In a series with a reach as long and vast as Tekken's, many a player has found a soft spot for one particular character that caught their eye, at first sight, be it because of their striking design or fun gameplay. This page is dedicated to those characters.
Tekken
- Yoshimitsu, due to his eccentricity, has earned him a devoted fanbase despite being irrelevant to the main plot. His popularity even got his ancestor as a recurring character in the Soul Series.
Tekken 2
- Bruce Irvin, the series' resident Muay Thai practioner, is a character that is renowned for his hard-hitting and badass fighting style as well as being Kazuya's Token Good Teammate (or at worst, a Punch-Clock Villain), owing to his well-meaning Nice Guy demeanor. To say that people are still reeling over Josie (who is a quasi-Moveset Clone of him) and Fahkumram (who shares his fighting style) replacing him in Tekken 7 would be an understatement.
- Jun Kazama, Jin's mother and the closest Tekken has to a Big Good (and by extension a Greater-Scope Paragon given how her presence is still felt long after her absence in Tekken 4), is very popular despite only appearing in one mainline entry (plus both Tag games) until her reveal in Tekken 8. The fact that her reveal trailer in the latter managed to rack up a hundred thousand views within the first hour of upload should be a testament to her popularity.
- Lei Wulong. Despite having little relevance to the Mishima feud, Lei Wulong is beloved for being both an homage to Jackie Chan, being very endearing and unambiguously good in a series filled with morally-questionable ones. His Tekken 7 reveal in EVO 2018 immediately after Anna's was met with near-universal applause.
Tekken 3
- The second King. For a character that isn't involved in the Mishima feud yet still part of the very much beloved newcomer class of 3, he is immensely popular within the fanbase by embodying the Rule of Cool as a Masked Luchador with an iconic design that represents everything great about Professional Wrestling to a tee. He even got the chance to join in on several major crossover appearances like in Namco × Capcomnote and Street Fighter X Tekkennote . He also sticks out as a Nice Guy in a cast full of morally questionable characters. Even Harada himself acknowledged King's popularity by calling him the most popular character in the series according to Japanese players
, and his reveal trailer in 8 outperformed many of the characters revealed before and after him as far as viewership goes. - Eddy Gordo, is probably the most popular new character in 3 other than Jin. His exotic and acrobatic style of capoeira, cool design, and ease of use drew a lot of positive attention and exposed capoeira to millions of people. To put it into perspective, there had been a few capoeira representatives in fighting games before. The style itself was extremely obscure, but after Eddy debuted, capoeira blew into the mainstream and inspired many people to seek out and learn it. Eddy himself is beloved by fans and always in high demand to be included in the roster.
Tekken 4
- Though 4 is considered the Black Sheep of the series, Steve Fox stands out as the most popular of the new characters introduced in the title, having been included in the base roster for all following games. Being a handsome young man, having an intriguing backstory tied to Tekken's poster girl Nina, and having a unique fighting style consisting of almost only punches have endeared him to many fans. Like many if the other characters on this page, Steve is another Nice Guy with Chronic Hero Syndrome. While his voice lines can come off as a bit dorky and his aesthetics can be a bit bland, Steve's popularity has been consistent since his debut, making him a Tekken staple and earning him a spot in Street Fighter X Tekken as Hwaorang's tag partner.
Tekken 5
- Just like King above, the second Armor King went on to become a staple character since his (re-)introduction in Dark Resurrection. His rivalry with King and especially Marduk has often been seen as one of the more interesting bits of non-Mishima Tekken lore, coupled with his moveset that (ironically) combines the best of both his Face counterpart and those of the Mishimas. To say that his announcement was met with overwhelming applause alongside his revised design back in the 2018 TWT Finals would be an understatement.
- Dragunov, introduced in Dark Resurrection. His fighting style is as vicious as it is effective (and surprisingly technical at a high level), coupled with his very intimidating appearance and status as The Stoic, makes him quite popular in the eyes of many a Tekken player. Being The Comically Serious in Tag 2 (notably with Alisa of all characters) doesn't hurt.
- That One Boss status aside, Jinpachi is fondly remembered not only for being the White Sheep of the entire Mishima bloodline (Lars and Lee aside), but also for his equal parts touching and tragic relationship with Wang Jinrei as well as his grandson Kazuya. Being by far the most sympathetic Mishima owing to Heihachi's treatment of him also does wonders. He even gets some funny moments in Tag 2 in the form of that game's outro movie as well as Wang's ending where he demolishes the fourth wall with the Call Backs to Wang's endings in 5 and 6.
- Lili is another case of a character not involved in the Mishima feud (directly, anyway) that still found popularity. She even appears as the sole Tekken representative in Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos and also pops up in SFxT. She was also among the first characters revealed for 6, seen alongside Jin and Hwoarang in the E3 2006 trailer. And Tag 2 is giving her a spectacular, exclusive costume. It's gotten to the point where she has usurped Nina's position as the poster girl for the Tekken series, becoming the marketing focus and being among the first characters revealed for the game. In contrast, Nina had to wait until Fated Retribution to get in, at least until 8 where she's the first female character revealed. Though after her debut, Lili has since become a much more divisive character from 6 onwards.
Tekken 6
- Miguel. A combination of being one of the hunkiest men in the series, his tragic backstory, and being the series' answer to Cody, Yamazaki, and Shen Woo (i.e., an Unskilled, but Strong brawler who throws his weight around with reckless abandon) has endeared him to many fans. Heck, he's so popular he even made it into the live-action adaptationnote of the series, being the only new character from 6 to do so.
Tekken 7
- The second Kunimitsu received a surprising amount of popularity. While her mother no doubt had this status somewhat back in Tag 2 seeing her return in a mainline Tekken game most certainly sealed the deal for everyone that she was here to stay. Being voiced by Saori Hayami and having a flashy and elegant fighting style probably helps.
- Lidia, another newcomer to and the final DLC character of Season 4 (and 7 as a whole) was also being met with similar praise. If it isn't the fact that she's one of the rare instances of an Eastern European that's represented in a fighting game at all (that isn't a vampire, mind you), then it's probably her very appealing design, and the fact that she's one of the purest instances of a karateka after Jin's personal style. She's also Poland's Prime Minister in the Tekken universe.
