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Tekken (鉄拳 lit. iron fist) is a series of
fighter
games developed and produced by
Namco. Originally an
arcade game, it has been ported to some
video game consoles, such as the
Sony Playstation. Mainly concerned with
karate,
kung fu and its variations, it also involves elements of
boxing,
wrestling and
Capoeira. The series is one of the earliest
3-dimensional beat 'em up franchises, with the first game released
less than two years after
Virtua Fighter. There are now five Tekken games.
As with all fighter games, players each choose a character from
different, exotic worldwide settings and fight hand-to-hand with each
other. It is primarily a competitive two-player series, but a human player
can fight an
artificial intelligence-controlled character for practise or
amusement.
It shares some gameplay mechanics and characters with Namco's other 3D
fighter series,
Soul Calibur.
Characters
- Nina Williams, An Irish Assassination Martial Artist that
borrows concepts from Aikido and Bone Martial Arts. She has a history of
being contracted to kill Mishimas and failing due to untimely quarrels
with her sister; she was captured by Kazuya Mishima after failing to
assassinate him in Tekken 2 and used as a guinea pig in the "cold sleep"
project (cryonisation). She has lost her memory as a result and during
Tekken 3 was controlled by Ogre and manipulated to try and kill Jin
Kazama. In Tekken 4 she was returning to life as an assassin and hired
by the mob to kill Steve Fox, who turned out to be her son from being
artificially impregnanted while in cold sleep (the identity of the
father is unknown, though many assume it to be Kazuya). She still has no
memories of her previous life or Anna.
- Anna Williams, Nina's brunette sister also trained in
Assassination Martial Arts; Extrovert extraordinaire. Made a point
through Tekkens 1-3 of foiling all of Nina's assassination attempts by
showing up at exactly the wrong place and the wrong time, and is
portrayed as an all-around nicer, more sociable person than her sister.
She was hired in Tekken 2 to be Kazuya's bodyguard along with Michelle
Chang and Ganryu, and during that time was (allegedly) something along
the lines of a girlfriend to Lee ChaoLan until that part of her life was
cut short by choosing to be put into "cold sleep" with her sister (the
storyline is ambiguous on the cause- she said she didn't want to turn
old while her sister remained young, but it's hinted that in actuality
would miss her sister who she really just wants to be at peace with).
She did not lose her memory or was controlled by Ogre upon waking from
Cold Sleep, unlike her sister, and attended Tekken 3 in an attempt to
stop Nina from becoming an assassin again. In Tekken 4 she is
mysteriously and inexplicably absent.
- Michelle Chang, A dark haired Asian female from Arizona and
step mother of Julia Chang. In Tekken 2, she had an amulet which
allegedly could control and subdue great powers and spirits and that
Kazuya coveted; he was, however, unsuccessful at taking it away from
her. At the conclusion of Tekken 2 she threw her amulet to the bottom of
a lake, probably never to be found again.
- Julia Chang, Skilled in Chinese Martial Arts based on
Shinrokugo-Ken, and is Michelle's step daughter. Julia was adopted in
her infancy and never knew her real parents. In Tekken 3, Heihachi
Mishima kidnapped Michelle in order to force Julia to give up a family
heirloom he coveted, but was unsuccessful. Julia returns in Tekken 4 as
an expert environmentalist, seeking ways to save her homeland from
deforestation.
- Yoshimitsu, An ancient armored warrior trained in Advanced
Manji Ninja Arts who loves to play arcade games in Kyoto, Japan. A
benevolent "Robin Hood" type bandit, Yoshimitsu takes from the rich and
gives to the poor. He is a close friend of Dr. Boskonovich (who was
responsible for his full-scale cyborgisation later on) and was targeted
during Tekken 3 by Bryan Fury. His chief rival is Kunimitsu.
- Forrest Law, A Chinese fighter based on Bruce Lee. Forrest
is Marshall Law's son and a good friend of Paul Phoenix, much like his
father. He dislikes riding on Paul's motorcycle, seeing as it makes him
nauseous. He only appeared in Tekken 3, when supposedly Marshall was
unavailable and Paul decided to take Forrest along with him to the
tournament instead.
- Jack, A gigantic Russian robot. Jack saved a girl named
Jane from the horrors of war and she became something between his friend
and maintainer. Typically of robots, he was little more than a tool, but
the chaos of war acted as a trigger for him to erratically develop human
emotion.
