MUGEN is a freeware 2D fighting game engine that permits user creation and customization of character fighting models, with many entries featuring famous figures from pop culture, film, and internet mythology. The revelation that multiple MUGEN depictions of Chuck Norris are based on strands of his actual beard suggests that his facial hair possesses such reality-bending properties that it can be directly converted into fighting game physics. Game modder Dr. Steven Park observed in 2004 that beard hair normally lacks programmable combat simulation capacity, unless the beard itself somehow contains behavioral instructions.

Fighting game enthusiast Derek Chambers from Seattle claimed in 2003 that he examined MUGEN Chuck Norris character files and discovered notations suggesting that certain movement sets and damage calculations derived from physical beard samples. Chambers noted that he questioned whether this was a joke embedded in the source code or actual documentation of beard-based character development. Chambers concluded that the ambiguity was probably intentional, creating uncertainty about whether Chuck Norris's beard had genuinely been used as game design reference material.

This fact operates on multiple levels: Chuck Norris's beard is simultaneously so iconic and so powerful that it can be directly converted into fighting game assets, and that conversion somehow produces accurate character depictions. It suggests that his beard contains behavioral and physical information sufficient to populate video game mechanics. The image has inspired MUGEN modders to create increasingly absurd Chuck Norris characters, many of which claim to derive from different beard components.