Beyond the Ring: Unpacking the Wild and Crazy Lore of the Tekken Series
When I was a kid, fighting games were a staple. Platformers, RPGs, whatever the hell C-Man was supposed to be – I played everything. But the genre I spent the most time playing with my friends was definitely the fighting variety. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur. just going at it and pounding the living crap out of each other. And despite wanting to claim to be a fighting game god, it's anything but that. I'm terrible at these games.
I understand the mechanics – blocking, zoning, super meters, quarter circles for your fireballs – you know the drill. But I have no reaction time, my assists are useless, I can't counter anything in DOA, and a ten-string is a mythic feat for me. You'd probably beat me up. But the fun is still there whether I'm button mashing or somehow pulling off muscle memory that I can't even describe. There's a raw energy to this genre that's difficult to equal – the tempo, the music, the animations, and the voiceovers. Personality goes a long way; if a game has personality and it's fun to play, it's got me in its corner.
Who didn't want to be Ryu or Chun-Li after playing Street Fighter for the first time? Who didn't adore Mortal Kombat's ninjas? I recall starting up Soul Calibur 2 and immediately being attracted to Nightmare, the blue demon who wields the evil sword Soul Edge. At face value, Nightmare is simply an edgy dark knight. Yet, these characters usually have rich backstory, and looking closer uncovers depth. That dread warrior, Nightmare, was actually the doomed character Siegfried, a man searching for that evil sword for power to avenge his father, but in reality, he was running from the truth that he himself was the murderer. This delusion drove him on his spiral into madness, turning him into a hollow shell of what he had been. until Soul Calibur 3, when Siegfried rejects the darkness and is human once more, his story continuing on a path of redemption. It's a wonderful, continued soap opera.
You see, newer fighting games have definitive story modes, but in the 90s and early 2000s, that wasn't the case. You'd pick a fighter, run through a lineup of competition, and maybe get an ending with static pictures and text. Mortal Kombat was one of the few with biographies in the attract mode. Otherwise, you were reading instruction manuals. Virtua Fighter never had in-game endings, so those manuals were needed for any kind of insight into the lore. Did you know Pai Chan is a Hollywood actress? Me neither, until I read the manual! Trying to understand fighting game lore during that time was like trying to build IKEA furniture – they provided the pieces, but you were the one who had to assemble it.
Presenting Tekken: More Than Fists
And that brings us to the topic of the day: Tekken. One of Bandai Namco's best-selling franchises, hugely popular, instantaneously iconic. But, being a fighting game, its story is still somewhat hidden, even esoteric to the average fan. When Kazuya Mishima was revealed for Smash Bros. Ultimate, it was fun to see the bewilderment. People were like, they know who he is, but. why does he turn into a purple demon guy?
You'll have large fighting game tournaments such as Combo Breaker or EVO, and Tekken looks fairly typical – martial artists battling it out. And then someone picks Jack, the giant metal robot with a pink mohawk. Or Panda, a panda bear that practices Mishima-style karate. And the music? Sometimes it's. a bit strange. Tekken is a franchise that seems very serious on the outside, but behind the curtain? It's gloriously ridiculous.
Many fighting games are absurd and bizarre, but none quite match Tekken. Since the original console debut, they've had unique FMV endings for each character. Some were badass, some heartwarming, but most were just plain insane. That's what made me interested in the lore and why it's been taking up space for free in my head all these years. It always made for entertaining discussions because people couldn't fathom Tekken was this crazy for Cocoa Puffs.
If you jump into the series now with Tekken 7, you can unlock old endings, yet you still won't get the full character backstories. To get the full idea of what's going on – like why there's a boxing kangaroo or who Alisa Bosconovich is – you'll have to head into the past. I've been a fan since Tekken 3, I have all of the games, and I've delved deeply into the mythology to write about it properly. Because I want everyone to understand just how completely insane this franchise is.
So, let's talk about the insane lore of Tekken
One small aside on the title
"Tekken" is Japanese for "Iron Fist," which is also the Japanese name of the tournament in every game. While many, including myself for years, have said "Tekken," in-game pronunciation is always "Tech-ken." A small linguistic quirk in this wild world
Tekken 1: The Father, The Son, and The Cliff
The tale begins on a massive Japanese mountain in 1994, where a father and son are training. Introducing the Mishima family: Heihachi and his five-year-old son, Kazuya. Too bad for the kid, his dad's a huge jerk. Heihachi brought Kazuya to the mountain for the sole intention of throwing him into a ravine. His rationale? If the boy was worthy of carrying on his legacy, he'd survive the drop. Five-year-old Kazuya wasn't about to stop this, naturally. But throwing him off that cliff was the worst decision Heihachi ever made. Kazuya not only survived, but he also vowed revenge. Their familial bond was ruined.
