Robert Richards (ロバート・リチャーズ, ''Robāto Richāzu''), simply known as Bob (ボブ, ''Bobu''), is a character from
Bandai Namco
(commonly known as and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group,) is a Japanese mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specia ...
's ''
Tekken
is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations.
The main games in the series follow the events ...
''
fighting game
The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...
series. Making his debut in ''
Tekken 6
is a 2007 fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Games. It is the sixth main and seventh overall installment in the ''Tekken'' franchise. It was released on arcades in November 2007 as the first game running on the PlayStation ...
'', he is characterized by his fast-paced fighting style, despite being overweight. He makes his return in ''
Tekken 7
is a 2015 fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the seventh main and ninth overall installment in the ''Tekken'' series, and is the first in that series to be released for PC. ''Tekken 7'' was released to Am ...
'', as well as the non-canon games ''
Street Fighter X Tekken
(pronounced "Street Fighter Cross Tekken") is a 2012 crossover fighting video game published by Capcom, who developed with Dimps, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, and with QLOC for Windows. The game features characters fro ...
'' and, ''
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' is a 2011 fighting game, the eighth installment in the ''Tekken'' fighting game series and the sequel to ''Tekken Tag Tournament''. It was released for the arcade game, arcades in September 2011. It received an updat ...
'', the latter of which also features an alternate version of the character named Slim Bob (スリムボブ ''Surimubobu''), who is depicted as slimmer and weaker than him. Bob is a
freestyle
Freestyle may refer to:
Brands
* Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe
* Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile
* Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine
* Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories
Media
* '' FreeStyle'', ...
karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
practitioner who takes special training to retain his speed while increasing his weight.
Conception and design
Regarding the creation of Bob, series executive producer and director
Katsuhiro Harada
is a Japanese game director and producer for Bandai Namco Entertainment. He is best known for his work with the fighting game series ''Tekken.''
Biography
Harada was born in Osaka, Japan, and grew up within the Nara Prefecture region. He la ...
stated "usually in fighting games, you have really slim cool-looking characters, and characters who large tend to be kind of powerful, but slow. So, the main concept for him was kind of change that up, and kind of make him almost like a main character." The name choice for Bob initially caused controversy, since the name (which was an acronym for "boy on bike") was previously used by ''Tekken'' fans as a nickname for
Hwoarang
Bandai Namco Entertainment's ''Tekken'' media franchise is known for its diverse cast of characters hailing from various nationalities, all coming together to compete in the King of Iron Fist tournament. In addition to the human characters, '' ...
, due to the difficulty of pronouncing his name. Series designer Michael Murray responded that the character was already well into development, and upon inspecting his design, Murray concluded "This guy is definitely a Bob."
Appearances
Robert "Bob" Richards is introduced in ''Tekken 6'' as an obese, yet fast and agile man. Bob, displeased with his lack of power, takes a special regimen to increase his weight, while retaining his speed. After becoming obese, Bob dubs himself as "the perfect combination of speed and weight." Bob enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to test his abilities, and prove his doubters wrong. His ''Tekken 6'' ending shows him becoming much slimmer; this version of Bob is known as "Slim Bob," and is playable in ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'', alongside his regular form. Bob is also playable in ''Street Fighter X Tekken'', and was playable in the now-defunct games ''
Tekken Revolution
was a free-to-play fighting game, fighting video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was released on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store in June 2013. It is the first game in the ''Tekken'' franchise to be made free-to ...
'' and ''
Tekken Mobile
''Tekken'' was a mobile fighting game in the ''Tekken'' series developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released worldwide for Android and iOS on March 1, 2018. As of February 15, 2019, the game can no longer be played.
...
'', the latter of which also featured a summer-themed variant of the character named Summer Bob. Bob returns in ''Tekken 7'', where he enters the tournament to further prove his strength, and defeat
Bryan Fury
Bandai Namco Entertainment's ''Tekken'' media franchise is known for its diverse cast of characters hailing from various nationalities, all coming together to compete in the King of Iron Fist tournament. In addition to the human characters, '' ...
, a person Bob witnesses causing destruction around him.
Bob practices freestyle
karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
. Daniel Perez at Shacknews notes his "great strength, uncanny speed, and a wide range of attacks," and that it "
akeshim one of the most well-rounded fighters in the ''Tekken'' series." Due to his combination of speed and power, Scott Baird from ''
Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers.
