Keeping his promise from two weeks ago, Dominique “SonicFox” McLean showed up to the Clutch 2018 fighting game tournament last weekend in a custom-made fursuit. Naturally, he continued to kick everyone’s asses.
As a member of the furry community—a broad subculture built on a common interest in anthropomorphized animals—SonicFox’s attire served as the ultimate representation of this part of his identity. While the young player previously made a name for himself by wearing fox ears in major competition (so much so that taking them off was seen as “getting serious”), this is the first time he has shown up to a fighting game community event presenting as his furry persona, or fursona.
SonicFox’s suit made its first appearance during a second-round Injustice 2 match. His opponent, a player named Jamal Jackson, seemed incredulous as the furry sat down to play. After some good-natured ribbing, SonicFox proceeded to sweep Jackson with a 3-0, stopping to adjust his unwieldy head for the camera before leaving the setup.
Later on, he returned to the stream for the grand finals match against Franco “Burrito Voorhees” DiFilippo. Although this opponent was able to reset the bracket and force a second championship set, SonicFox again walked away with the victory, bumping the player camera with his nose—known as a “boop” in the furry community—for good measure. In his post-match interview, the early portions of which he struggled to find a way to wear the requisite headset, SonicFox was asked if he was warm inside the suit. “Yes, it’s definitely hot in here! But I’m fuckin’ lit!,” he replied.
Obviously fired up by his Injustice 2 win, SonicFox carried that excitement into Dragon Ball FighterZ, flexing for the camera and joking with his opponents whenever he showed up on stream. On finals day, he continued his reign of terror, and even joined legendary fighting game personality Michael “IFC Yipes” Mendoza on commentary. Despite his usual ability to put words to anything, Yipes was at one point rendered speechless by SonicFox’s fuzzy outfit.
By the end of the day, SonicFox had won yet another Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament, and made a final appearance behind the commentary desk with a medal looped around his false ear. Elated after spending the weekend winning tournaments in his elaborate fursuit, he gave one last shout out to his team, his teammate Jon “dekillsage” Coello and, of course, the furry community.
In a brief email conversation with Compete, SonicFox explained that, although the outfit was a “slight hindrance” in competition, he plans to continue wearing it to fighting game events. Now all that’s left is to make good on his intention to defeat Japanese rival Goichi “GO1" Kishida as his fursona.
Compete is Deadspin and Kotaku’s joint site dedicated to competitive gaming.
Ian Walker loves fighting games and writing about them. You can find him on Twitter at @iantothemax.