While most fighting games rarely, if ever, have a story, Tekken actually has a story amidst of all the characters. All spoilers are unmarked.
Enjoy!!
For the most part, the main storyline revolves around the Mishima family. Put simply...they don't get along. Their story revolves around a struggle for control over the family's corporate and military empire, with the Devil Gene interfering with the proceedings.
- Important characters within this arc include: Heihachi Mishima, Kazumi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, Jun Kazama, Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, Ogre, Jinpachi Mishima, Lee Chaolan, Lars Alexandersson, Alisa Bosconovitch, Azazel, Zafina, Claudio Serafino, Reina (Mishima).
Before the whole story begins
In ancient times, there was a demon known as Azazel the Rectifier who appeared in the Middle East. Azazel believed himself to be the greatest being, reigning over heaven and earth. Thus, he went on a rampage to subjugate the world. If he was not killing humans, he would then grant them a substance known as the 'Devil Gene', one that would increase their power to the point of becoming a demonic creature, but in turn make them subservient servants of Azazel.
The humans rebelled against him, and a clan (which would become the ancestors of Zafina) successfully sealed Azazel within a temple built with his name on it. From there, the clan let out a prophecy passed down through generations, saying that should two 'dark stars' clash in battle, Azazel would return and bring ruin to the world.
Unfortunately, before his sealing, Azazel had amassed a good number of loyal worshippers carrying his Devil Gene. They lurk within the world, waiting for the right time to resurrect their deity. One such cult is the Hachijo clan, located in Japan. Nobody suspected their worship of Azazel and possession of the Devil Gene as they observed how the world ran. However, they took notice of a certain rival clan: the Mishima clan, which rose from humble beginnings in the Warring States period into becoming a massive conglomerate in the present day. Sensing them as threats, they felt that it would be their duty to 'rectify' the clan to ensure Azazel's return.
Before Tekken 1:
The Mishima clan grew into a household name in Japan by providing tools of war for sale. Eventually, as a symbol of their influence, they formed a zaibatsu. While at first it was called 'Tekken Zaibatsu', it's later renamed Mishima Zaibatsu.
Eventually, the Mishima Zaibatsu was under the control of Jinpachi Mishima, who was also a world-renowned martial artist. The kind-hearted Jinpachi, however, did not like the direction of the Zaibatsu in creating profit via warmongering. Therefore, he eventually announced that he would like to change the Zaibatsu's direction to solely martial arts training.
That did not sit well with Jinpachi's son, Heihachi Mishima. While he's also an excellent martial artist, he didn't share Jinpachi's kind heart and was content with the original direction of Mishima Zaibatsu. Since he was the heir of Jinpachi, he took the initiative to overthrow Jinpachi and imprison him within the underground of the Honmaru Temple. When he claimed the Zaibatsu, he declared that nothing would change; the Mishima Zaibatsu's direction would remain as is.
Heihachi had a beautiful wife known as Kazumi Mishima; however, he killed her upon discovering her dark secret: she attempted to kill him after transforming into a demonic entity with superhuman strength. Kazumi came from the Hachijo clan and thus carried the Devil Gene with her. The reason she married Heihachi in the first place was to get closer to him and kill him at the order of her clan, as she was told of a prophecy that Heihachi would cause a war that would claim many lives. Kazumi wholly believed the prophecy, most likely being kept in the dark about the clan's true purpose of keeping the Mishima clan in check to facilitate Azazel's resurrection. After this, Heihachi became aware of the presence of the Devil Gene and further hardened his heart; he truly loved Kazumi and had to kill her in self-defense, and for him, the Kazumi he loved was already dead and it wouldn't matter if her feared prophecy came to pass at that point.
Heihachi also has a son called Kazuya, whom he mistreats because he believes his son is weak due to his son's kind and loving nature that came with growing up with a loving treatment from his grandfather Jinpachi and his mother Kazumi, in addition of his growing bitterness towards Kazumi that attempted against his life and believing that her Devil Gene was inherited to Kazuya. Growing tired of his son's kindness and being appalled at how Kazuya had the gall to call him out for murdering his beloved mother, Heihachi takes his son to a nearby cliff, beats him to the inch of his life, then tosses his son off a cliff. The official public story spread by Heihachi to cover up for this is that it was merely a test, he declares that if Kazuya were truly his son and able enough to take the Mishima Zaibatsu, he would survive the fall and climb back up. But secretly, Heihachi also wants to test a theory that if Kazuya inherited Kazumi's Devil Gene, he would survive the fall.
As other safety measures should his prediction come true, Heihachi starts having secret affairs with many other women throughout the world, hoping to produce several offspring that could be used to combat the Devil Gene further. Two such children from separate families are Lars Alexandersson and Reina Mishima. Their relations with Heihachi were kept a secret for a long time, however.
True to Heihachi's prediction, Kazuya survives, but only thanks to the Devil Gene he inherited from his mother. Though he returns to the Mishima household, Kazuya continues to nurture his hatred to Heihachi. To further spite his son, Heihachi adopts a Chinese orphan named Lee Chaolan and raises him only to be a rival to Kazuya, nothing more. As Kazuya grew older, he participated in many martial arts championships, gained an undefeated streak, only to have his record blemished in a draw against Paul Phoenix. Recognizing the growth in strength in Kazuya, Heihachi announced the very first King of Iron Fist Tournament.
Tekken:
After the announcement of the tournament, many people have entered, each with their own goal in mind and the strive to win, Kazuya being one of them. After cutting through many of the participants, Paul Phoenix and Lee Chaolan being amongst them, Kazuya makes it to the final round, with his father as the final opponent. After defeating Heihachi, Kazuya tosses Heihachi off the same cliff the former was tossed in as a child. The tournament concludes as Kazuya is now the new King of Iron Fist and the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu and it seems as though all is well, right?
Tekken 2:
After Heihachi's defeat, Kazuya is now the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu. With absolute power in his hand, Kazuya goes on to inflict even more unspeakable horrors, marking his deeds even worse as when Heihachi ran the corporation; and he's very open-minded about it: The Mishima Zaibatsu under him was an evil entity that wouldn't hide behind some kind of charity activity, other humans will fear and bow before the Zaibatsu and Kazuya's tremendous power.
All of this traces back to his very own ambition: Having been hammered with the ruthless teaching of Heihachi, combined with his own hatred for Heihachi, Kazuya developed a huge ambition to bring down the world to his knees and used the first King of Iron Fist tournament as a stepping stone for his ambition; he needed the vast resources of the Mishima Zaibatsu for his goal after all. Being able to take revenge against Heihachi was merely the icing on the cake. The Russian government took notice of this earlier and sent the first of the Jack robots to assassinate Kazuya rather than Heihachi, but they failed. And now, nothing's stopping Kazuya from pursuing his ambitions. His actions are so horrendous that many people believe that he has made a Deal with the Devil, but nobody has any idea about the Devil Gene at this point; in truth, no deals are involved.
During Kazuya's reign of terror, it is revealed that Heihachi has survived the fall from the previous tournament and has been training for the day he finally defeats Kazuya and reclaims what he had lost. Hearing that his father has returned, Kazuya announces the second King of Iron Fist tournament to wipe the floor with anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. During the tournament, Kazuya encounters a woman called Jun Kazama, and unwittingly falls for her and impregnates her with his unborn son, Jin. After some time, Heihachi eventually makes it to the final round and battles Kazuya once more. Kazuya is defeated due to his internal struggle between his evil side Devil, and his good side Angel, which appeared after meeting Jun. Kazuya then transforms into his Devil form and does battle with Heihachi for one last time. Kazuya is defeated by Heihachi and to make sure he stays dead, Heihachi tosses Kazuya into an erupting volcano.
