Penny Arcade Explains the Secret Life of Tekken's Kangaroo

Keane Ng

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Penny Arcade Explains the Secret Life of Tekken's Kangaroo



Namco Bandai commissioned Penny Arcade to create a webcomic to promote Tekken 6, and what they got seems to be a wistful look at the life of one of Tekken's most ridiculous fighters, Roger the boxing kangaroo.

Leave it to the dudes at Penny Arcade to make the nonsensical lore of Namco's Tekken series not just funny and interesting, but weirdly poignant. For their Namco Bandai-commissioned webcomic series promoting the umpteenth game in the long-running Tekken series, the Penny Arcade crew decided not to devote their storytelling efforts to series stars like Jin Kazama or Eddy Gordo, but shine a light on a far more pitiable creature: Roger, the genetically engineered kangaroo that can box.

The splash page for the comic [http://www.tekken.com/comic/], which only runs two pages long so far, features a badass Roger uppercutting through the wing of a fighter jet while another falls to the sky in a blaze in the background, but once you "flip" the page (by dragging your mouse cursor across the virtual page corner), things get serious.

"My name is Roger Junior, so you can probably guess there's a Roger Senior out there somewhere," a kangaroo (evidently Roger's son who attempted to save his dad in Tekken 5) says. "That's my dad, not that he was much of a father. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe I should start at the beginning."

The scene then switches to the Mishima labs, where series bad guy Kazuya Mishima is berating his scientists for genetically engineering him a fighting kangaroo instead of some uber-awesome super soldiers. So, as you can see none of the Rogers have ever been loved by anybody. Which I guess makes Roger the Blanka, or, uh, Hunchback of Notre Dame of Tekken. Doesn't it just bring a tear to your eye?


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Meado

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Apr 27, 2008
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A boxing freak-o-nature that no one has ever loved?
...
...Uwe Boll?
 

TriggerUnhappy

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This is cool and all, but why didn't they just post it when it was finished instead of page by page?
 

scotth266

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While I do not dispute the awesomeness of the boxing kangeroo, having him box a FIGHTER JET is a bit much. I mean, really?

Next thing we know, the stick dude will be getting a backstory where he takes on an army of tank-driving bear-riding Russians.

(Thanks to Flying-Eum for pointing out my obvious error: of COURSE Russians don't drive tanks :D)
 

Keane Ng

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Flying-Emu said:
It's a kangaroo. Why the hell does it need a backstory?
Amnestic said:
Is he...fighting a fighter jet in that picture?
... Falcon Punch?
It already has one...read up on Wikipedia if you want to know how f'in ridiculous Tekken's lore is.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Well this is interesting. Although I expected them to do something with Panda or Bear, this is nice.


Amnestic said:
Is he...fighting a fighter jet in that picture?
Yes, yes he is.
Any other questions?


TriggerUnhappy said:
This is cool and all, but why didn't they just post it when it was finished instead of page by page?
Because this way it builds suspense or something.
 

NeutralDrow

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I will be looking forward to the completion of this.

As for Roger fighting a fighter jet...all I know is that his wife is a ***** to fight in 5 and 6, so I'll accept it for the over-the-top awesome that it is.
 

AngloDoom

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...That picture just blew my mind.

Kangaroo > Fighter-jet?

I need to re-access my plans of visiting Australia...
 

Woem

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Keane Ng said:
Flying-Emu said:
It's a kangaroo. Why the hell does it need a backstory?
Amnestic said:
Is he...fighting a fighter jet in that picture?
... Falcon Punch?
It already has one...read up on Wikipedia if you want to know how f'in ridiculous Tekken's lore is.
Exactly. And since the arcade version is already out for two years, the backstory is also already known. Quoting wikipedia:
Roger was kidnapped before Tekken 5, and his son, Roger Jr, enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, aided by his mother, to find and save him. After his son Roger, Jr. found out that the reason Roger was "abducted" was so he could watch television for the rest of his life, he punches his father through the roof out of pure anger, realizing that his rescue mission was for nothing.
It almost looks like someone rolled a critical fail on the random encounter table.
 

crooked_ferret

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yes I do believe that kangaroo is so awesome he is actually fighting a jet in mid-air...
that's so badass a single tear is rolling down my cheek.
 

Cropsyck

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I like the idea, don't get me wrong. Who wouldn't want to see a genetically engineered kangaroo punch through a jet-plane?(?) I'm just a little wierded out by a male kangaroo with a pouch.. Unless thats part of the genetic modification?!
 

GloatingSwine

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Keane Ng said:
It already has one...read up on Wikipedia if you want to know how f'in ridiculous Tekken's lore is.
This is something that started a while ago. Basically, in any fighting game if you're not part of the Big Important Family, whether that's the Mugen Tenshin clan, the Mishima Zaibatsu, or whatever, your story is going to be some kind of silly nonsense.

Fighting games that do not do this are far less interesting than ones which do.