Before becoming a seven-time EVO champion and earning the title “King of TEKKEN,” Arslan Ash was known by a very different, and far more unusual, nickname in Pakistan’s fighting game community.
In a recent interview, the Pakistani eSports icon revealed that during his early competitive days, fellow players used to call him “Arslan bachiyon wala.”
Arslan explained that the nickname stemmed from his preference for female characters in TEKKEN at a time when most male players avoided them. According to him, there was a strange mindset in the local scene where losing to a female character was seen as humiliating.
“There was this idea that everyone had to be an alpha,” Arslan said. “So, boys only picked male characters. Anyone who played female characters was mocked for it.”
He added that the stigma created an unintended advantage. Since most players refused to use female characters, they also never practiced against them.
“How can you prepare for something you never play against?” Arslan pointed out.
Rather than switching to fit in, Arslan doubled down. He continued using female characters and began winning consistently across Pakistan, claiming victories with characters such as Julia, Nina, and Lili.
Arslan also revealed that his choices were driven by pure gameplay logic rather than defiance. He believed female characters in TEKKEN had clear competitive advantages that many players failed to recognize at the time.
“The female characters had better plus frames and higher damage,” he explained. “They were simply stronger than the male characters in TEKKEN.”
That understanding helped shape his dominance long before the global spotlight found him. What was once mocked as a weakness eventually became a key factor in Arslan ASH’s rise to the very top of competitive TEKKEN.
