when it comes to Tekken fans’ wishes. Despite this, he is regularly asked for things, including popular requests to add characters like Tifa and Kiryu Kazuma from Sega’s Yakuza/Like A Dragon series.

Tekken 8 officially launched on Friday with a roster of 32 characters, including newcomers Azucena, Reina and Victor. There’s even more to come next year, as Bandai Namco has already confirmed four seasonal releases: starting with returning fighter Eddy Gordo.

The previous game in the franchise, Tekken 7, had four seasons of downloadable content, spanning several years, and adding 15 fighters to that game’s roster. In addition to new and returning characters from the Tekken world, Bandai Namco brought along a healthy roster of external guest characters Tekken 7, including Akuma from Street Fighter as part of the main roster. On the DLC front, Tekken 7 players also got Geese Howard from SNK’s Fatal Fury series, Negan from The living Deadand Noctis van Final fantasy 15.

You would think that the inclusion of Noctis in Tekken 7 would certainly open the door for other Final Fantasy characters to make the jump to Bandai Namco’s fighting game.

Guest characters in the Tekken franchise are a relatively new tradition. With the exception of the little dinosaur Gon, who appeared in Tekken 3, guest characters have largely been the domain of another Bandai Namco fighting game series, Soulcalibur. The weapon-based fighter has added major stars including Link from The Legend of Zelda, Geralt from The Witcher, Darth Vader and Yoda from Star Wars, Kratos from God of War and Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed. Square Enix also lent 2B Nier: Automatato Bandai Namco Soul Calibur 6 – so don’t lose hope, Tifa fans. What I’m saying is: there is a chance.

In the meantime, Tifa gets plenty of screen time Final Fantasy 7 Rebirththe second game in the Final Fantasy Remake project, coming next month. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth coming to PlayStation 5 on February 29, exclusively for a timed console.

Tekken 8 is now available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series