During the whole tournament, Lee himself recognized Kazuya's power and pledged his loyalty to him, even as he plotted to backstab him and usurp his power. His plan failed when Heihachi became his opponent, and enraged with this betrayal, once he was crowned champion and retook the Zaibatsu, he expelled Lee. While at first he was consumed with desire of vengeance, Lee managed to control his temper and retreated to Bahamas, eventually founding the Violet Corporation, but staying away from battle for a very long time.
Tekken 3:
Fifteen years after the conclusion of the 2nd King of Iron Fist Tournament, Jun Kazama is found living with her son, Jin Kazama. Sensing that something is wrong, Jun tells Jin that should anything ever happen to her, Jin should go to his dear old grandfather, Heihachi Mishima. Speaking of Heihachi, he has organized his own team, the Tekken Force, an organization which has helped protect the Mishima Zaibatsu and has led to world peace, after all those times Kazuya openly turned it into a terrifying figure, Heihachi needed to do a damage control to have it accepted back to public (and of course, giving him the support in public so he can plot behind their backs).
However, Heihachi has heard rumors of a being called Ogre after a squadron of Tekken Force soldiers has been wiped out by said being. With Ogre on his mind, he formulates a plan to capture Ogre and of course, Take Over the World. On Jin's 15th birthday, Ogre arrives and Jun tells Jin to run away, but against his mother's pleas, battles Ogre, only to be swatted away and knocked unconscious. Soon after, Jin wakes up to find his home completely wrecked and his mother nowhere in sight. Following his mother's wishes, Jin finds Heihachi, tells him everything that has happened and asks to be trained by him so that he can avenge his mother, and is taken in by his dear old grandfather.
At the age of 19, Jin has became an impressive martial arts fighter thanks to his grandfather's training. Heihachi then announces the Third King of Iron Fist tournament so he can lure out Ogre while Jin enters to take down Ogre once and for all, all the while unaware of his grandfather's secret motives. Jin cuts through many opponents, one of them being his rival Hwoarang, whom Jin had defeated during Heihachi's tutelage and is now itching for a grudge match. Another of his opponent is his classmate, the chipper Chinese girl Ling Xiaoyu, who impressed Heihachi with her own fighting skills. She also seemed to develop a crush on Jin, but Jin is too busy with thinking to avenge his mother.
Jin arrives at Ogre's temple and before Jin can face Ogre, he faces off against his grandfather. Heihachi battles Jin so that he can test his skills and during the battle, Heihachi noticed that Jin was starting to show dangerous amounts of power, the same amounts Jin's father Kazuya had. Jin defeats Heihachi and advances onwards still unaware of what lies ahead. After Paul Phoenix, a contender of the previous two tournaments, defeats Ogre, he pridefully leaves the tournament, unknowing that the tournament still continued after his sudden departure and Ogre had transformed into a much more beastly form. Jin arrives and takes down True Ogre with all the fury he could muster. After True Ogre's defeat, Jin is then gunned down by the Tekken Force led by Heihachi and since Ogre is gone, Heihachi no longer needs Jin for his own ends and blasts Jin in the head. Not long after, one of Heihachi's men is thrown across the room, Heihachi bearing witness to the birth of Devil Jin, due to the Devil gene Jin inherited from his father Kazuya. Jin strikes down Heihachi one last time and flies off into the night, Heihachi in shock and awe of the recent events.
Tekken 4:
20 years ago, Kazuya Mishima was thrown into the mouth of a volcano by his father Heihachi. Most people rightfully assumed he died.
G Corporation, a rival company to the Mishima Zaibatsu, had discovered Kazuya's burned corpse only a few days after the incident. Through the use of cutting edge biotechnology, he was resurrected. Out of gratitude, Kazuya allies himself with G Corporation, voluntarily subjecting himself to experiments in order to study the Devil Gene. He remained the company's greatest secret for 20 years until one day, when the lab was suddenly attacked by members of Heihachi's Tekken Force, in the hopes of stealing their secrets. Kazuya is discovered by members of the Tekken Force, but he effortlessly slaughters them all with his newfound control over the Devil.
Meanwhile, Jin Kazama has been training in a karate dojo in Australia. Ever since the day Heihachi betrayed him, Jin has hated everything involving the Mishima bloodline, and has resolved to end his curse by killing Heihachi. He has unlearned the Mishima-ryu style, and learned traditional karate instead. In his free time, he sends out mails to some of his old friends, like Xiaoyu, to warn them about the Mishima Zaibatsu. Xiaoyu, however, starts becoming distressed at the well-being of Jin and tries to look for him throughout the years with no avail.
It is around this time that invitations for The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 are sent out. Both Kazuya and Jin recognise this for what it is, an elaborate scheme by Heihachi to force them both out of hiding; but they enter regardless in the hopes of exacting revenge.
Kazuya and Jin proceed through their opponents, until the two are the only remaining finalists. Jin met up with his rival Hwoarang who demanded a rematch, but the Korean Army apprehended him for abandoning the country. In the meantime, this particular tournament re-ignited Lee Chaolan's passion for fighting thus he returned to the tournament under the disguise 'Violet', as well as to promote his fighting robot, Combot. However, Lee was shocked to see Kazuya's return, thus lost his concentration and costed him the match.
Before the match between Kazuya and Jin, however, Jin is captured and taken to the Mishima Zaibatsu's Hon-maru compound. Winning by default, Kazuya confronts Heihachi but loses to him. Heihachi does not kill him, but instead takes Kazuya to Hon-maru to meet his son.
Kazuya and Heihachi arrive at Hon-maru, where Jin is chained with bonds that have been specially designed to nullify his Devil powers. Kazuya immediately turns into Devil upon seeing Jin, explaining that a fragment of itself split off from Kazuya moments before he was burned to death by the volcano, and implanted itself within Jin. After effortlessly knocking Heihachi away, Devil moves towards Jin to take its power back, but Kazuya regains control, and states that he has now merged himself with Devil completely by unifying their powers. Kazuya now has full control of the Devil, and can unleash it at will.
Kazuya proceeds to fight Jin, but Jin gets the upper hand and defeats his father. Heihachi returns to take Jin's power for himself, but Jin effortlessly defeats him too. Poised to finally kill his father and grandfather, Jin transforms into Devil Jin and readies himself to get rid of Heihachi first, but he sees a vision of his mother Jun, and drops Heihachi.
"Thank my mother, Jun Kazama."
With those words, Jin flies off into the night, leaving Kazuya and Heihachi unconscious within the Hon-maru temple.
Tekken 5
Shortly after Jin's departure, an army of Jack robots surround the Hon-Maru temple to eliminate both remaining Mishimas. Kazuya and Heihachi fought together back-to-back for survival, but eventually, Kazuya betrayed Heihachi and tossed him to be dogpiled by Jack robots that executed a sequence of mass self destruct while Kazuya fled by transforming into the Devil. The Hon-maru explosion was witnessed by the ninja Raven and declared that "Heihachi Mishima is dead." Although unknown to Raven, Heihachi was instead thrown far away and survived, but he was unconscious for a very long time.
Meanwhile, with Heihachi's absence, the Mishima Zaibatsu was in a vacuum of power, but all of the sudden, someone took over. The explosion of Hon-maru released the imprisoned Jinpachi Mishima, but in his time of imprisonment, he became possessed with a dark power similar with the Devil. With what remains of his good heart, he used his reclamation of his old Zaibatsu to announce the fifth King of Iron Fist Tournament, and hoped that someone strong will be able to put him out of misery.