Flash forward 21 years, and Heihachi is living large. Not only is he a compelling video game character, but he is also the CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu, a gigantic conglomerate with its fingers in everything from sporting events to military operations – essentially the head of a global yakuza. And no one dares to fight him because the man is seemingly indestructible! He's the strongest fighter on the planet, capable of catching a tomahawk in his mouth. He once found a baby grizzly cub in the forest, brought it home, and trained it to learn Japanese and fight. That's right, Heihachi trained a bear in Mishima-style karate. This bear, Kuma, is a playable character!
If throwing his son off a cliff was not bad enough, Heihachi also adopted a second son, Lee Chaolan, for the sole purpose of being Kazuya's rival. Lee enjoyed the trappings of the Zaibatsu, but fear not, he did not love his adoptive father; Heihachi is just that terrible dad. Heihachi was displeased despite his ties to the criminal underworld. He yearned for a good battle, an opponent who would push him to his limits. His solution? The King of Iron Fist Tournament, inviting fighters from around the world to come and attempt to dethrone him and win a massive prize.
The premise is this for Tekken: a dozen strange fighters, including Kazuya, our apparent hero. He's front and center, gets the majority of screen time, the posters all feature him. But the thing is: Kazuya is no hero. While the majority of fighting game protagonists are baby faces who want to make the world a better place, Kazuya is not. His ambition is not altruistic; he wants to kill his father in order to acquire the Zaibatsu and take over the world. He's a cold-blooded man who is planning a coup d'etat, even in the first instruction manuals. The protagonist is morally questionable, and you are not intended to be rooting for him. That fun factoid neatly primes the pump for the Mishima drama.
In any case, let's talk about the rest! There's Jack, a robot developed by the Russian military, entered to stop Kazuya. Tournament rules seem lax if titanium-bodied robots are allowed! Though Jack's not so tough; its design was mass-produced, and other combatants make short work of them. Jack was built by Dr. Bosconovich, a Russian genius scientist who would later be playable. He's Tekken's Dr. Light, making many future crazy fighters. He even made an artificial arm for Yoshimitsu, a samurai bandit (swords are alright, apparently) who steals from the rich. Yoshimitsu belongs to the Manji clan, a centuries-old bandit clan. Fun fact: there is a Yoshimitsu ancestor of the same name and style in the Soul Calibur series, and Heihachi was a guest character in Soul Calibur 2!
Yoshimitsu's sword, also named Yoshimitsu, is a demon sword that feeds on blood. If it isn't fed, it can possess its user! Luckily, Yoshimitsu only punishes the evil, so it's okay, but still, that's insane! And then there's King, a Mexican wrestler in a jaguar mask who competes to fund his orphanage (which is filled with Japanese children!). Weirdest of all? He's a normal guy but only speaks in jaguar roars. Tekken is unique in that characters will often speak their own languages but somehow magically understand exactly what the other is saying. They can even interpret Kuma's roars. Tekken is so weird!
And also Armor King, the other jaguar-masked wrestler seeking revenge against King for injuring his eye. Anna and Nina Williams, sister assassins who despise one another. Anna's jealous of Nina, and Nina's cold and dismissive. except when she's watching Tom & Jerry (the manual claims!). Their rivalry is acrimonious, from shoe-stealing to slapping and even non-consensual nude photos (Anna got her revenge later, don't worry). Nina even got a terrible PS2 spin-off, Death by Degrees. The remaining fighters are Michelle Chang (Native American, family ruined by Zaibatsu), Ganryu (Sumo wrestler), Martial Law (Bruce Lee clone), and Paul Phoenix (American loudmouthed braggart, secretly strong, fought Kazuya to a draw pre-tournament). Wang Jinrei, a friend of Heihachi's father, rounds out the group.
According to additional content from later games, this is what canonically occurred in the tournament: Paul defeated Kuma. Kazuya defeated Lee. Yoshimitsu defeated Ganryu and robbed him of his money (given to the poor). King defeated Armor King, and the two became friends. In the semi-finals, Kazuya defeated Paul Phoenix. And in the grand finals, Kazuya faced Heihachi and emerged victorious! In a twist of poetic justice, Kazuya decided to do the same thing his father did to him. and threw Heihachi off a cliff. That's right, folks, Kazuya seemingly murdered his father and smiled about it. With Heihachi dead, the Mishima Zaibatsu was Kazuya's to control. What he didn't know was that it would take more than that to get rid of his old man.
