Have you ever played a video game and thought to yourself, “Hey! That guy sure is the digital embodiment of a triple-pickle quarter pounder with bacon?”
Of course you have. Burger King Japan knows that you crave burger-iffic versions of all your favorite characters from the best RPGs and beyond, so it intends to deliver the goods.
BK Holdings announced its latest ad campaign (opens in new tab) is all about promoting Diablo 4. With none other than the queen of hell herself taking center stage as the face of the project, the Lilith Spicy Tomato Double Whopper Cheeseburger will be offered in Burger King outlets in the region from December 16. The scorcher of a hamburger will be joined by two other limited-time creations that are also based on Blizzard’s demonic hack n’ slash action series. All this talk of blood and burgers has me hungry to try out BK’s curious game of associations for myself, though.
Burger Queen
Although you might not look at Lilith, Queen of the Succubi, and immediately think of spicy tomato sauce, BK Holdings wishes to pay tribute to the misunderstood character. “It is a burger inspired by the anger of Lilith, who descended to Sanctuary after being exiled for a long time due to a blood ritual,” it said, referencing the events of the second game in the Diablo series.
“This product is a special burger finished with a flame-grilled beef double patty, four slices of cheese, and a spicy tomato hot sauce,” reads the item description on Famitsu (opens in new tab). The sauce in question “features the moderate spiciness of chili peppers and the umami of garlic,” which actually sounds pretty delicious.
Other burgers in the Diablo 4 Burger King collection are the Butcher Double Meat BBQ Cheese Burger and the Diablo Garlic Double Cheese Burger, and you can purchase any of the three (or all of them, if you’re feeling particularly devious) to get a complimentary Lilith sticker with your order. Excuse me whilst I book a ticket to Tokyo.
A pizza the action
As I read up on BK’s whimsical burgering of gaming icons, I couldn’t help but wonder: which fast food items would my favorite characters be?
One of my favorite games from 2022 was Resident Evil: Village, so here is what I think three of the Four Lords would be in the form of a pizza. I’m going to be using the nightmarish offerings from Pizza Hut Hong Kong as my basis for comparison, so I hope you have a strong stomach.
- Salvatore Moreau (Seafood Delight (opens in new tab)): not only does this insidious creation feature a tantalizing mix of scallops, cranberries, and carrots, but the orange mayo sauce adds a particularly disconcerting finish that I think mirrors Moreau’s generally offputting demeanor.
- Lady Dimitrescu (Scallop Cheesy Offering (opens in new tab)): let’s face it – Alcina is a queen, so she has to have a pizza that is crowned by, yes, another pizza. With five kinds of meat and the choice between either scallops or peaches with pesto dressing, Lady D’s spiritual pizza sibling can’t get much funkier or commanding of your attention, for better or worse.
- Karl Heisenberg (Beef Legend (opens in new tab)): just like Heisenberg, this pizza starts out strong with a base of beef, peppers, and barbecue sauce. Things start to get a bit out of hand when you dig a little deeper, as just like Heisenberg’s hopes to use Rose to destroy Miranda, our tastebuds are scuppered by a combo of peach, cherries, and tartar sauce.
But what about Donna Beneviento, what pizza topping could possibly capture the black maid and her horrifying doll, Angie? All that’s coming to mind is that time I forgot to put a topping on the Tesco plain pizza base. Charred on the bottom, pale and flavorless on the top. It was not a good day.
Hopefully, Burger King’s diabolical burgers take off, and we see a whole platter of gaming tie-ins released.