Amongst the participants were Kazuya and Jin. Kazuya entered in order to find out if the Zaibatsu was the ones sending the Jacks to kill him. But to his surprise, it wasn't the Zaibatsu, but the very same group that resurrected him: the G Corporation. Noticing this, Kazuya lost interest and dropped out of the tournament to exact his vengeance over this treachery, letting Jin advance to the finals. His intention was to eliminate the cursed bloodline of Mishima and he defeated Jinpachi.
On his victory, Jin received his prize, the ownership of Mishima Zaibatsu. From that point on, something seemed to change as Jin began to look a lot more sinister than usual...
Tekken 6
Upon claiming ownership of the Zaibatsu, Jin began to act a lot more ruthless than usual, repeating the same practices of his father and grandfather and took it even further to initiate a third world war, making people see him as a tyrant. In the same time, Kazuya, after slaughtering everyone in the section of G Corporation that orchestrated his betrayal, managed to take over the Corporation and amassed a lot of influence, enough to match the Zaibatsu's influence. The people saw this as a sign of a savior for the tyrannical Zaibatsu and gave support to Kazuya. To retaliate on this, Jin announced the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament to eliminate all oppositions.
And even the Tekken Force began to question Jin's methods and decided to rebel secretly. They are led by a charismatic man named Lars Alexandersson, bastard son of Heihachi. During one of his raids, he stumbled upon Alisa Bosconovitch, a robot based on the daughter of Dr. Geppeto Bosconovitch, and took her as his friend. They grew close as they uncover about the whole war between the Zaibatsu and the G Corporation... until Lars finally confronted Jin atop of his throne...
What was formerly a battle Lars could win was turned upside down when Jin reveals that Alisa is programmed to spy on his movement and had her turn against him. Fortunately, Lars was saved by Raven, who took him to a desert area, the ruins of an ancient God. Jin and Kazuya headed there, and in there, Lars witnessed the appearance of the progenitor of the Devil Gene, Azazel, as prophesized by the descendant of the clan that sealed him in the past, Zafina. Lars seemingly defeated him, but while exiting, he was ambushed by Jin and Alisa.
After being forced to defeat and dismantle Alisa, Lars managed to defeat Jin, and made him admit that every one of his atrocities was a gambit to ensure Azazel took form so he could be destroyed once and for all and rid the world from the cursed Devil Gene. True to his words, Azazel returned to form, this time as a gold-colored, more powerful version of himself. Jin tackled the beast to oblivion, hoping to perish together with him.
With Jin gone, the Zaibatsu would require another reformation, something that would be taken care of by Jin's bodyguard, Nina Williams. Alisa was successfully repaired by Lee Chaolan (who lent his aid to Lars beforehand) and Lars seemed to return to his duties as a Tekken Force soldier. However, much to Raven's surprise, it seemed that Jin survived... again.
Tekken 7
With Jin missing, the Mishima Zaibatsu was in disarray with the lack of leader, with Nina only managing to keep order at bay as acting leader. It was at that time Heihachi re-emerged from his hiding spot and reclaimed the leadership of the Zaibatsu by force. Once he announced his return to the world, once again he announced the next King of Iron Fist Tournament with an extra plan: Reveal Kazuya's devil nature so the people would lose trust against the G Corporation for being led by the Devil itself. He also managed to obtain the services of an Italian Exorcist, Claudio Serafino, to hunt down the missing Jin, but he noticed another mystery man within Jin's vicinity at Middle East.
Jin managed to escape his pursuers from Mishima Zaibatsu in Saudi Arabia, until suddenly Lars came to rescue him, wanting to use him to put a stop to all the fighting. Meanwhile, at Violet Corps, Alisa recovered her memories and helped Lee fend off assailants from the Mishima Zaibatsu. Turns out that in the meantime, Lee has been using his corporation to gather deserters from the Zaibatsu. Eventually, Lee allowed Alisa to have a heartful reunion with Lars, but just shortly afterwards, the Mishima Zaibatsu under Nina assaulted their base trying to recapture the unconscious Jin. Thanks to Lee's cunning, they managed to escape and secure Jin while wiping out the task force.
Meanwhile, Heihachi came under attack by a mysterious fighter, a practitioner of the arts of Satsui no Hadou, Akuma, who was once saved by Kazumi and intending to repay the debt by killing Heihachi and later Kazuya. The battle caused untold destruction and Heihachi survived it. He then had a change in plan, ordering the Zaibatsu to fake his death and cancelling the aforementioned King of Iron Fist Tournament. When Akuma approached the G Corporation headquarters, Kazuya allowed him to face him at the rooftop. Akuma's might forced Kazuya to transform into Devil, but unbeknownst to them, Heihachi used a satellite feed to take pictures of Kazuya's Devil form. Once that's done, he sent a satellite beam right into where Kazuya and Akuma fought, then spread the pictures to the world.
The attack didn't kill Kazuya, but with the pictures leaked, the G Corporation started to lose credibility to the public. Kazuya retaliated by shooting a laser beam to the satellite, which caused it to fall down to Earth, caused collateral damage and the public blamed the Mishima Zaibatsu once again, ruining Heihachi's plan. Enraged at this, Heihachi arranged one final battle spot to settle the feud once and for all with Kazuya, but still had time to accept an interview to a reporter about his past life.
Within the Devil's Pit volcano, Heihachi and Kazuya had one final showdown that had them fight for their life, only one would walk out of this fight alive. Even if Kazuya used all of the might of the Devil, Heihachi still brushed them off and forced him to revert back to human. However, at this point, both of them are nearing their limits. Remembering all the atrocities Heihachi did to him and his oath to take everything back, Kazuya mustered one final punch, which surprisingly killed Heihachi, proving that he's past his own limit.
Just to be sure, Kazuya tossed Heihachi into the volcano just like Heihachi did to him after the second King of Iron Fist Tournament. Kazuya was very sure that for a normal human like Heihachi, he couldn't cheat death and with the Mishima Zaibatsu losing support, no one would seek him. Kazuya ended everything with the one word Heihachi used to utter: "Fighting is only a matter of who's standing in the end. Nothing else." Shortly afterwards, Kazuya was attacked by Akuma again, but Kazuya showed no signs of fatigue and retaliated.
Meanwhile, with the world still in chaos without Heihachi, Jin has finally regained his consciousness and ready to finish what he started, to save the world from the hell he brought it to. With Lars, Alisa and Lee backing him, Jin swore that he would finish the fight with Kazuya.
Claudio side story
After being hired by Heihachi, Claudio works behind the scenes to uncover the mystery of the Devil Gene and is adamant about fulfilling his duty as an exorcist. He eventually meets two people of note. The first is Zafina. While she predicted Azazel's early return, she reveals another omen: the remaining essences of Azazel flew into her body and are trying to completely possess her. With Claudio's help, she manages to seal Azazel in her body and prevent his possession from advancing further.
The second is Ling Xiaoyu, one of Jin's closest friends and most likely girlfriend, dating back to the 3rd King of Iron Fist Tournament. Ever since Jin's transformation into a brooding man and eventually a tyrant, Xiaoyu has been following him with distress and hoping that she could help him. But Claudio is too obsessed with fulfilling his mission, and knowing that she's related to one of his targets, Devil Jin, he decides to manipulate her into following him so he can locate Devil Jin. Should the chance present itself, he will not hesitate to use Xiaoyu as a shield to get an advantage against Devil Jin.
However, the cancellation of the tournament by Heihachi ends up being the undoing of his manipulative plan. Claudio loses credibility amongst his group, the Sirius Marksmen, and this causes many to desert the group. He only blames his extremely dogmatic and manipulative personality for this, so he instead follows Xiaoyu in her direction out of his own guilt. Instead of trying to fulfill the Sirius Marksmen's dogma, Claudio now wants to use his power for the actual good of the world: ridding the Devil Gene away from it, and he'll still try to exorcise Devil Jin, but only in scenarios where Jin loses control of himself.