Tekken 2: World Domination, Boxing Kangaroos, and the Devil Gene
Two years passed. Kazuya was on top of the world, but as we all know, he is not a good person. World domination was his goal, and he used the Zaibatsu for nefarious purposes – assassinations, drug trafficking, kidnappings. He even kidnapped Dr. Bosconovich, forcing him to some very strange research. I don't know how Kazuya came up with this, but he ordered the Zaibatsu to abduct animals – cheetahs, wolves, kangaroos – because he wanted an army of animals. Bosconovich, via insane science, created the first transgenic military animal: Roger, a boxing kangaroo designed to terrorize. The second was Alex, a Velociraptor brought back from extinction via fossilized DNA, then bashed with boxing gloves. It's hard to take seriously Kazuya's world conquest plan when it involves sending boxing kangaroos after people!
These characters are comedic additions, yet they play a crucial role. Kazuya's animal poaching caught the attention of the WWC, a wildlife preservation group. One woman was a member: Jun Kazama. If Kazuya never tried to create military kangaroos, Jin Kazama would never have been born! To consolidate his power, Kazuya organized the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2. It attracted the same cast and newcomers like Hong Kong detective Lei Wulong, Baek, and Bruce Irvin (Kazuya's bodyguard).
The marketing for this game is genius: roles are switched. The cast surrounds Kazuya in Tekken 1, but surrounds Heihachi in Tekken 2. The hero is now the villain, the villain the hero. It cements Tekken's moral ambiguity; Heihachi isn't good, but maybe better than Kazuya. The stakes were more personal this time: Yoshimitsu attempting to save Bosconovich, Kuma trying to avenge himself against Paul, King's orphanage falling apart (leading to the support of Armor King), a Jack unit searching for a sense of self, Michelle's mom kidnapped (regarding a medallion that serves an important purpose in Tekken 3), Ganryu obsessing over Michelle, Lee joining Kazuya (to sabotage him from within), and Heihachi training like a beast for revenge.
Canonical matches from supplementary materials: Paul defeated Kuma again. Heihachi defeated Lee Chaolan, warning that he would toss him out of the Zaibatsu. Michelle defeated Ganryu, rejecting him, and rescued her mom and the medallion. Lei Wulong defeated Bruce Irvin (who supposedly died in a plane crash escape). Nina Williams entered to assassinate Kazuya, but lost (either to Kazuya or Anna). Kazuya, being an ass, placed Nina in a cryosleep chamber as a test subject. Anna, not wanting to exist in a world that had no Nina, asked to be put into cryosleep as well. The cryo research was Bosconovich's search for immortality after his daughter, Elisa, had died. Yoshimitsu rescued Bosconovich. The Jack unit that had been playing with a girl named Jane was assaulted by a space cannon developed by Dr. Abel, annihilating the robot. Jane became dedicated to robotics research.
As for Jun Kazama, she met Kazuya at the tournament. Not only is she a guard or martial artist, but the Kazama family is able to sense spirits and energy because of their lineage. Meeting Kazuya, she sensed an evil energy controlling him. Kazuya was attracted to her mystery, and somewhere along the tournament. they slept together. Yes, they are definitely supposed to hate one another, but opposites attract, I guess. This is a PS1 fighting game; little is known, but believe me, Jun and Kazuya got down. Jun didn't really play that large of a role in the tournament itself.
That was left to Heihachi and Paul Phoenix. Again, Paul was a near miss, getting to the semi-finals with Kazuya. But this time, a massive traffic accident disqualified him! Get there on time, Paul! So finals were again Heihachi and Kazuya. During the fight, Heihachi discovered the evil presence Jun sensed: Devil Kazuya. Kazuya had transformed into a purple flying devil man that fired lasers! This was not an experiment; it was a part of Kazuya's nature, the Devil Gene. The Devil form possessed a will and desire of its own – to kill and destroy. There was also an Angel character in this game, Kazuya's good side, as a final boss if you played as Devil. She never appeared again in anything except tag games.
All of this was irrelevant, however. Devil or no Devil, laser beams or no laser beams, Heihachi Mishima was the strongest man in the world. He defeated Kazuya, retaking the Mishima Zaibatsu. To undo his mistake 23 years earlier, he seized the unconscious body of Kazuya and tossed him into a volcano! And took off by helicopter as it blew its top. Kazuya Mishima was no more. Heihachi didn't mess around. With the Devil supposedly taken care of and everything back to normal, the only remaining trace of Kazuya was the kid he'd had with Jun Kazama, a kid she would now raise.
Tekken 3: Ogre, The Underdog, and A New Generation
Tekken 3 was a breakout. Gameplay was faster, smoother, exponentially better than the first two. It's generally considered to be one of the greatest PlayStation games. But lore-wise, it changed the tone, the visual aesthetic, and the time period. Tekken 3 takes place 18 years after the story of Tekken 2. Heihachi now had grey hair, and instead of following Kazuya, we followed his son, Jin Kazama. New generation, new era, new vibe.
