Characters of the day:
The Mishima-Kazama family Part 1
The Mishima family dates back to the Heian era in medieval Japan. They used the Mishima style to originally eradicate demons but was later used for evil purposes and caused many conflicts over the course of the Tekken storyline. The Tekken monks also used Mishima style with Buddhist practices and in a pure way making them dislike the Mishima family’s method of using such a style for selfish and evil purposes. In Tekken, the Mishima family is the most important family since most of the conflicts and cooperations are started and run by them. Most other characters are connected to them either through friendship, revenge or by working with them (Xiaoyu, Wang, Michelle Chang and Eddy Gordo).
Jinpachi Mishima - Strongest fist
The father of Heihachi, great grandfather of Jin.
The main antagonist of Tekken 5 and was the one who orchestrated the fifth King of the iron fist tournament.
He is friends with a man called Wang Jinrei and warns him of the bloodshed and doom within the Mishima line.
He is an honourable fighter with a strong sense of wisdom unlike the rest of the family.
He wanted to devote his family legacy to martial arts and changed the nature of his company to get rid of needless conflict.
He cared for and was deeply fond of Kazuya teaching him Mishima style karate and becoming a father figure to him.
Heihachi raised a coup against him, taking over the business and locking him in the Hon-Maru, where he would die of starvation and get taken over by a demonic spirit later during the game. (He hated this version of himself).
Heihachi Mishima - The King of the Iron Fist
The father of Kazuya, Lars and Reina, adopted father of Chaolan and the grandfather of Jin.
He is one of the main characters is Tekken, debuting since the first game and being present for the others. Though he serves as the main antagonist as he is primarily behind all of the subsequent dilemmas and catastrophic events which unfold in the games.
He wants world domination and ultimate power which is prominent through his actions in the game, and the way he furthers the war with G-Corp in the later games.
He started the first King of the Iron Fist Tournament and won the second tournament, claiming its title.
He had met his wife Kazumi when they were both training under Jinpachi, and got married when he was 26. He later killed her when Kazuya was 5.
He stole his fathers business and reshaped it to becoming the Mishima Zaibatsu to the horror of both his father and wife.
He was abusive towards Kazuya after killing his mother, beating him and instilling tough training into him. He infamously threw him off a cliff both when he was 5 and later on after the second tournament.
He had adopted Lee Chaolan to act as a rival and punching bag to Kazuya. Heihachi raised him with the same strict and harsh upbringing as Kazuya.
He trained Jin and lied to him about unleashing the ogre which killed his mother.
He dislikes all of his family, except for Kuma I & II, his wife, Xiaoyu and Panda.
He carried out experiments to see if he was the carrier of the devil gene resulting in 18+ abandoned offspring’s including Lars Alexandersson.
Despite his rough and brutal behaviour towards his sons, he has a soft spot for the women and girls in his life, and his pet bear Kuma who he trains in martial art.
Kazumi Mishima/Hachijo
She is the mother of Kazuya and the wife of Heihachi.
She appears in Tekken 7, where she assigned Akuma to kill both Kazuya and Heihachi.
She deeply loved and doted on Kazuya.
She has a pet lion which can be used alongside her during battles.
It was said that the demon Akuma was saved by her and became indebted to her, leading to him seeking out Heihachi and Kazuya.
The devil gene that both Kazuya and Jin have, came from her. Her devil gene was unlocked and took control over her while she was deeply ill. Her devil form sought to kill Heihachi.
The Hachijo clan exists to monitor over-ambitious people like Heihachi and to stop them if they become too dangerous. They told her that she had to destroy him. Kazumi claimed that the only reason she married him was to monitor and kill him.
Due to Heihachi overtaking Jinpachi's business and becoming interested in world domination, Kazumi believed that she had to stop him.
Kazuya Mishima - Iron Fist of Darkness
He is the son of Heihachi, the father of Jin, the brother of Reina, Lars and Chaolan. He does not like any of his half-siblings.
He debuted in the first Tekken game as the protagonist and returned for most of the other games as either the protagonist or antagonist.