Tekken 8
Six months after Heihachi Mishima vanished from the world, Lars Alexandersson leads Yggdrasil in launching a surgical strike against Kazuya in New York City. The success of their plan hinges on Jin, the only one that can match Kazuya's demonic power. The fight between the two is viscious as the surrounding city is damaged, venomous barbs also being traded between the two as Jin declares Kazuya's mere presence to be the cause of ongoing strife in the world, strife that, Kazuya states, Jin started when he plunged the world into war in his desire to see the Mishima bloodline destroyed.
Ultimately, however, Kazuya proves too strong for Jin to overcome, and he is blown away, along with a swath of the city they were fighting in. As the dust settles, Kazuya makes his proclamation to humanity, condemning the nations of the world for being led by the weak and forgetting how to fight in an age of technological weapons and warfare. After destroying a swath of military satellites in the earth's orbit, Kazuya declares that he would reshape the world to fit his ideals: a world where the strong thrive and take claim of their destinies with their own hands. To that end, he announces the opening of a new King of Iron Fist Tournament, welcoming all who would challenge him, but warning them that the defeated would not only forfeit their lives but condemn their home countries to oblivion.
As a defeated Jin finds himself sinking into the ocean, he sees a phantasm of his inner Devil reaching out to him, offering to save him. As visions of his mother flash in his mind, Jin adamantly refuses to accept the aid of his dark power, declaring that he would not be like Kazuya, and consigns himself to oblivion...
A week later, and Jin has finished recuperating from the battle against his father. To ensure he is still in fighting shape, Lars challenges him to a brief sparring match; the bout is called off as Jin finds himself unable to call upon the Devil Gene. Lee and Lars attempt to plan around their nephew's weakened state; with the King of Iron Fist Tournament holding its Asian qualifiers, they move to have Alisa serve as their representative. However, a heart-to-heart she has with Jin leads him to volunteer himself, believing that through combat he can find a way to restore his old strength.
En route to the finals, he encounters two game opponents waiting for him in the wings. The first is Reina, a seemingly chipper student from Mishima Polytechnic who claims to be Jin's underclassman. Beneath her facade however lies a devious foe whose martial prowess in the Mishima style resembles that of the deceased Heihachi Mishima, and a desire to see what causes the Devil Gene to surface within Jin. The bout progresses with Jin on the ropes, but as he nears defeat, the Devil Gene activates in self-defense, empowering him enough to turn the tide of the match; having seemingly confirmed her hypothesis that the Devil Gene manifests in near-death situations, Reina feigns injury and surrenders. The second is his old rival Hwoarang, ever eager to finally score a decisive victory. The match goes the distance, but in the end, Jin defeats the Taekwondoka decisively once more. Hwoarang chalks his loss to a lucky strike, but encourages Jin in his own way to continue finding his inner strength.
Jin's victory books him a ticket to the coliseum in Rome for the tournament finals, with Yggdrasil planning to ambush Kazuya and take him out once and for all while he serves as the master of ceremonies. The group is joined by Reina, who claims that she also wants to aid in Kazuya's defeat; unbeknownst to them, she too plots to witness the G Corp leader manifest the Devil Gene's abilities as well. They are also visited by Leo and their father Niklaas, who was contacted by Lee for his findings on the origins of the Devil Gene and their progenitor, Azazel. The professor hypothesizes that according to ancient ruins scattered over the world, Azazel bestowed the Devil Gene onto members of prehistoric society, granting them tremendous power at the expense of making them his slaves. As for the Devil Gene itself, Niklaas states that one way to properly wield its power is through having a strong "desire"; following a brief spar, Leo believes that Jin differs from Kazuya due to his lack of a "desire", but in its place is a mysterious "warmth".
Elsewhere, the United Nations' Raven Force - through their leader, Admiral Victor Chevalier - agree to ally themselves with Yggdrasil upon learning of their plans. The two factions prepare to infiltrate the tournament, while a smaller independent group consisting of Claudio, Zafina, Panda and Xiaoyu also proceed to the coliseum. As all parties converge, Jin is tasked with making his way through the tournament bracket while Kazuya boasts of his new plans; by promising compensation to victorious countries and exacting harsh penalties on losing nations, he seeks to create a world where the strong survive and the unlucky nations forced to fight to make ends meet.
The King of Iron Fist Tournament finals begin, with a mix of well-established veterans to the tournaments and newer blood looking to prove themselves.note For his side of the bracket, Jin encounters Leroy, who expresses his thanks for standing up to Kazuya in New York. Sensing much inner conflict in his younger opponent, Leroy pushes Jin to his limits and advises him to not just conquer his fears, but follow his heart. His resolve further strengthened, Jin defeats Leroy and advances to the next round.
Before the next round can progress, the UN and Yggdrasil invade the coliseum and force all spectators to evacuate. Unfortunately, Kazuya had anticipated this response and advances on Zafina, forcibly extracting the essence of Azazel from her arm; before falling unconscious, the fortune teller advises Jin to return to where it all began: his old home on Yakushima Island. Meanwhile, Kazuya succeeds in resurrecting Azazel and engages the beast to absorb his power; the Rectifier falls to Kazuya, who then transforms into a True Devil. Jin is advised by Asuka, Lili, Panda and Xiaoyu to retreat as their remaining allies hold Kazuya off, and the group embarks on a flight through Lili's private jet to seek more answers. Back in Rome, the Yggdrasil-UN coalition struggles immensely against Kazuya, even as Reina proves to be a formidable enough obstacle to buy more time for the group. With enough time having elapsed, Claudio summons a ritual to purify Kazuya's Devil Gene; the attack proves to be effective enough that Kazuya is forced into retreat, but not before he seemingly kills Claudio with a giant laser to ensure the exorcist is gone for good.
The Yggdrasil-UN coalition and G Corporation advance to Yakushima, with Kazuya intending to snuff Jin and his allies for good while the coalition attempts to hold the line for Jin to find his answers. On one end of the island, both armies clash, with each side containing various King of Iron Fist Tournament participants recruited for such a purpose. On the other, Jin and Xiaoyu happen upon a temple which his mother Jun disappeared into during the fateful night she defeated Ogre. While Jin falls into a deep slumber, Xiaoyu defends him from various Jack-7 waves called by G Corp. Eventually, a now-healed Kazuya returns to the battlefield, and ends the skirmish by annihilating both sides; Reina is supposedly killed when she stands in the way of Kazuya's lasers.
In his subconsciousness, Jin encounters a manifestation of his Devil self, who taunts him for his role in plunging the world into chaos. Through their battles, Jin comes to accept the Devil Gene as a part of himself and asks for its help in defeating Kazuya. With this, Jin finally awakens to his Devil form, now fully under his control, and saves Lars from falling against Kazuya. Father and son begin to clash above the skies of Yakushima; when Kazuya attempts to destroy Yakushima with a sphere of dark energy, Jin encounters a vision of Jun, who helps him awaken to his latent abilities as a Kazama to not just defeat Kazuya but save him from the Devil Gene entirely. The combination of the Kazama bloodline's purification energy and the Devil Gene results in Jin's transformation into an angel, with which he battles Kazuya while in orbit. In the ensuing battle, Angel Jin's energy eradicates the Devil Gene in both men, before they fall back to Earth. Despite no longer possessing the Devil's power, Kazuya refuses to yield and engages Jin in one last battle.