The story starts from South America where there is an awakening of an ancient evil, the battle god Ogre. Its origin is unspecified (possibly extraterrestrial?). Ogre lives for sucking other warriors' qi, sensing their power and traveling the globe to confront them. This led to deaths. Ogre found King, the Mexican wrestler from Tekken 1, and killed him. The story goes on from there. He beat Baek so badly the Taekwondo fighter was in a coma until Tekken 5. Martial artists around the world started disappearing, so detective Lei Wulong attempted to investigate. But Ogre's ultimate target was Jun Kazama.
Jun had been staying with Jin in Yakushima since Tekken 2, training him in martial arts and good values. But she sensed evil forces. She informed Jin that if anything happened to her, he must find his grandfather, Heihachi. And Ogre did show up, ravaged their home, and knocked Jin unconscious. When he awoke, both Ogre and his mother were gone. Jun did not return other than in non-canon tag games. Heihachi had an interest in Ogre. If he could capture it, study its power, he might be able to unlock that power within himself. And his grandson Jin mastered the Mishima style with ease, making Heihachi think he'd be perfect bait to bring Ogre out. Jin, naturally, was fueled by hatred and revenge and wanted to fight Ogre. Which would all lead to the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3.
Heihachi brought up Jin, even sending him to Mishima Polytechnic High, a school with framed portraits and a giant golden statue of Heihachi that the students were meant to revere. The champion of the tournament was given a trophy modeled after his own head! He even had bowling pins modeled after them. Heihachi is just so in love with himself. Jin went to school with Ling Xiaoyu, a Chinese girl who is distantly related to Wang Jinrei. She stowed away on a Zaibatsu yacht, impressed Heihachi by taking down his guards, and he made her his ward, sending her to school. As a keepsake gift, he gave her a bodyguard: Panda, a panda bear who studies Mishima-style karate. I still ask, why a panda? This is the second bear that Heihachi raised; the original Kuma died of natural causes, and this is Kuma II, his son, who is also in love with Panda. Panda is also Xiaoyu's mode of transportation, and somehow has the ability to run as fast as Sonic. I just can't with this series sometimes.
Jin's fighting earned him a rival, Hwoarang, a skilled Taekwondo fighter trained by Baek. With Baek in a coma, Hwoarang focused his anger. He and Jin fought to a draw, the same way Kazuya and Paul did earlier, setting up future bouts. And then there's Eddie Gordo, whose capoeira fighting technique was a nice touch. Eddie was wrongly convicted of murdering his father, learned capoeira during his imprisonment, and chased the Zaibatsu to find the real assassins. Bryan Fury, a corrupt Hong Kong cop, was shot to death in a firefight but was brought back to life by Dr. Abel with a cyborg body. Abel, who was always in Bosconovich's shadow, wished to create ultimate bad science. Bryan is damn near invincible, loves a good scrap, and pulverizes fallen opponents. If you ever meet him in a dark alley, run!
The Tekken universe works in mysterious ways. When Ogre came back to life, so did Mokujin, a 2000-year-old training dummy with a desire to kill Ogre. Mokujin mimics every other fighting style. Its endings are canonically weird, with a giant big-breasted wife and playing Tekken 3 in an arcade in a forest. No, seriously, this is canon. There were also other characters, such as Forest Law (son of Martial Law), the new King (new King from the orphanage), Julia Chang (Michelle's adopted daughter, wants to reforest her land, kidnapped along with Michelle's medallion), Gun Jack (reincarnated soul of Jack), and the Williams sisters who woke up from cryosleep (feeling Ogre?). Nina had amnesia; Bosconovich created the cryo machine for immortality for his late daughter, Elisa. Yoshimitsu sought Ogre's blood to heal a deteriorating Bosconovich (subplot later dropped). Paul Phoenix came back, now aged 46, seeking glory.
The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 started. Paul Phoenix defeated Kuma II again. Jin defeated his rival, Hwoarang (apparently). Julia rescued Michelle. Eddie Gordo discovered Kazuya killed his father (despite Kazuya being 'dead'). Dr. Abel tried to murder Gun Jack once more with the space cannon; Gun Jack had two endings, one where he died, one where he saved Jane. Unfortunately, only the bad ending is easily available in Tekken 7. The details of ancillary material tournaments are unknown, but we do know the result. The last battle was in the South American ruins.
Ogre vs. Paul Phoenix. Yes, Paul actually did reach the final and beat Ogre, the monster that killed King and Jun and hospitalized Baek! Tekken 3's main villain bested by the ultimate underdog! Incredible! These days Paul's more or less comic relief, but in the 90s he reached the finals regularly along with Kazuya and Ogre. It's always nice when a non-Mishima goes that far. But, I must burst the bubble. Ogre had two forms. While Paul celebrated vanquishing the first, he did not linger to see Ogre transform into True Ogre, a huge winged, snake-armed fire-breathing monster. True Ogre was battled by Jin Kazama and he gained the ultimate victory, vindicating his mother. He won the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3.
