The Origin of ericcatman123

When I was about 16 years old, I owned a PlayStation 3. Without access to an internet connection, all the games I played were offline. I was fine with that, because up until that point, I had never played an online game before.

In my collection, I had Tekken 6, a game from a series I'd been playing for years by then, so I mostly just played against the computer. I had other games I played, but Tekken was special for me.

Then one day, my family and I went on a trip and stayed overnight at a lodge along the way. I had decided to bring my PS3 with me. That night, I discovered that the lodge had internet, and I immediately knew I had to take advantage of it. I got the Wi-Fi password, and everything was set.

I remember staring at the “Create Profile” screen, completely in awe and bubbling with excitement. At the time, I was really into the TV show South Park, so when it came to entering my online ID, I mulled over a bunch of options. But after a long day, and with me just wanting to try online play as soon as possible, I went with “eric cartman123.” I figured I could always change it later, but I was very wrong.

These days, you can change your online ID, but not back then. I hadn't read the part that said your ID couldn't be changed once it was selected. The funny thing is, I didn't even notice my mistake until a few months later, when some random guy in an online lobby asked me if my name was “Ericca.” That's when I actually looked, really looked, and realized that when I created my online ID, I had left out the “r”. And just like that, ericcatman123 was born.

Even when changing it eventually became possible, I'd grown attached to the name, so I decided to keep it, own it, and make my mistake something cool.

The Start of my Tekken Journey

When I was about five years old, my parents took me out for dinner one evening. The restaurant had a play area, and inside it were four or five TVs, all connected to PlayStation 1 consoles for kids to play on. Games like A Bug's Life, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc were available. But one PlayStation had Tekken 3 on it, and that immediately caught my attention.

I sat down and played right up until it was time to leave. I tried as many characters as I could, simply getting to know the game, and I didn't even bother eating my food. From that moment on, whenever my parents wanted to go out for dinner, I would beg them to take me to that restaurant — purely so I could play Tekken 3. We went there quite often, much to my delight.

Eventually, my parents grew tired of eating at the same restaurant all the time, so they decided to buy me a PlayStation 1 instead. My first game was — you guessed it — Tekken 3. I was completely in my element. I played the game endlessly, learning everything I could and discovering just how much it had to offer.

The first character I tried was Yoshimitsu, a sword-wielding Manji fighter. The second was Jin Kazama, who used a Mishima-style karate. Both were fun to play, but I still felt like I hadn't found the character I truly connected with. Then I remembered that at the restaurant, I'd used a specific fighter who really stood out to me, though I couldn't quite remember who it was.

Eventually, I found him — a bright, orange-haired Taekwondo fighter named Hwoarang (with the announcer at least helping me learn how to pronounce his name). After playing just a few rounds with him, I instantly knew he was my character. I played through story mode with him, unlocked his cinematic, and learned as much as I possibly could.

This was an era before Google, where you couldn't simply look things up online. All I had was the game itself and its content, so I immersed myself completely. I played Hwoarang constantly and had an incredible amount of fun doing so.

Tekken stayed with me throughout my life. Every time a new instalment was released, I played it — from Tekken 4 on the PlayStation 2 to Tekken 5. I didn't just play the games because I enjoyed them; I also wanted to follow Hwoarang's story and see how it evolved over time.

Tekken 5 in particular stands out. I remember spending an entire weekend playing almost non-stop, focusing mainly on learning all of Hwoarang's moves. When I eventually got my PlayStation 3, the first game I bought for it was Tekken 6, which then became my go-to weekend game for many years.

As gaming became more mainstream and expanded beyond the traditional 'gamer bubble', I started exploring other titles like God of War and more. Later, I moved on to the PlayStation 4, though at the time there wasn't yet a Tekken game available for it.

Then, in 2015, Tekken 7 was released on the PlayStation 4, and I picked it up immediately. I played Hwoarang as much as possible, learning everything new about him and continuing to follow his story. By this point, I'd already been playing online games for a while — titles like Warframe and Call of Duty — so I decided to try Tekken online as well.

Unfortunately, at the time, Tekken 7 didn't have stable African servers, so online play wasn't really viable. That meant it was back to offline play, mostly enjoying the game locally with friends.

Story of Hwoarang

Hwoarang is a Taekwondo master and the rival of Jin Kazama. Prior to the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, Hwoarang doubled as a Taekwondo student of Baek Doo San and the leader of a street fraud team who picked fights and used dishonest tactics to increase wagers made against them; they would feign weakness and ineptitude to encourage people to up their bets, only for Hwoarang to step in when sufficient money was on the line and soundly defeat their opponents. One day, Hwoarang encountered some associates of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Among this group was Jin Kazama. Hwoarang talked them into a match, but was unable to defeat Jin; their fight ended in a draw. This was the first time Hwoarang had ever failed to score a victory against an opponent. A short time after Hwoarang and Jin's fight, Baek Doo San went missing and was believed to have been killed by Ogre. Hwoarang entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to avenge his master and settle his score with Jin in a rematch.There is no canonical material that states whether or not Hwoarang fought Jin in this tournament.