Now having finally accepted his past, Jin lifts his self-imposed restriction on his Mishima-style karate, and combines it with his Kazama-style martial arts and Kyokushin karate to battle Kazuya. The bout concludes with both men landing blows on each other simultaneously, with the elder Mishima finally falling - unconscious but defeated all the same. With the Devil Gene finally gone, a now refreshed Jin opts to regroup with his allies, thankful for the bonds he established with them. As he privately meets with Xiaoyu, the credits scroll to reveal that the UN-Yggdrasil group and their allied fighters beginning peace-keeping operations to repair the damage Kazuya inflicted on the world, while Zafina meets someone implied to be Claudio who survived Devil Kazuya's attack earlier.
This tale would seemingly have a happy ending... were it not for the reveal that Reina had survived Kazuya's attack, and has now awakened to her own latent Devil Gene. As she reaffirms her status as Heihachi's daughter (Which means that Heihachi had a secret affair with a woman from another family carrying the Devil Gene without him realizing their origins), she manifests her form for the first time, seemingly ready to restart the Mishima bloodline conflict once more...
Jun side story
Many years ago, the world thought that the Kazama bloodline before Jin had been obliterated thanks to Jun's encounter with the fighting god Ogre, and Jin believed his mother dead and could only appear as a Spirit Advisor, just as it happened during the battle with Kazuya.
In the end, Jin remarks that he will meet his mother again. He may not realize that he perceives the events of his mother's demise differently. As it turned out, Jun only went missing because she had to lure Ogre to a secret chamber made by her ancestors within Yakushima. In there, she actually defeated Ogre, driving it away until its return at the third King of Iron Fist Tournament. However, the efforts were so taxing that Jun fell into a coma that halts her aging process, where she couldn't interact with the outside world except for advising Jin spiritually. This means that, as far as the world is concerned, and thanks to Jin's account, Jun was dead, and Jin became the Sole Survivor of the main Kazama bloodline (with Asuka Kazama being a member of a branch bloodline).
Years passed, and Jun awakened shortly after the climactic battle to conclude the Mishima bloodline conflict. And the first thing she does is approach the unconscious Kazuya. For the longest time, Kazuya has thought that he has no one but himself. Now, he has lost everything, from his ambition to rule the world to the Devil Gene, all crushed by Jin. However, he has one person he still cares about, and she cares for him too: Jun. Perhaps there is a chance to redeem this formerly ruthless devil, who has been left all alone in this world with nothing but his (now-crushed) ambition at his side, as it has always been her mission to save him, dating back from the second King of Iron Fist Tournament...
There is also an on-going sub story revolving the masked luchadores under the name 'King'. While they are not involved with the Mishimas, they also form up a bit of a continuity.
- Important characters within this arc include: King I, Armor King I, King II, Craig Marduk, Armor King II.
Tekken
A wrestler named King was once a man without cause except only fighting, until he came across a church and an orphanage. Inspired by the children, he changed his attitude, becoming a Face in a wrestler's arena. He is not alone, he is accompanied with his best bud, Armor King, who serves as his Heel. With the orphanage bill getting too high, he decided to enter the first King of Iron Fist Tournament to cover up for the bill... but ultimately he failed. However, the children were still inspired with his tenacity so King thought all wasn't so lost...
Tekken 2
Unfortunately, tragedy struck upon King. One of the children in his care died, possibly caused by his failure to win. King was sent into depression and began drinking to dissuade the pain. Armor King confronted him and snapped him out of his haze, telling that this wouldn't be what the dead child wanted. Training himself up again, King entered the second tournament. While King obviously did not win, his tenacity won the children over once again, and it seemed that he had regained his spirit and managed to make up for his old failure. The orphanage was somehow saved and stood strong for years to come.
Tekken 3
Years passed, and tragedy once again struck, this time permanently. King was attacked by the fighting God Ogre and was slain. The children were distraught with the death of their hero, but a young man from the same orphanage refused to see the legacy of King end in tragedy. He met up with the one he knew could help, Armor King, and asked to be trained to succeed the old King. While the young man had to struggle to win back the crowd as the successor, he eventually succeeded, and King II is born, carrying the legacy of the old.
When he finally became a great wrestler on his own, Armor King revealed to him about Ogre, the death of the first King, and the upcoming third King of Iron Fist Tournament. King II entered in order to avenge his idol. Although King II did not win, there was a sense of satisfaction from the numerous matches he endured and the fact that regardless if he lost, Ogre was destroyed and King I's death would be avenged.
Tekken 4
And yet, another tragedy passed in a few years after. One day, Armor King was visiting a bar in Australia, and came across a bar brawl initiated by a Vale Tudo fighter, Craig Marduk. Trying to dissuade the man out of his overconfidence and rudeness, Armor King ended up fighting the man, but age caught up to him and Armor King was killed. However, as a consequence for Armor King I's murder, Marduk was convicted to ten years in prison for second-hand manslaughter. However, one day, he was released by a mysterious benefactor and was told to enter the Fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament. He entered the tournament to meet this benefactor...
King II.
Filled with rage at the death of his mentor, King II applied a vicious beatdown to Marduk and after the unforgiving thrashing, Marduk was hospitalized. King II did not win the tournament, but his objective was complete. However, King II felt that Marduk needed to be taught an even more severe lesson. King II visited the hospital, intending to kill Marduk once and for all. However, upon seeing a photo of Marduk and his family, King II realized that he sunk too low in his rage and that revenge was not the answer. King II decided to let the bygones be bygones and left Marduk alone...
Tekken 5
What King II failed to realize was that Marduk's pride was hurt badly and once he recovered, he sought revenge. After training himself, Marduk donned a black jaguar mask and began interrupting various matches brutally while issuing challenges to King II. In order to clean up his master's legacy, King II decided to enter the fifth tournament to end the feud with Marduk once and for all. In spite of the warnings of his friend, Julia Chang, King II was still adamant in fighting Marduk, but he had another plan in mind. Once he fought Marduk, he defeated him fair and square, and lent his hand to Marduk like a true sportsman. Motivated by this kindness, Marduk accepted defeat and started to clean up his ways. But this was not the end...
Afterwards, Marduk was suddenly assaulted by a mysterious man that was dressed like the man he killed: Armor King. King II also encountered this man, but was instead beaten down with techniques that looked similar to his...
Tekken 6
After recuperating from the assaults and hearing of the sixth tournament, King II and Marduk decided to enter the tournament as a tag team and uncover the mystery, as the same Armor King-like man also entered. During the whole fiasco, King II investigated this new Armor King's locker room and found a shocking piece of evidence... a portrait of TWO Armor Kings!? Meanwhile, to make sure that he wasn't seeing a zombie, Marduk was forced to dig up Armor King's grave and see if the corpse was still there. To Marduk's shock, the corpse was still in place, and the same Armor King stood in front of him, just as King II entered the scene with this revelation.
This man then revealed everything... the man Marduk killed years before was his twin brother, and he is the second Armor King, much like how King II succeeded the first King. But unlike King, he will absolutely show no mercy to the killer of his brother...
Tekken 7
As promised, Armor King II attacked Marduk again to avenge his brother for good. What he didn't realize was that Marduk gave a very fierce fight in return that both of them were horribly injured as a result and were put to a hospital. It fell to King II to pay the bills of both, and it wasn't an exactly cheap price. In addition of this, the war caused by the Mishima Zaibatsu caused many damages that the orphanage he takes care of took damage and required more money to pay the bill as well. King's only answer for this is the next King of Iron Fist Tournament, but seeing that Heihachi cancelled it for his plan against Kazuya, it seemed that King will have to find another way. At the very least, his history with the new Armor King and Marduk has allowed him to learn some new wrestling moves in addition to Vale Tudo moves.