Shame Heihachi was not going to allow him to enjoy it. As Ogre was vanquished, Jin was no longer required, just another blood relative who could become a danger to Heihachi's rule. And Kazuya's son likely had Devilish deception. So. Heihachi shot Jin in the back and kicked him off a cliff. Again. Gotta love how Heihachi was thrown through a stone wall and spiked into the ground, and then got up like nothing was wrong. Jin indeed possessed the Devil Gene and was now a fugitive, not just from Heihachi, but his father as well.
Tekken 4: The Return, The Trap, and The Devil Unified
Tekken 4 is a bit of a competitive black sheep but loved by a few for its atmosphere. It was the first to feature decent prologues, which saved researchers like myself a world of time trawling through manuals! Two years had passed since Ogre's defeat. Jin was hiding in Australia, forgetting Heihachi's lessons, hating the Mishima bloodline. Heihachi was searching, needing the Devil Gene to obtain Ogre's power (he'd regained Ogre's corpse). That is, until one day the Zaibatsu got wind of G-Corporation, a biotech firm. It turned out G-Corp recovered Kazuya's body from the volcano after Tekken 2! Heihachi sent the Tekken Force to infiltrate G-Corp and steal the body/data.
But then. one man beat them all on his own: Kazuya had come back from the dead! G-Corp were experimenting on him, and it had allowed him to merge the Devil Gene, eliminating the dual personality and allowing him complete control. Bad day for Heihachi. But he saw an opportunity. He announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, this time offering the prize leadership of the Mishima Zaibatsu itself! A clear trap for Kazuya. Kazuya joined eagerly nonetheless. Jin, having heard about the tournament and that his father was still alive, also dashed in to eliminate his family once and for all.
Tekken 4 was full of action. New additions included Christie Monteiro (Eddie Gordo's student, searching for Eddie who was battling his father's killer) and Craig Marduk (Vale Tudo cage fighter with a poor attitude, jailed for manslaughter). Marduk had murdered the original Armor King! King entered the tournament for vengeance. Steve Fox, a British boxer bearing a scar of mysterious origin, refused to rig a fight for the Syndicate mafia, fled to America, and entered the tournament. Nina Williams, who still had amnesia, was ordered by the Syndicate to kill Steve. Detective Lei Wulong was now on the trail of the Syndicate. Lee Chaolan's change was interesting: rejected by Heihachi, he turned into Violet, CEO of Violet Systems, billionaire playboy who makes fighting robots. He entered the tournament to field-test Combat, a robot that emulated fighting styles like Mokujin. Paul Phoenix was bitter, dojo bankrupt, fans lost, entered to silence critics. Martial Law's restaurant troubles continued, turning into a running joke. Kuma II trained in the wilderness for his rematch with Paul. Bryan Fury's cyborg body was breaking down; he wished Dr. Abel to extend his life. Julia Chang invested in G-Corp for reforestation data, which Zaibatsu stole; she entered to get it back.
According to Tekken 5 data, Paul likely defeated Steve Fox. Lei Wulong delivered shocker news to Steve: Heihachi used the cryo-chambers to impregnate Nina via IVF, and Steve was her test-tube baby! Nina aborted the mission after being informed by the Syndicate but, true to her cold nature, afterwards willingly cooperated with Heihachi. Business was business. Lei Wulong later destroyed the Syndicate once and for all. King fought Marduk and destroyed him in their match. However, King followed Marduk to the hospital to kill him, until he saw a picture of Marduk's family and had a change of heart. He figured he'd be no better. It's a great scene, if you can accept the jaguar mask. They became allies!
Bryan Fury finally tracked down Dr. Abel, who was punched with such strength his body crashed through a wall. Bryan lost consciousness. Yoshimitsu, finding him, took Bryan to see Dr. Bosconovich, who gave Bryan a permanent generator, extending his lifespan. Abel never returned; additional content confirms that he died from Bryan's punch. Paul Phoenix fought Kuma II again, but the bear, trained in the wild, eventually overwhelmed Paul, who was exhausted and retired from the tournament. Lee Chaolan fought Kazuya but lost, he and his robot Combat defeated. Jin was drugged and captured by the Tekken Force, disqualified from the tournament.
Finals were a three-peat, then: Kazuya vs. Heihachi. By the way, when fighting non-Mishimas, Heihachi would normally fight in a fundoshi (loincloth), wanting to fight completely naked like a true warrior, revealing. well, plenty. Following a vicious battle, incredibly, Heihachi defeated Kazuya once more! After all those years, the old man still did it. Heihachi was officially announced as the winner, however. But he was not done. He dragged Kazuya deep into the Zaibatsu compound to the Hannya-maru temple, where Jin was tied up. Kazuya found Jin tied up, and the Devil character resurfaced, explaining how a portion of itself flowed into Jin through Jun. But Kazuya, aided by his 20 years of study, fought from inside and merged the Devil Gene, eliminating the divided personality. Now only Kazuya remained, yet he still craved power.