...
'' described him as one of the "most unfairly overpowered fighting game characters," and noted "his large size giving opponents an easier time hitting him" being his only weakness. Slim Bob plays almost exactly the same as his regular counterpart, but is even faster, and has less range.
Critical reception
Overall reception of Bob is mixed. In 2010, ''
GamesRadar+
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Compute ...
'' writer Michael Grimm discussed a hypothetical matchup between Bob and ''Street Fighter's''
Rufus
Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''wikt:rufus, rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include:
Given name
Politicians
* Marcus Caelius Rufus, (28 May 82 BC – after 48 ...
for ''
Street Fighter X Tekken
(pronounced "Street Fighter Cross Tekken") is a 2012 crossover fighting video game published by Capcom, who developed with Dimps, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, and with QLOC for Windows. The game features characters fro ...
'', commenting, "How two totally different companies
amco and Capcom">Capcom.html" ;"title="amco and Capcom">amco and Capcomdecided they both needed speedy fat asses in their games at exactly the same time is something of a mystery, though ... we feel there's room for both of them." Jeff Marchiafava of ''Game Informer'' criticized Bob in 2012, describing him as one of the most "ridiculous" ''Tekken'' characters: "Bob is from America. Bob is also morbidly obese. That's pretty much all the thought Namco put into Bob." Gavin Jasper at ''
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
'' listed him as the ninth best ''Tekken'' character, and stated "it's being a big, fat dude that gives him his unending confidence and charm while not acting like a joke." Sung Wook "Beckor" Baek from InvenGlobal was very positive of the character, opining "plump figure and freestyle karate moves strangely complement one another." Beckor further states "He looks and feels perfect, probably because he just doesn't care what other people think of him," while considering it a "mistake" to think of him as a "joke character." Dale North at ''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
Histor ...
'' described him as "
ookinglike the cross between an overweight
Ken Masters
is a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' fighting game series. The character was first introduced in the 1987 title ''Street Fighter'' as an alternate fighter to Ryu. While Ken and Ryu are devoted to testing their power, Ken instead focuses ...
from ''
Street Fighter
is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' and
Dr. Eggman
Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is a character created by the Japanese game designer Naoto Ohshima. He is the main antagonist of Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Eggman is a mad scientist who seeks to steal the mystical Chaos Emeralds, dest ...
from ''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...
''," while stating that those who "always picks the cool-looking character" will never use Bob.
Oliver James Clark, author of ''On the Persuasive Power of Videogame avatars on Health-related behaviours'', notes "Bob is an example of how larger bodied individuals can be portrayed positively in the media, but there are also various stigmatising elements about him. For instance, all of his techniques are named after chocolates, or other allusions to digestion and eating." In ''Fighting/Fat: Fighting Game Characters and the Emptiness of Video Game Fatness'', writer Todd Harper compared him to Rufus from ''Street Fighter'' and Cheng Sinzan from ''
Fatal Fury
''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK, first released on the Neo Geo system.
Gameplay
The original ''Fatal Fury'' is known for the two-plane system. Characters fight from two different planes. By step ...
'', stating that Bob "has a slightly more realistically proportioned version of the top-heavy, spherical torso." In the article ''Fat Avatars in Games and Popular Media'' by Alex Layne of NYM Gamer, she describes Bob as "a nice violation of what the stereotype of the overweight body can do," and questioned if he can truly be "overweight," due to him "genetically
ngineeringhimself to be this way." In the study ''A sort of halfway-house, A hero version of me: Experiences of Playing with an athleticised self-similar avatar'', writers by Oliver Clark, Sarah Grogan, and Jenny Cole state "Bob is an example of how larger bodied individuals can be portrayed positively in the media, but there
are also various stigmatising elements about him," and mentions how his moveset names reference food. In a
GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
hands on article for ''Tekken 6'', authors Brian Altano and Gerald Villoria were critical of his stereotyped portrayal, questioning "What is it about these Japanese fighting games and how their fat guys are always American?" However, they were more positive towards his moveset.
References
Sources
Gender Issues, Fighting Games, and Progress: Finding a Place for a Genderless Character in Tekken 6.
{{Tekken, state=expanded
Fictional karateka
Male characters in video games
Tekken characters
Video game characters introduced in 2007
Fictional American people in video games