- Lei Wulong, A five-form martial artist based on Jackie
Chan. During Tekkens 1-3, Lei was a very respected police officer dubbed
"super police" who put countless criminals behind bars. He was
investigating the illegal hunting and trading of endangered animals done
by the Mishima Zaibatsu during Tekken 2 and set out to stop the assassin
the mob sent to kill Steve Fox (Nina Williams) during Tekken 4 in order
to restore his waning reputation. Lei is fond of naps in general.
- Kazuya Mishima, Son of Heihachi Mishima and father of Jin
Kazama. Fights using the Mishima style. He was abused at childhood by
his father, being thrown from a cliff to test his "power" as the
highlight. Kazuya also felt like his father was favoring his foster
brother, Lee, over him when he sent Lee to study in America instead of
him, which he deemed ridiculous since he was so incredibly stronger than
his brother. Between Tekken 1 and 2, Kazuya made a deal with the Devil
to gain power to overthrow his father- literally, making the Devil
reside within his body. Having gained leadership of the Zaibatsu he
hired Ganryu, Anna and Bruce as his bodyguards and appointed Lee as his
secretary (during that period they were on considerably better terms).
Kazuya was inexplicably attracted to Jun Kazama upon seeing her and she
allegedly brought out his more human side, which was no small feat.
During Tekken 3 Heihachi turned out to still be alive after all -
surviving the fall from a tall cliff that Kazuya threw him into in a
twist of malicious irony - and defeated him, casting him into a volcano
and getting rid of him until his body was found by the G corporation and
turned into a Cyborg. He visits Tekken 4 in order to take his final
revenge from his father.
- Jin Kazama, Also known as the boy who became a protagnist
against all odds. He grew up in the forest with his mother, Jun, not
knowing anything about his father, until one fateful night the Ogre
decided to attack Jun Kazama. Jin ran out of the house before it
happened so he did not see it, but to assume his mother anything but
dead would have been ludicrous; thus, with nowhere to go, he seeked out
his grandfather Heihachi in hopes of Heihachi training him to be a
fighter competent enough to avenge his mother. Heihachi, however,
intended to merely use him as a pawn in his quest to harness the Ogre.
Jin ended up defeating the Ogre but being immediately shot in the
forehead by Heihachi, having "served his purpose". It was then that the
Devil within Jin- for he had inherited the Devil's blood from his
father, Kazuya - awakened and saved him from death while lunging and
slamming Heihachi into the concrete ground for good measure. He returns
in Tekken 4 with a resolve to disavow his cursed blood; he learns a new
fighting style and decides to set about killing both Kazuya and Heihachi
and dying without children so that the legacy of the Devil may not
prevail.
- Paul Phoenix, Judo expert, Tekken veteran and good friend
of the Laws. His fighting skills have achieved the status of legend, yet
whenever he makes it to the final battle there is always something along
the lines of a traffic jam, a silly mistake or some other thing to that
extent that prevents him from actually winning the tournament. He tied
with Kazuya Mishima during Tekken 2, which was no small feat considering
that Kazuya had the Devil's powers to help him then. Paul's reason for
attending the tournament, unlike the norm, is very impersonal and has
become quite routine. He wants to win that blasted tournament already.
He is running a dojo of his own when he hears about the Tekken 4
Tournament.
- Lee Chaolan, Kazuya's foster brother who was expelled from
the Zaibatsu when Heihachi regained control due to siding with Kazuya in
Tekken 2. As of Tekken 4 head of a successful robotics company. Built
Combot. Supposedly had romantic connections to Anna Williams until she
chose to put herself in cold sleep along with her sister. Fixated to
some degree on money and power, which he both lacked as a child (he grew
up as an orphan). In Tekken 4 he dyed his hair purple and put on dark
glasses to hide his identity, especially from Heihachi. His martial arts
style is similar to Forest Law's.
- King, A famous wrestler from Mexico. There are actually two
Kings in the series, both of whom wore a big jaguar mask in matches. The
first was a Catholic priest who participated in both pro-wrestling and
martial arts tournaments to win money for his orphanage. He also taught
his fighting skills to the children under his care as a means of
self-defense. One of them, a young man, took up both the mantle and the
mask shortly after the first King was killed by Ogre, and went on to
participate in Tekken 3. Now 27, he received further training from Armor
King, only to become furious when Craig Marduk killed AK in a bar brawl.
Upon Marduk's release, King the Second sent a letter challenging him to
the touranament in Tekken 4.
- Armor King, King's mentor and companion.
- Ling XiaoYu, Uses Chinese Martial Arts based on Hakke-Sho
and Hika-Ken. Apparently has a crush on Jin.