Jin and Kazuya had their first fight in their entire lives, a Devil Gene battle. Jin showed his strength by overpowering his father. But then Heihachi also attacked Jin. The kid was so talented he defeated both Mishimas at the same time! The chance to rid the world of this evil was finally here. but Jin spared them both, his vengeance left behind. Heihachi and Kazuya lived to fight another day. No sooner had Jin left than G-Corp Jack robots invaded the temple, turning against Kazuya and trying to kill him and Heihachi. There was a brief team-up prior to Kazuya's escape, leaving Heihachi to seemingly die under a pile of Jacks.
Tekken 5: Revenge, Resurrection, and Rivalries Reignited
The start of Tekken 5 is a classic: Kazuya and Heihachi vs. Jacks! Heihachi "died" here. but he was a playable character in the game, so his death scene at first appeared to be for nothing. Tekken 6 later retconned this, stating Heihachi *wasn't actually there* when the Temple exploded, only waking up afterwards. Heihachi had been blown from the site, landing in an open grave in a graveyard. He was buried for months before awakening perfectly okay, good to go. The man cannot be killed!
The Hannya-maru explosion didn't just blast Heihachi and Kazuya away; it also woke up someone bound in the basement: Jinpachi Mishima, Heihachi's father. Heihachi had killed him by binding him and starving him to death. Jinpachi was resurrected by some unknown evil energy (never elaborated on past one character ending) that was slowly taking over his body. Using his last ounce of humanity, Jinpachi took control of the Mishima Zaibatsu and announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 two months later. Why start a tournament instead of, say, asking for help or killing yourself? Dumb plot, but hey, that's Tekken! The prize was the Zaibatsu again, intriguing Jin Kazama, who was suffering nightmares triggering his Devil Gene. It was becoming too dangerous; Jin appeared to stop it.
Tekken 5 saw the arrival of a new set of fighters: Raven (special forces, infiltrating to gather information), Feng Wei (Kenpo fighter, murdered his master, after "Secrets of God Fist" scroll), and Asuka Kazama (distant relative of Jun/Jin, sought revenge against Feng Wei for attacking her dojo). Even more strangeness followed: Lili Rochefort (oil tycoon's daughter, kidnapped, enjoyed fighting, joined tournament for her dad), Roger Jr. (Roger's son, trying to find his dad – who was really just living in luxury and being unfaithful to his wife!), and Xiaoyu, who for some reason encountered a scientist who had the ability to create a time machine (Tekken, please clarify!). King was still reeling from his loss to Marduk, who stole the late Armor King's mask and demanded a rematch, revealing he was Armor King's brother! Bryan Fury was healed by Bosconovich but then destroyed the Manji clan lab, forcing Yoshimitsu to chase him for retribution. Nina's memories returned upon awakening from cryo, and she sought to kill Anna straight away; they brawled for days before agreeing to settle it at the tournament. Christie and Eddie did it for money for her grandfather's illness. Ganryu, now in love with Julia, entered to get her reforestation data. Wang Jinrei, age 105, was invited by Jinpachi.
Tourney outcomes according to supplemental materials: Jin Kazama defeated Wang Jinrei (anticlimactic given their history). King and Marduk battled again; King won, and Marduk, acknowledging King's strength, released his grudge and became King's friend and tag team partner! Nina defeated Anna (a win which was not welcome to her). Paul Phoenix battled with a renewed sense of determination but lost once more to Kuma II, exhausting himself and withdrawing from the tournament. Yoshimitsu defeated Bryan Fury, who escaped. Asuka defeated Lili, creating a bitter, lifelong rivalry. Feng Wei did not battle Asuka, nor did he engage in a fight with his cousin Jin, possibilities squandered. Feng broke into the Zaibatsu vault, pilfered the scroll, and found nothing but words of wisdom about mastering each style of combat. Jin battled Hwoarang, who awakened from his coma and received new advice; Hwoarang actually prevailed! But while Hwoarang rejoiced, Devil Jin appeared, brutally attacked Hwoarang, and put him in the hospital. Jin won by default and advanced. Devil Jin was a separate playable character, with Jin's Tekken 3 moveset.
Ganryu did not win but found Julia's data, which he delivered to her in a rather odd way. Julia planted a seedling, and reforestation could begin. Roger Jr. found his father, Roger, was alive and cheating! Alex the dinosaur, Roger's rival, moved away with Roger's wife and became a father figure. This level of absurd canon warms the cockles of the heart. Kazuya lost early in the tournament, running into his old bodyguard Bruce Irvin, alive and well. Kazuya went on to take revenge on the G-Corp executives who betrayed him later.