Jinpachi taught him Mishima style karate at a young age when he lived at the Mishima estate. Kazumi and Jinpachi doted on him a lot. He lost both of them when he was 5, and was left with Heihachi.
Kazuya had the 'devil gene' within him which he had gained from his mother. This was awakened when he had been pushed off the cliff from Heihachi. The awakening of his gene allowed him to climb back up the cliff and survive.
Throughout his childhood, he was subject to abuse with harsh and strict rules to follow causing him to become frail and timid when he was a boy because of Heihachi.
Due to the adoption of Lee, Kazuya and him had developed a rivalry. This was encouraged by Heihachi as he wanted Kazuya to grow more into becoming stronger. The rivalry had been sparked with Heihachi threatening to have another son to replace him.
The devil gene exacerbates negative emotions including hatred, fear and anger. It grants him large wings, the ability to shoot lazers and carry out other powerful moves.
His anger at his father for his childhood motivates him to enact revenge against him, throughout most of the Tekken games, up until 7, he and Heihachi have constantly fought against one another, including causing a war to break out across the world due to their conflict.
Jun Kazama is his love interest (basically canon by now) and the two of them have a son, named Jin Kazama. Jin and Kazuya have a rocky relationship since the two heavily hate each other since they met at the end of Tekken 4.
He enjoys collecting sneakers and used to be friends with Bruce Irvin and Anna Williams. Paul Phoenix refers to him as his rival.
He wanted world domination as well, leading to him becoming ceo of G-Corporations. G-Corp had resurrected him after he lost to Heihachi in Tekken 2, leading to only his left eye glowing.
He won both the 1st and 4th tournaments.
Lee Chaolan / Violet - The Silver-haired demon
Lee Chaolan is the adopted son of Heihachi, the adoptive brother of Kazuya, Reina and Lars. He debuted in the first, original game and returned for most of the other games except for Tekken 3.
Chaolan was a young orphaned boy, losing both his parents at a very young age, living on the streets of China when Heihachi found him whilst on a business trip. He was impressed with his fighting skills and so adopted him and made Chaolan train under him. His true intention was to give Kazuya a rival.
This rivalry and annoyance between Chaolan and Kazuya had occurred despite them knowing that Heihachi deliberately pit them against one another. They knew each other very well, and hated each other.
Heihachi was never really interested in Chaolan, but he still gave him a thorough martial arts training and an education in business. He was thus able to work in the Zaibutsu branch in America.
After Tekken 1, when Kazuya takes over the Zaibatsu, Chaolan is taken in as his secretary which is humiliating because he is overqualified for the role.
Chaolan was cast out of the Mishima clan after Tekken 2 and for the next 20 years, lived in the Bahamas and made the company Violet Systems. He always had an interest for engineering and robotics, which is what Violet Systems is based on. Chaolan also developed the persona Violet which he used to enter the King of the Iron Fist tournament 4 to battle Heihachi. His hair is purple and wears a purple shirt.
Jinpachi's friend Wang took him in to train him.
He is a big romantic, with an immense sense of class. He is very elegant and graceful, as seen through his dress sense.
He has a well known catchphrase, "Excellent!".
He has flirted with characters such as Anna, Nina Williams and his secretary.
He has a good relationship with Lars and Jin. He was able to 'revive' Alisa after the events of Tekken 6.
He helps with private funding, equipping and housing the anti-Mishima forces including Yggdrasil.
In Violet Systems, Julia Chang operates as a spy for them, and there are Violet Girls who act as mascots/cheerleaders for the company.
Lars Alexandersson - Lion of the Rebellion
He is the illegitimate child of Heihachi, and the half-sibling of Kazuya, Reina and Chaolan. He is the uncle of Jin.
He debuted in Tekken 6 and returned for all subsequent games. He became one of the main protagonists of Tekken 7. He also appears in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, wearing an outfit that Kishimoto made for him which is also playable in Bloodline Rebellions.