King managed to gather enough money despite the tournament cancellation as mentioned before. However, both Marduk and Armor King II weren't ready to bury down the hatchet of revenge yet. It was then Marduk proposed one challenge that could change their life forever, they're to fight one more time, if Marduk lost, he'd have to quit fighting altogether, but if Armor King II lost, he had to unmask himself in public, thereby disgracing himself as a masked wrestler.
Tekken 8
What became of the final challenge between Armor King II and Marduk was unknown. However, thanks to the war brought by Kazuya Mishima, there is suddenly a huge demand for orphans needing shelter. King II knows the pain of being an orphan himself, so he is eager to help. The problem is that the wave of new orphans is so big that his orphanage may be unable to shelter all of them. He needs more cash to expand his orphanage and help these poor children. Thankfully, the newest King of Iron Fist tournament has been announced. For the orphanage, King II enters the tournament, where if he loses, he'll not only lose his life but also the orphanage and his country.
Thankfully, he manages to advance to the finals, where he is pitted with boxer Steve Fox. The fight is intense, and the winner is unclear. Before the actual finals begin, the Yggdrasil attacks the coliseum, and this initiates Kazuya's plan to resurrect Azazel and absorb him. After King II escapes, Lars Alexandersson invites him and several other finalists (Steve included) to join the Yggdrasil strike force. They launch an attack against the G Corporation, where King II provides a diversion from the main force and incites the excitement of Yggdrasil and UN forces; seeing the beloved masked luchador take on the bad guys, making efforts to save the world, is enough to lift their morale and cheer his name.
In the end, Kazuya is defeated for good by Jin Kazama. King II participates in the relief efforts to heal the world from the wounds caused by Kazuya. And as for the orphanage... King II approaches Steve with a plan to do a cross-style charity match, where they both fight in the ring for a friendly bout between boxing and wrestling. The charity drive is a success, and it's very likely that with the money, the orphanage can expand and also play a part in the aforementioned relief efforts.
Another key side story in the Tekken lore is that of Nina and Anna Williams, two Irish sisters who, like the Mishimas, have had it out for each other for the longest time. Their storyline ties into that of the Mishimas much more than King's did, but it still manages to remain it's own for the most part. Joining them later is the boxer Steve Fox, while he ran his own plot, his story is deeply tied to the sisters' story.
- Important characters within this arc include: Nina Williams, Anna Williams, Steve Fox
Tekken 1
Nina and Anna are the daughters of Richard Williams, a former assassin for the IRA. As his wife taught the girls aikido for self-defense purposes, he taught Nina assassination techniques when she was young, but neglected to teach them to Anna.
Around the time of the first game, Nina is kidnapped by an unknown assailant (though likely a mafia-type organisation), drugged, and commanded to assassinate Heihachi Mishima, the host of the Rave War series of tournaments leading up to the inaugural King of Iron Fist Tournament. She enters the tournament in search of Heihachi, while her sister Anna chooses to enter as soon as she discovers Nina has entered in order to settle a feud. However, Nina is unable to assassinate Heihachi, and Anna quickly snapped her out of her drug induced stupor.
Tekken 2 (and by extension, Tekken Tag Tournament 2)
Shortly after the first tournament, Richard Williams mysteriously passes away. Neither Nina nor Anna know the cause of his death, but they both blame each other for it and their already shaky relationship is further strained as a result. Some time later, Nina receives a contract from an unknown party to assassinate Kazuya Mishima, who took over the Mishima Zaibatsu after dealing with Heihachi. As she's tracking him down, and fighting her way through the second tournament, Anna, having finally been taught assassination techniques, is hired by Kazuya to be his lead bodyguard - primarily because she's the only one who knows who the assassin is that's out to kill him. The sisters encounter each other just as Nina encounters Kazuya, and they proceed to come to blows with one another. Anna is successful in protecting Kazuya from his would-be assassin, and Nina finds herself captured by the Zaibatsu - but rather than have her executed, Kazuya orders for her to be used as a test subject for a cold sleep machine developed by Dr. Gepetto Bosconovitch, with the purpose of determining how long a living being can be preserved in cryogenic suspension. Upon hearing of this, Anna realises she couldn't bear to be alone for so long, and requests to be used as a test subject alongside Nina. The Zaibatsu accepts, and the sisters are both put into cold sleep and do not awake for nineteen years.
About a year into the research, Nina's egg cells are used to conceive a child through in vitro fertilisation (IVF). It is unclear if the baby was grown inside Nina's womb or that of a different woman, but the child, known to the Zaibatsu as test subject NT-01, would grow up to become boxing prodigy Steve Fox. Heihachi Mishima, having reclaimed the Zaibatsu, orders for NT-01 to be used in experiments relating to the Devil Gene, but eventually discovers one of the scientists, Emma Kliesen, was getting too close to the test subject. With both of them endangered, Emma chooses to leave the Zaibatsu and forge evidence to convince them that NT-01 had died, allowing her to safely transport Steve to an orphanage in England.
Tekken 3
Upon his awakening, Ogre senses high levels of power within the Mishima Zaibatsu, in search of a susceptible body to possess. This causes Nina and Anna to awaken from cryogenic suspension, and while Anna remains as she was before the experiment, Nina awakened with amnesia, and could not remember even having a sister. Ogre is able to use his power to turn Nina into his own mind slave, and forces her to kill Jin Kazama. She enters the third tournament in order to accomplish this, but fails.
After Jin defeats Ogre, Nina regains control over herself, but is still suffering from amnesia. Anna enlists Dr. Bosconovitch to help Nina regain her memories, in an attempt to make her remember who she was and prevent her from continuing her life as an emotionless killer, but to no avail. Anna then tries taking Nina to their father's grave, and though this causes her to partially remember her family, this still isn't enough to keep her from denying who she truly is, as Nina slaps Anna in the face and tells her to back off.
Tekken 4
Two years later, Nina is still unable to recover any memories of her life before the cold sleep experiment and is left with no option but to continue carrying out assassinations to make ends meet. Eventually she finds herself accepting a high-paying contract from the Syndicate, an established criminal organisation. Her new mission - to kill the current middleweight boxing champion, Steve Fox, as payback for his refusal to throw a fight. Following this, Steve fled to the United States and lived a life on the run, but eventually accepted the Syndicate would eventually find and eliminate him, and so he now opts to get back in the spotlight by entering the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4.
Through analysing the supplied intel, Nina is quickly able to figure this out, and enters the tournament in an attempt to track Steve down. Anna, however, does not enter the tournament, as she feels that all her efforts to help Nina have gone to waste, and she just wants to move on with her life - and considering Nina told her to back off, she likely feels it's best to respect her wishes.
After the tournament, Nina tracks Steve down to a hotel in New York. Before she can prepare a shot, however, she receives new intel that states Steve was conceived as part of a cryogenics research project by the Mishima Zaibatsu - all but outright stating he was her son all along. She goes to prepare a shot anyway, but upon getting Steve in her crosshairs, she is overcome with emotion and is unable to bring herself to pull the trigger. It is then that Interpol officer Lei Wulong bursts into her room, starting a chase that would result in Nina and Steve meeting face to face for the first time. Steve protects Nina from Lei's attempts to gun her down - but is unable to determine why he did so. Nina flees the scene, Steve having bought her some extra time to shake off the so-called Super Cop.