The finale: Jin Kazama fought his great-grandfather, Jinpachi Mishima. Jinpachi wasn't just a master martial artist; he'd grown a demonic mouth on his stomach that shot fireballs! Jin battled with every ounce of strength he had and prevailed, destroying Jinpachi once and for all. The ending of Tekken 5 was monumental: the instead of escaping as Devil Jin, Jin stayed and usurped the Mishima Zaibatsu. All that power, in the hands of the most honorable (at the time) Mishima. What would he do?
Tekken 6: World War, Robot Girls, and The Truth of The Devil Gene
The story begins with Jin Kazama starting World War III. No kidding. He seized oil refineries, space stations, anything for energy, militarized, and deployed the Tekken Force worldwide to conquer. He assaulted civilians seemingly just because he could. The Zaibatsu became so powerful they overran the United Nations (geopolitically impossible!). Governments were helpless.
The main resistance was G-Corporation, now enormous, led by Kazuya. G-Corp had its own military, entertainment divisions (including J-Pop idol/fighter Lucky Chloe), super soldiers, and Jack units designed by Jane. To the public, Kazuya was a saint, a hero fighting against evil dictator Jin Kazama. Kazuya put a price on Jin's head. Jin responded by announcing the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 (bizarre timing for a fighting tournament during the middle of a world war).
Tekken 6 was a narrative shift. It was the first HD, first with online, and first with a true story mode (Scenario Campaign) that focused on two new characters, Lars Alexanderson and Alisa Bosconovich, and completely ignored the tournament plotline. Lars Alexanderson, former head of the Tekken Force, disagreed with Jin's methods and broke away with half the force to form Yggdrasil. Eddie Gordo's master was dying, and he needed money. Jin only accepted to help if Eddie led the Tekken Force, which pulled Eddie into a war he did not want. Eddie became an advisor, along with Nina Williams, Jin's second-in-command. Nina joining the Zaibatsu caused her sister Anna to join G-Corp along with Bruce Irvin.
The Scenario Campaign began with Yggdrasil breaking into a Zaibatsu lab. G-Corp also showed up with Jacks. Lars was blown out and got amnesia. He accidentally opened a cryo-chamber, unleashing Alisa Bosconovich: a robotic girl with jet boosters, chainsaw arms, explosive heads (with unlimited supply via nanomachines!). Alisa was pure anime, too much for some fans. Dr. Bosconovich created her using research for eternal life for his late daughter Elisa. Dr. Bosconovich was notably absent from Tekken 6/7 story modes, making an appearance in tag games only trying to cure Mishima baldness (which is negated by the Devil Gene!).
Lars and Alisa, the amnesiacs, wandered around looking for answers, fighting off street thugs, robots, bears, kangaroos, sumo wrestlers, and even demons (with little story justification for their inclusion). They encountered Armor King II, who sought vengeance on Marduk. Lars later met Togu, a friend of Yggdrasil, who told Lars he was looking forward to meeting Heihachi. Lars and Alisa looked for Heihachi, who was lounging in his mansion, plotting. When Lars found Heihachi, his memory returned: Lars was Heihachi's bastard son! Heihachi's invincibility was proved when he survived a botched assassination attempt and Lars's ensuing attack. Lars left, his new goal to assassinate Jin and end the war. He attacked the Zaibatsu HQ, that is, fighting Eddie, Nina, and a giant robot boss, Nancy.
Lars reached Jin, who had commissioned a statue of his Devil gauntlet holding the world. Jin launched his secret weapon: Alisa, whose bodyguard program took over her free will, forcing her to fight Lars. Jin escaped to Egypt, to a ruin which held Azazel, the Rectifier, a hideous creature causing destruction. Lars and Raven persisted, battling G-Corp and Kazuya once again (the electricity in Mishimas was a bloodline characteristic, apparently!). Lars reached Azazel, a gigantic Anubis monster and arguably the cheapest boss in history. Lars defeated it (Raven helped with the campaign).
Last battle: Lars vs. Jin. Lars won. Ultimately, Jin rationalized his behavior: Azazel communicated with him in the nightmares in Tekken 5. Azazel created the Devil Gene, and Azazel would resurrect and destroy the world when human pain was at its worst. The sole person who had any chance of defeating him was a user of the Devil Gene. Jin started WW3 to awaken Azazel *earlier*, so Jin could fight him while he or Kazuya were still alive. Jin sacrificed himself, making a hole in Azazel and falling into a ravine with it. Azazel was defeated. Jin technically saved the world but killed hundreds of innocents to do so. This made Jin an edgy, tragic hero. Lars left Alisa with Lee Chaolan to be repaired, and Raven later found Jin alive.
