Let’s state the obvious: no one likes threats. They are not funny. They are not funny. It’s a terrible habit of social networks to have trivialized threats, whether for comedy or as a legitimate way to show dissent, and it’s something that should never happen. Anyone with a public profile and exposure to social networks knows what it’s like to have regular threats, and so it should come as no surprise that the producer of Tekken has decided to step up and say enough is enough.
Katsuhiro Harada, producer and the most representative person of the Tekken franchise, has shared on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, a message where he includes the capture of a fan’s message. In it, he said that if he did not include Eddy Gordo in Tekken 8, a capoeira fighter who has appeared regularly in the franchise, he would hit him with a Burning Hammer. Also known as the inverted Death Valley driver, a move created by legendary wrestler Kenta Kobashi, which he only used seven times in his career, and which is rarely used in professional wrestling because it is considered very dangerous due to the ease with which it is possible to injure or worse the person to whom it is applied.
While the fan intended to be funny, as the Burning Hammer is one of King’s most lethal moves – a Tekken character with a tiger head and whose fighting style is professional wrestling – Harada was not amused. And he has used it to explain the consequences of this kind of message.
According to Harada, when these kinds of threats are made, several things can happen. If there is an event nearby that you have to attend, the event manager may take the threats seriously and increase security, increasing the cost of the event, or even cancel your participation in the event. It is also possible that, if the lawyers, founders or board members hear about it, they may ask you not to include specifically what you have been threatened about precisely because they do not like to be intimidated. And if, in addition, the person speaks in the first person plural, implying that it is not just their opinion, but that of the entire community, it makes it more likely that all of the above will occur.
This fan was communicating using some social media language, but the consequences outside of social media are very real. And this is how Harada conveys them. No one likes to be threatened, and when we are talking about people with certain power or responsibility, that can lead to decisions that have negative repercussions not only for the person who is threatening, but for the entire community. Even if he was joking. So let’s listen to Harada: no threats, not even as a joke.
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