Tekken 5
Thanks to the efforts of Lei, the Syndicate is brought to justice. With the last of her clients gone, Nina starts feeling she has no purpose in life, not helped by her encounter with Steve leaving her with a whole load of unanswered questions. She contacts Anna in the hopes she can help set the record straight. Anna agrees to meet with her in person, but the second they catch sight of each other, Nina's memories come rushing back and she opens fire. The sisters fight for days on end, but eventually come to a stalemate, and agree to settle their differences at the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. When they finally encounter each other in the tournament, Nina swiftly and brutally defeats her sibling, leaving Anna dissatisfied and vowing revenge.
Meanwhile, Steve discovers with the help of Lei that he was not only conceived through the cold sleep experiment but used as a test subject for the Zaibatsu's Devil Gene research. Steve, left not at all happy with what they did to him, enters the fifth tournament determined to make them pay. And he eventually did - by breaking into one of the Zaibatsu's labs and destroying all of it's equipment, then burning the place down.
Tekken 6
After dealing with Anna, Nina is once again left without a set path to follow. It is then that Jin Kazama, now head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, offers her a job as a high ranking officer of the Tekken Force. Nina, not one for being selective with her employers, accepts the offer, and begins work immediately. Once Anna hears about this, however, she quickly decides to once again ally herself with Kazuya Mishima, who recently became the head of G Corporation - the only conglomerate powerful enough to rival the Zaibatsu in the midst of the war that has engulfed the globe.
It is implied by the events of Scenario Campaign that the two once again fought to a stalemate, but the actual events that transpired between the two during the sixth tournament are unknown. However, throughout Scenario Campaign, Nina is seen working closely with Jin and his other subordinate, Eddy Gordo. At the end, after Jin's supposed death, Nina explains to Lars that she knew of Jin's plan all along, and quickly departs from the area on one of the Zaibatsu's helicopters. However, after Heihachi regains control of the Zaibatsu, Nina is implied to have left the Tekken Force to continue work as an assassin.
As Nina and Anna are doing their dirty work for the Zaibatsu and G Corp, respectively, Steve seeks to get back into the swing of things with boxing. Unfortunately, the conflict between the Zaibatsu and G Corp has resulted in most of the noteworthy tournaments being cancelled, and he can't find any other tournaments to enter. However, Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law then come to him requesting he join them in their attempts to win the sixth tournament, and he accepts. Unfortunately for Steve, even the combined force of the three martial artists weren't enough to bring him the championship.
Tekken 7
Nina had to keep the Zaibatsu in order as its acting leader, since none of its true leaders were there. Shortly after, Heihachi returned from the grave and took over the Zaibatsu by force, putting Nina into his payroll. She was later ordered to mount an assault to the Violet Corps to retrieve Jin, but her assault failed, with Lee Chaolan, Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch escaping with Jin in tow.
Anna, on the other hand, grew disillusioned with the constant fighting and decided to retire from being an agent. She found love with a G Corporation elite soldier and was set to marry in Italy. What she didn't know was that the man was a major mafia executive. On the day of her wedding, it turned out that Nina was paid to eliminate this man. Anna saw her husband-to-be's corpse next to Nina wearing her wedding dress.
As Nina made her escape, she ended up bumping into Steve, who's still searching for information about the past and believed that Nina was related to it. Steve managed to extract information of his birth, that he was an experiment subject of the Mishima Zaibatsu to create an army of super soldiers, using Nina's genes as a base. Steve only survived because one of the scientists involved, Emma Kliesen; mother of one of the participants of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Leo Kliesen; took pity on him and covered for his survival, most of the children involved in the experiment died. Nina, however, didn't show interest to be a mother, but regardless, Steve still covered for his genetic donor to escape.
And of course, this whole incident boiled Anna with rage and she decided to resume the rivalry with her sister once again.
Tekken 8
What happens to Nina and Anna's rivalry afterwards is unknown. However, after parting ways with Steve, Nina is approached by an unlikely contractor: Kazuya Mishima. Recognizing her skills, he wants to hire her as part of his fighting force, especially after Anna retired beforehand. Generally, Nina really doesn't have any high opinions about Kazuya. But at the moment, all that she knows is that she is a professional assassin for hire, and she can't afford to be nitpicky. Her own opinions about Kazuya and her rivalry with Anna be damned, Nina accepts the job and decides to act like what a professional assassin for hire would do: Follow through the contract to the end without letting her emotions get in the way, even as Kazuya threatens to destroy the world for his ambition.
At the same time, despite covering for Nina, Steve is down in the dumps. With his mission to uncover the origin of his birth and settle the score with those responsible completed, and then being rejected by the closest thing he could call 'mother', Steve is left without purpose in life. Thankfully, he is approached by his old friends, Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law. Even though they failed to win the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament together, a genuine friendship was born between the three. Now, the two offer their help to lift his spirit back. As a result, Steve re-trains his boxing skills and discovers a new way of fighting. He decides to put the new skills to the test in the eighth King of Iron Fist Tournament, with the additional goal of keeping the United Kingdom and himself intact since those will be destroyed if he loses.
Steve manages to win his preliminary round to move on to the finals in Italy. However, in there, he forms a new rivalry with his opponent: the pro-wrestler King II. Whoever wins their round is unknown, but it's a moot point since the Yggdrasil mounts an attack on the arena, and then Kazuya uses the chance to awaken and absorb Azazel to unlock his True Devil form.
After he's forced to recuperate due to Claudio's attack, Kazuya orders Nina to stand by on the battlefield, but specifically orders her not to kill Jin since he wants to do it himself. In the meantime, Steve is contacted by Lars Alexandersson to help Yggdrasil attack the G Corporation on the borders of Yakushima. Steve teams up with his former opponent King II, and together they cause a great diversion, with Steve showing the results of his training, dodging bullets from the firearms of the G Corporation soldiers while punching them hard.
The battlefield is also the last stage of Nina's contract, and her mission at the moment is to oversee the deployment of Jack-8 to the battlefield. It's then that Nina is confronted by a certain girl named Reina. At first sight, Nina already recognizes her as the illegitimate daughter of Heihachi Mishima. However, Reina insists on fighting. After the two finish their fight, Nina prepares to leave the battlefield now that her contract is complete. Reina calls her one last time and asks if she wants to join her. Nina considers it, but at the moment, she needs to loosen up with her vacation.
Then a recovered Kazuya arrives to annihilate the battlefield, but it's known that Nina, Steve, and the rest of the fighters escape safely, except Reina, who takes a blast from Kazuya's laser but narrowly escapes death.
Finally, in the end, Kazuya is defeated by Jin. Steve helps out with the relief force to heal the wounds caused by the G Corporation, while Nina is still enjoying her vacation, waiting for the next person to hire her services, which may be Reina, who not only survived the laser blast but has awakened her own Devil form.
The series resident Capoeira masters, Eddy Gordo and Christie Monteiro, also have a decently developed story.
- Important characters within this arc include: Eddy Gordo, Christie Montiero
Before Tekken 3
One fateful day, eleven years after the second tournament, a 19-year-old Eddy Gordo came home to find his father dying from a gunshot wound. His father had been spending years working to bring down a drug cartel in Brazil, but just as he got the evidence necessary to lock up the offenders, someone put a price on his head. Their house was broken into, and he was gunned down.
Mr. Gordo tells Eddy not to seek vengeance for his death, and tells him that the only way he can truly be safe from the people who murdered him would be to falsely turn himself in. Eddy agrees, mainly due to his lack of knowledge regarding what else he could do. He is sentenced to eight years in prison.
As he was doing time, however, a prison riot broke out. He feared the worst. But then, an old man appeared, and fought off the guards using the martial art of Capoeira. Mesmerised by his power, Eddy then asked the old man if he could teach him everything he knows. The old man agreed to do so on the grounds that he teach his young granddaughter Christie the martial art once he was released from prison.
