Pepsiman
| Pepsiman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bio[edit | edit source]
Much like its eternal nemesis Coca-Cola, Pepsi has a Japanese sub-division. And much like back home in the United States of USA, Pepsi sales in grorious Nippon never quite managed to reach those of corn syrup incarnate. Seeing how Coca-Cola had already trademarked Santa Claus, the advertising department of Pepsi Japan decided they needed their own mascot to deliver Pepsi to institutionalized Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies.
Now, in theory, Pepsiman could have been one of those advertising fads that would run on the same list as the endless CGI soda cans with their stubby little hands and feet. But Pepsiman came out in that sweet spot of the 1990s where turning your ad into a video game was very much a thing. This earned him a bonus character slot in Fighting Vipers, and his own 1999 game that gained a cult following among nostalgists and speedrunners alike.
In 8chanmania[edit | edit source]
Season 1[edit | edit source]
Pepsiman debuted in 8chanmania VII. Nothing beyond him not winning the corresponding belt has survived the rigors of time.
His return for 8chanmania XI saw him win an early victory against Viewtiful Joe, only to get crushed by the eventual champion. N. Tropy.
Two weeks later, during 8chanmania XIII, Pepsiman went absolutely comical on Sketch Turner, but then had his credentials taken by police chief Sam Armstrong.
He likewise had a stint in 8chanmania XX alongside the Dorito Pope. Their promotional victory against Fansy and his Sand Giant did not protect them from the KO at the hands of Demifiend and Gene.
Pepsiman would be on his own against in 8chanmania XXIII. His victory against Tony Hawk sadly did not see him come very far, as he immediately was KO'd by Alice Fateburn XVI one round later.
Season 2[edit | edit source]
Pepsiman returned to fight in 8chanmania XLVII; squaring off against against an old foe in the form of Dark Donald. With McDonald's being a Coke distributor exclusively, Pepsiman felt a strong drive to defeat Donald and prove the true power of Pepsi. Pepsiman however was no match for Donald's mastery of MUGENtime and succumbed to the dark clown. In his victory, Donald told Pepsiman of his ultimate plan: To ditch Coca-Cola and launch the ultimate drink brand, McSoda, destroying all other brands in its wake.
He was an all but mandatory candidate for the 90s Mania. He did quite a number on Scatman John, but the Scatman decided to stick by his side - reasoning that he needed to "chill out" and 'stop worrying about making sure everyone has a Pepsi'. Pepsiman would have John by his side through his victories over Bret Hart, Gex and that kidder, landing himself in the finals against (You). Unfortunately for everybody's favorite soda mascot, (You)r sheer body weight (and odor) forced Pepsiman to tap out; leaving Dark Donald to carry out his plans.
The Pepsiman Rule[edit | edit source]
Aside from his lengthy career, Pepsiman is also remembered for establishing the Pepsiman Rule.
Since TNA Anon was fed up with people nominating one-and-done memes as fighters, she decreed that each mania would only allow a maximum of four nominations that did not come with an explicit video game background. This nominally should have applied to Pepsiman as an advertising mascot, but since the Anon who kept nominating him politely asked (i.e. played rules laywer in the nomination threads), this rule was expanded with the clause that any character which had appeared in at least one video game would also be considered 'vidya'.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Aside from the Pepsiman Rule, Pepsiman also was the first character to have its own pre-match and post-match dialogue lines due to the newly added dialogue tool.