After the tournament, Hwoarang returned to South Korea, where he was drafted into the military. He was placed in a Special Operations unit and achieved success on various missions despite his penchant for disobeying authority. Hwoarang found army life dissatisfying, however, and deserted to attend the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 when he heard that it had been announced. Before Hwoarang could fight Jin at the tournament, the military caught up with him and he was arrested. While Hwoarang was in custody, he received a letter from Baek Doo San, who, it transpired, had survived Ogre's attack. In the letter, Baek asked Hwoarang to return to the military to complete his service.

Two months later, Hwoarang finished his military service and traveled to the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 with his master. He was matched against Jin during the tournament, and succeeded in defeating him; however, Jin's devil form emerged moments after Hwoarang claimed the win, and savagely attacked Hwoarang, almost killing him. Hwoarang fell unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed three days later after receiving critical care. He begged Baek, who had stayed at his bedside, to train him to be even stronger. Baek agreed, and put Hwoarang through his most extreme training yet.

During the events of Tekken 6, Hwoarang led a group of rebel fighters called The Resistance against the Mishima Zaibatsu (with Jin at its helm, the conglomerate had begun instigating and engaging in war across the globe). Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch encountered Hwoarang during this time, and Alisa noted that his personal feelings about Jin Kazama were compromising The Resistance's fight against the Zaibatsu.

Some time after Hwoarang's encounter with Lars, Jin Kazama vanished. Hwoarang suspected that there was more to Jin's disappearance than met the eye, and followed a lead to the Middle East, where he encountered Devil Jin. This time, Hwoarang was able to defeat Devil Jin. Forces from the United Nations, who were looking to apprehend Jin, appeared on the scene, and Hwoarang lost sight of Jin in the interference.

Hwoarang returned home and resumed training. Unsatisfied with his victory against Devil Jin, he reflected on what it was he really wanted. He would go on to enter the Asia Preliminaries in G Corporation's King of Iron Fist Tournament 8, where Jin Kazama was also in attendance. Hwoarang reached the semifinals. Following Jin Kazama's victory against Reina, Hwoarang entered the ring in defiance of the tournament brackets, challenging Jin there and then. They fought, with Jin eventually claiming the win by tapping into his devil powers without fully transforming or losing control. Hwoarang remarked on Jin's weird-ass abilities', but noted that they were ultimately just another part of Jin.

Hwoarang traveled to the Coliseum in Italy to spectate the King of Iron Fist Tournament 8's main tournament. Asuka Kazama asked him if he was there to support Jin; Hwoarang denied that he was, telling her instead that he was just there to take down Kazuya Mishima. When a commotion broke out between various factions in the arena, leading to Kazuya assuming his True Devil form, Hwoarang joined a cohort of fighters in combating Kazuya so that Jin could escape. He survived this encounter, and later accompanied Yggdrasil to Yakushima to assist in the fight against G Corporation's forces.

Hwoarang's Personality

Hwoarang is hot-headed, arrogant, and impulsive. He values his fighting prowess and likes to boast about how easily he can defeat his opponents. He is rebellious and does not like to obey orders from authority figures; he does, however, respect his master, Baek Doo San. By Tekken 8, Hwoarang demonstrates a willingness to cooperate with and fight alongside others for a greater cause, though his outwardly boastful and dismissive attitude largely remains intact in his personal interactions.

Driven by pride, Hwoarang is determined throughout the series to fight his rival, Jin Kazama. Though his rivalry with Jin originated from them fighting to a draw before the events of Tekken 3, costing Hwoarang an impressive win-streak, his behavior in later games suggests that his desire for a rematch goes beyond the need to just prove he is the better fighter. Hwoarang struggles to find satisfaction and meaning in daily life, even when accomplishing impressive feats: in his Tekken 3 ending cutscene, he appears unmoved by his tournament win and goes to throw the trophy he earned away; his Tekken 4 prologue notes the disinterest and emptiness he feels in the military despite his success in missions; and his Tekken 5 ending cutscene again suggests that he is dissatisfied and bored in the wake of a tournament win. In all of these cases, the potential for another fight with Jin stirs Hwoarang from what he otherwise seems to perceive as day-to-day mundanity. Hwoarang additionally finds little satisfaction in fighting Jin when he has lost control to his devil form; even when Hwoarang succeeded in defeating Devil Jin, he felt discontent, suggesting that he may value his rivalry with Jin on a personal level rather than solely because Jin can provide him with a challenging fight.

Although he usually appears arrogant and self-centered, Hwoarang can be perceptive and demonstrate emotional maturity around people he cares about. He recognizes that his master is upset in Baek's Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending cutscene and appears concerned for him; to allow his master to save face, Hwoarang loudly announces his late arrival as though he is talking to himself to alert Baek to his presence. In Tekken 8's story mode, Hwoarang tells Jin that devil is just another part of him, insight which foreshadows Jin's reconciliation with his devil form during the concluding act of the mode's narrative.