- Hwoarang, A Tae Kwon Do fighter. Rival of Jin Kazama and
former student of Baek Doo-san. When he received word of Baek's death at
the hands of Ogre, he entered Tekken 3 to seek revenge.
- Eddy Gordo, Trained in the art of the Brazilian fighting
style, Capoeira. His father was very influential but was killed by the
mafia, and Eddy decided to willingly go into prison because he would be
safe from the mafia there.
- Jun Kazama, Jin's mother, uses Kazama Style Classic Martial
Arts. The embodiment of purity and niceness. Also allegedly psychic.
- Baek Doo-San, A Tae Kwon Do Fighter and Hwoarang's mentor.
He was killed by the Ogre during Tekken 2.
- Ganryu, A Sumo Wrestler who was a bodyguard to Kazuya
during Tekken 2. Has a crush on Michelle Chang.
- Brian Fury, Kickboxer who in life was Lei WuLong's rival.
After his death due to a failed attempt at crossing two gangs at once,
Brain was reanimated by Dr. Abel as a cyborg with the mission of
targeting Yoshimitsu and Dr. Boskonovich, Abel's rival. Brian still has
a grudge against Lei.
- Heihachi Mishima, Host of the King of the Iron Fist
Tournament, Jin's grandfather, fights with the power of the Mishima
Style. Like other Mishimas, simply refuses to die.
- Devil, The essence of evil that has contaminated Kazuya in
return for power to overthrow Heihachi.
- Angel, Vies with Devil over Kazuya's soul.
- Mokujin, A wooden combat training doll awakened by the
Ogre. Its fighting style is mimicry (it alternates between sets of moves
used by the other fighters).
- Alex/Roger, Roger is a kangaroo and Alex is a raptor. Both
were genetic creations of Dr. Boskonovich intended to help the various
people attempting to thwart Devil-Kazuya.
- Panda, Ling Xiaoyu's loyal pet. Fights using... bear
martial arts. Obviously.
- Kuma, Heihachi's pet. Likes watching TV. Considers Paul a
rival, though doesn't have much of a record against him.
- Kunimitsu, Female armored ancient warrior. Yoshimitsu's
rival that would rather have the ninja clan steal for itself rather than
the poor.
- Bruce Irvin, Kickboxer. Was Lei Wulong's partner in the
police force and good friend until the Mishima Zaibatsu sabotaged his
plane and it crashed. Bruce somehow survived but lost his memory. He was
collected by Kazuya and made his bodyguard, then brainwashed that Lei
was his enemy and he was responsible for him crashing.
- "Jack-2", Another robot of the Jack series.
- Wang Jin-Rei, Old man who trained with Heihachi's father,
Jinpachi.
- Baek Doo-San, Trained in Tae Kwon Do and was Hwoarang's
mentor. Was killed by the Ogre during Tekken 2.
- Ogre/True Ogre, Final Boss in Tekken 3. Infused with
mythical powers. Absorbs souls of fighters.
- Prototype Jack, Self-explaintory.
- Craig Marduk, Killed Armor King in a barfight. A pychotic
wrestler.
- Gon, Tiny little dinosaur based on a Japanese comic series.
Will Tekken 5 have
Naruto in it instead of Yoshimitsu?... No, I didn't think so,
either...
- Dr.Boskonovitch, Companion of Yoshimitsu and uses unique
ground fighting techniques (since he suffers from a rare disease that
affects the spine, and is constantly drunk). His daughter is also sick
and he started the "cold sleep" project for the purpose of freezing her
until he can find a cure. Also responsible for the creation of Alex and
Roger. Rival of Dr. Abel.
- Steve Fox, A famous boxer who was adopted at childhood. Was
threatened to throw a fight by the British mafia and has been hunted
ever since for not complying. The latest assassin sent after him is Nina
Williams, who is actually, as it turns out, his biological mother.
- Christie Monteiro, Appears in Tekken 4 after Eddy's
disappearance in Tekken 3. She also uses Capoeira. Eddy's student.
- Unknown, Tortured soul enslaved by a wolf spirit. Only
appears in Tekken Tag Tournament, and fittingly not much is known about
her (Tekken Tag Tournament doesn't even have a storyline, which makes
her purpose pretty much impossible to discern). The most common
speculation is that she's actually a transmogrified Jun Kazama.
Unknown appears in the end of the intro in Tekken 3. It
made the tattoo on Jin Kazama 's arm.
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