His mother is Swedish, and was a researcher that was conducting experiments to uncover the truth about the devil gene. Heihachi had met her in Sweden when Tekken Force was conducting operations there. Heihachi had wanted to test whether he was the carrier of the devil gene. Lars does not possess the devil gene but he is shown to use the iconic Mishima lightning whilst fighting. Many characters talk about Lars' resemblance to Heihachi due to his spiky hair. To Heihachi, Lars' existence is just a small piece of evidence to test his hypothesis that the devil gene does not originate from the Mishima bloodline.
Lars became a high ranking officer in the Tekken force, however he began to have doubts about the actions of the Zaibatsu and Tekken Force because of their raging war across the world. This led to the defection of half of the Tekken force from the Zaibatsu and the establishment of the rebel group Yggdrasil. This was seen through his tagline, "the one who betrayed his own in order to build a new era".
He and Alisa Bosconvitch share a close relationship with the both of them being hinted at to like each other in their respective endings in Tekken 8. Jin even asks if Lars had developed feelings for Alisa during the events of Tekken 6. The two were the main protagonists of the game and are seen together in most media, including Tekken X street fighter.
He and Jin were enemies in Tekken 6 but by Tekken 8 Lars seemed to have played an essential role in motivating him to end the war and put Kazuya down.
Chaolan and Lars started off on the wrong foot, however the two brothers are the closest out of the whole family, and Chaolan helped to bring him back Alisa.
Kazuya and Lars do not really get along as seen through their dialogues in Tekken 6.
He is a big advocate for Justice, going so far as to step away from Tekken Force and bravely create a rebel alliance to take down the Zaibatsu.
Lars in Tekken 6 lost his best friend, Tougou, who had died in his arms.
Reina Mishima - Purple Lightning
Her character was introduced only in Tekken 8. She is Heihachis biological daughter and the sister of Kazuya, Chaolan and Lars, as well as Jins aunt.
She has the devil gene from her mothers side, and inherited her fathers brute strength, ambition and obsession with power.
She values the relationship between father and daughter, meaning that despite not being raised by her father or mother, she still had a positive relationship with her father.
Not a lot of information has been revealed about her, however it is speculated that she will be important to the future of Tekken.
She has done a lot of in depth research about all the different Mishima members including Lars.
She does not like any of her brothers, Jin or Jun.
She is seen as a mini-Heihachi using many of his infamous gestures, lines and fighting style.
She studies at the Undersea Warfare Research Division at the Yokosuka campus of Mishima Polytechnical.
Kuma I - Mad Bear
Kuma I appears only in the first and second games, after which he is replaced by his son Kuma II. He is fiercely loyal to Heihachi.
Heihachi found Kuma as a cub in the forests of the Mishima estates and took him in as a pet. Upon realising that he is very intelligent, Heihachi taught him sign language, fighting techniques and basic Japanese. His fighting style is called Kuma Shinken.
He acted as a bodyguard to Heihachi in Tekken 1.
He is rivals with Paul Phoenix after Paul defeated him in the first tournament.
He likes human flesh which led to Heihachi's associates fleeing the estate in fear of the bear. He is shown to be lazy as his hobbies include napping.
He died of old age in between Tekken 2 - 3, passing on his legacy and rivalry with Paul to Kuma II.
Kuma means Bear in Japanese.
Kuma II - Master of the Salmon
Is the son of Kuma I, and was first introduced in Tekken 3 after which he returned for all subsequent games including the anime.
He has a different fighting style compared to his father, which includes the Mishima style.
He enjoys watching cartoons that are multi-coloured as he finds it difficult to see black and white TVs.
He has a big crush on Panda and has tried to propose to her multiple times. However, Panda does not reciprocate his feelings.
Kuma II is more friendlier and less aggressive than his father. This is seen when he returned a lost item of Josie in Tekken 7.
After watching the footage from the second tournament of Paul and his father fighting, he decided to train in order to beat Paul.
Like his father, he became Heihachis bodyguard.
Most of the time, Kuma trains in the mountains of Hokkaido alone, and then catches up with recent events by spying on peoples TV screens.
He is in the Hyperdimension Neptunia: Victory game where he is voiced by Harada.
In Tekken 7, he became a Tekken Force officer.
He is friends with Roger.
He does not like Kazuya or Jin.
Chaolan mistook Kuma II for his father.
