Latin American pride was present again in Tekken 8, following the introduction of Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo, a fighter from Peru. Naturally, she became one of the favorite “waifus” of Latin American fans. And now we were surprised to learn that the franchise director had Azucena in mind for more than 7 years, after having visited Peru on his own.
Katsuhiro Harada and the journey that inspired Azucena Ortiz of Tekken 8
Katsuhiro Harada is the producer of Tekken 8 and the director of the entire franchise. He has a Twitter account where he keeps in constant contact with the community, telling secrets and interesting facts about the game. Recently, a fan posted an image of Harada visiting Peru 7 years ago and tagged the producer, thanking that such a big figure in the fighting game community had visited his country. Harada replied and revealed something very interesting and unexpected about the creative process behind Azucena’s character.
In his own tweet, Harada responded, “Actually, I had been thinking about the idea of Azucena ever since. So I really wanted to go see some places outside the city. But I got a lot of inspiration from the Tekken community in Peru.” So this confirms it: Tekken 8’s Azucena Ortiz was not only inspired by the Peruvian culture that Harada experienced for himself when he visited the Latin American country, but the game’s huge and passionate community was also a big help. Peruvian Tekken fans should be proud to have inspired the creation of one of the public’s new favorite waifus.
But this is not the first time that Katsuhiro Harada revealed details about Azucena Ortiz’s creative process. A few months ago, on his YouTube channel, called Harada’s Bar, he told that he always had a particular interest in the Nazca Lines of Peru. She also revealed that they first created the wrestler’s personality, and then designed everything else around that. Azucena features a coffee theme (coffee being Peru’s main export) so it makes perfect sense that her energetic and charismatic personality was the first thing about the character they created.
Tekken has always been known for being a celebration of cultures from around the world, and in Tekken 8 we had the opportunity to see Peru being represented in a fun and respectful way, thanks to Azucena Ortiz. And of course we can’t forget the great King, who represents Mexico. So, you never know. If Harada keeps visiting Latin American countries, maybe the next installment of the saga will have characters from Argentina, Chile, Colombia and many more.