Tekken 7: The Final Battle and The Truth of Kazumi
At the time of scripting, Tekken 7 is the newest main game. It includes a two-hour story mode attempting to answer a burning question: Who was Kazuya's mother and Heihachi's wife? Her name, Kazumi, was hinted way back in Tekken 2! Nothing much had changed since Tekken 6; war among the Mishima Zaibatsu and G-Corporation persisted. With Jin gone, Heihachi came out of hiding, attacking the Zaibatsu, sweeping the Tekken Force aside with machine guns and rockets like bugs. He overpowered Nina and took back command. Nina decided to become employed by him.
Heihachi created the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7 to draw Kazuya out and expose him as the Devil (since his transformation was not publicly known). The plan was for Kazuya to turn Devil in a fight on live TV. While he meditated, though, Heihachi had a visitor: Akuma from Street Fighter. Akuma had visited to fulfill a promise to Kazumi Mishima, who died ~40 years ago on the same day Kazuya was thrown off the cliff! Kazumi had requested that Akuma put a stop to Heihachi and Kazuya destroying the world. He waited until after a world war to show up! The two battled. Akuma defeated Heihachi with the Raging Demon (Street Fighter canon established!). He buried Heihachi and set off for Kazuya.
Heihachi survived! (His unkillability was almost comical). He wanted the world to think he was dead, calling off the tournament. The new plan: let Kazuya and Akuma battle, Kazuya would Devil Transform, and Zaibatsu drones would capture it all on film. Heihachi attempted to kill them both using Dr. Abel's space cannon, which he still possessed! He fired it, G-Corp's Millennium Tower was devastated. Kazuya survived. The world saw the Devil pics and turned on Kazuya. Kazuya retaliated with his Devil laser into space, destroying the space cannon. Debris hit a major city, and the public turned on the Zaibatsu (thinking Heihachi did it intentionally, for some reason).
The storyline of Tekken 7 was presented through a reporter writing about the Mishima family. He interviewed Heihachi, and he agreed. It was Heihachi's final stand. The reputation of the Zaibatsu was destroyed, and he called out Kazuya for a final battle – winner take all. Heihachi told the truth about his wife's demise. He was in love with Kazumi, a fellow martial artist. But she also had symptoms of a split personality, an alter ego with the Devil Gene of the Hachijo clan, which was fated to kill threats to the world. Her alter ego wanted to kill Heihachi before he became a threat. They fought hard, and Heihachi, although distraught, killed her. This was a retcon: Heihachi didn't throw Kazuya off the cliff to see if he was worthy, but to see if he had the Devil Gene. Confusing logic, but okay. Kazumi knew he was a monster, so she's a nuanced, possibly tragic character rather than a one-dimensional villain.
Kazuya and Heihachi fought their last battle in a volcano. The recap of their rivalry led to a battle with multiple phases, flashbacks, Kazuya's Devil transformation, and Heihachi somehow turning Super Saiyan. They brutally beat the crap out of each other. Kazuya even nuked Heihachi with lasers, which Heihachi lived through. Heihachi punched Kazuya so hard he reverted to human form. Kazuya, now feeling like that vulnerable five-year-old boy, knew this was his last chance. He won. Kazuya defeated Heihachi Mishima, and in classic Tekken fashion, it ended over the cliff of the volcano. Kazuya threw Heihachi into the molten lava. Heihachi Mishima was dead after all that.
Where does the storyline go now? Lars did finally find Jin in the Middle East and brought him to Lee Chaolan to protect him. Jin was unconscious throughout most of the game and only awoke at the very end.
Conclusion: A Wild Ride
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the wild lore of Tekken. I am no pro player or anything, but I have gotten twenty years of entertainment value out of this series. The incredible music, the awesome character designs, the sheer absurdity that occurs on a constant basis – it's just so much fun. It doesn't even matter if I am playing by myself; Tekken is an experience, a way of life.
There was so much I had to cut for length! I didn't get to bring up Eliza, a female vampire who woke up too early and now has narcolepsy. Lili thinks Eliza is her sister for some reason. Nina and Anna's wedding drama: Nina murdered a G-Corp executive on his wedding day, and he was going to marry Anna, who'd finally found love! Nina killed her sister's fiancé. I am forever Team Anna because Nina is just a horrible person, my god. There is also plenty of non-canon material with really great character insight.
In Hwoarang's Tekken 6 ending, he found an orb from Azazel that grants the Devil Gene. It worked in Ganryu's ending (making him a flying sumo), but Hwoarang, a prideful man who knows he beat Jin fair and square, declined, not wanting to cheat. Kazuya's Tekken 5 ending shows us how low he's fallen, with warm fuzzies for Jinpachi as a kid but voluntarily killing his grandfather for power later on. There's just so much good material here, apologies if I left out your favorite character or got something wrong – it's hard to keep it all sorted! If I missed any crazy lore, let me know in the comments.
