Harada took notice of Tekken 8 player Jamie ‘IGottaJet’ Drake when he was competing at Texas Showdown 2025. And, though he played pretty well, the real star of the show was Jet’s dog, Kintaro.
FGC events are some of the most vibrant in esports, with tournaments around the world offering an open bracket that allows anyone to enter. It’s esports in its purest form, putting a bunch of players in one room and letting them duke it out to see who wins it all.
Naturally, several tournament regulars have things they’re known for. A 6-foot-long arcade stick, a controller with over 80 buttons that someone carved out of a cardboard box, and showing up in a Spartan helmet are just a few of the things spirited competitors have done to stand out.
However, Tekken 8 player IGottaJet caught the attention of everyone just by simply bringing his best friend along: Kintaro, his 2-year-old Shiba Inu.
Tekken 8’s cutest coach Kintaro makes a splash
Coaching has been a hotly debated topic in Tekken 8. It’s a very knowledge-check-heavy game, with players having to constantly figure out how to adjust and adapt to their opponent’s offense to succeed. It’s to the point where, for Tekken 8’s 2025 competitive season, the developers had to impose a new set of rules to restrict coaching.
But there’s one Tekken coach they’d probably let break the rules and stay on stage: Kintaro.
Commentated by Luci and Captain No Fun, IGottaJet stepping on the stage with his dog Kintaro at his side was immediate cause for celebration. He named the dog Kintaro (meaning Golden Boy in English) after the Japanese folk hero of the same name.
And, as if that wasn’t cute enough, Jet mains Leroy, a character known for bringing his dog Sugar with him everywhere. This man practically has plot armor. And, though the clip we posted only shows the start of the set, the good boy buff came through with Jet taking the set over DannyBoy.
Ultimately, Jet got knocked out at 65th place out of 277 competitors, a 2-2 finish. However, he did take a match off of Jermanji in their set, a tournament regular who’s been actively competing in Tekken for almost 10 years and made it to the Top 8 without dropping a set. There are much worse ways to go out.
Katsuhiro Harada, the man who’s widely considered the godfather of Tekken, even took notice. Kintaro has a chance to make it into the game.
This all took place at Texas Showdown, a tournament featuring not only Tekken but also several other fighting games. It has over 1200 attendees competing across 20 different games, with everything from modern games like Street Fighter 6 to old-school classics like Vampire Savior having their own bracket.