Tekken 3
Upon his release, Eddy set out to get information on who murdered his father. He hears of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, and enters thinking the Mishima Zaibatsu will have some information on the murderer's identity.
Unfortunately, he is unable to win the tournament or gain sufficient information to track the murderer down. He then returns to Brazil, and proceeds to make good on the old man's request and train Christie the art of Capoeira. To his surprise, what took eight years for him to master only took two years for her.
Tekken 4
Just as Christie completed her training, Eddy mysteriously disappeared. The only thing he left behind for her was a note saying, "Those responsible for my father's death must pay." Worrying for her master, she proceeded to search for him - with her only lead being the fourth tournament.
Unbeknownst to Christie, Eddy never left the country during this time let alone entered the tournament - at some point during their time training together, he discovered the identity of the man who killed his father. Now, he found himself breaking into the killer's mansion to interrogate him, demanding to know who called the hit. The drug baron pointed towards a set of photos on his table, revealing that the man he was making dealings with, and the man who put a price on Mr. Gordo's head was Kazuya Mishima, the former head of the Mishima Zaibatsu who had recently resurfaced.
Coincidentally, Christie eventually found herself up against Kazuya in the tournament, and lost to him. Christie returned home feeling low, but when she came home, she found that Eddy had returned and discovered the truth, as he said he would.
Tekken 5
Shortly after both Eddy and Christie returned home, Eddy's master was finally released from prison. Unfortunately, he had become very weak, and not healthy in the slightest. They rushed him to a hospital, and were told he was suffering from a terminal illness and only had six months to live. However, they were also told a cure would be possible using technology from the Mishima Zaibatsu, and so Eddy and Christie agreed to enter the fifth tournament to acquire the technology necessary to cure the old man.
It is implied they eventually came to a point where they had to square off with each other - Eddy insisting that he take care of business alone, and Christie getting agitated at the whole situation. It is unknown which of the two advanced in the tournament, though it was likely Eddy due to him being the more experienced of the two as well as the more rationally thinking. However, they would both end up being eliminated from the Tournament, leaving their master out of a cure for the time being.
Tekken 6
After the fifth tournament ended, Eddy secretly had a conversation with the Zaibatsu's new leader, Jin Kazama, begging him to help his master in any way he can. Jin told him that if he joins the Tekken Force and does his dirty work, he will look into the matter, as no cure is available at present. With all other options exhausted, Eddy accepted Jin's deal and begins work with the Tekken Force immediately alongside fellow subordinate Nina Williams, while his master was transferred to one of the Zaibatsu's medical facilities.
Meanwhile, Christie went home to realise that not only was Eddy missing again, but her grandfather as well. She tried contacting Eddy, but to no avail - and then contacted the hospital her grandfather was being treated at to discover he was transferred to the Zaibatsu facility. Feeling suspicious of the lengths Eddy has gone to to cure his master, she entered the sixth tournament to get answers. Unfortunately, she didn't get far in the Tournament, and by the time Eddy returned home, it was too late.
Eddy and Christie's ending has Christie at her grandfather's grave, mourning his untimely demise. Eddy turns up, and Christie slaps him in the face - knowing that he was conspiring with a terrorist and she was lied to. Eddy, left as nothing more than a shoulder for his student to cry on, decides that all the effort he went through was for naught - and breaks off his ties to the Tekken Force. However, it is unclear as to whether or not this ending is canon, and how exactly Christie found out Eddy was working with the Tekken Force, as it is never elaborated on in Scenario Campaign. That being said, this ending could very well be canon, as Jin's Heroic Sacrifice would probably cost Eddy his last chance at curing his master.
Tekken 7 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is usually non-canon, but what happened afterwards for the two seemed connecting enough. This is the only time it will be mentioned.
Empty handed, Eddy returned to Brazil to the orphanage he ran with Christie, pretending like nothing happened. He definitely did not want any of the kids learning the things he did from serving the Zaibatsu in the hopes of curing his master and avenging his father's death. Life seemed to work normally, though he knew that Christie, despite acting like nothing happened, was still crushed with what he did before.
Eventually Eddy decided that there's about one thing he has left now that he has lost his master and cut ties with the Mishima Zaibatsu: vengeance against Kazuya Mishima for calling the hit on his father. Without telling anyone his intention, Eddy left the orphanage and Brazil, but Christie caught on him leaving. Without telling his darker sides to the children, Christie pursued Eddy to a train station but failed to spot him as there were some people looking similar to him from behind. She ended up in a line to get onto the train where Eddy boarded, but while waiting, she saw a girl crying being left behind with her mother. This touched Christie's heart and she spent time with the girl to comfort her until her parents return, but by the time it happened, the train departed and Christie failed to reunite with Eddy. He also saw Christie chasing him with a concerned face, but Eddy sadly moved on, still thinking she's bitter at him and he didn't want to involve her in his vengeance after all.
With the Mishima Zaibatsu in chaos after Jin's disappearance, Eddy had more free time to pursue Kazuya, but then he was blocked by an unlikely opponent, an idol-turned-fighter and the current mascot of G Corporation, Lucky Chloe. Little did Eddy know that at that time, it wasn't just his father's honor at stake, but also his whole pride and integrity as a fighter. Because if he lose the fight, then Lucky Chloe would make him go through idol routine as her backup dancer, much to his embarrassment and humiliation. Should he win the fight, while Eddy still kept his fighter's pride, he still hasn't gotten information about Kazuya's whereabouts since Lucky Chloe misled him.
Tekken 8
Thankfully for Eddy, the canonical outcome of that battle is that he won and kept his pride. Despite being misled by Lucky Chloe, Eddy remains determined to chase after Kazuya. After plowing through many G Corporation soldiers by himself, he finally encounters Kazuya. Unfortunately, Kazuya easily crushes him, showing just how vastly outclassed Eddy is against a Devil Gene-powered Mishima family member, and his fighter's pride is on the brink of being crushed all the same. Before Kazuya can finish him off like stomping an ant, the Manji ninja Yoshimitsu intervenes and saves Eddy. Yoshimitsu then takes him to a wise figure who reminds Eddy about what is truly worth fighting for.
Eddy then tries to search for something within his soul. Reminded of his crimes as a member of the Mishima Zaibatsu in his failed attempt to save his master, Eddy then realizes that he's just as guilty as Jin for letting his master die; he still participated in acts of sabotaging and went along with Jin in his war against the world, making people suffer and breaking Christie's heart. Thanks to the figure's advice, Eddy finally comes to a conclusion: He must move forward from his desire for revenge against Kazuya for his father, atone for his sins, and live for the future, ironically mirroring Jin's journey.
For that, Eddy focuses on re-training his art of Capoeira, reminding himself of the positive teachings of his departed master. Once his training is complete, Eddy walks out as a new man looking for the future. In addition, he also buries the hatchet with Jin, acknowledging his desire to atone for the sin of plunging the world to war.
- Important characters within this arc include: Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law, Forest Law, Kuma, Kuma II.
Tekken 1
As stated in the main story, Paul Phoenix is a mixed martial artist with a drive to become the strongest there is. He's also the only one who ever managed to fight Kazuya Mishima into a draw. Wanting to settle the score, Paul entered the first King of Iron Fist Tournament. Meanwhile, Marshall Law is a chef who is proficient in Jeet Kune Do, but he had a passion to build his own dojo with his own students. To gather the money for such dream, he entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament.
What is known is that Law loses the tournament, but it's not known who defeated him. Paul had a better performance, and also had a fierce fight with Heihachi's pet bear Kuma. While Paul at first treated it as normal, little did he know that this bear would haunt him for the rest of his fighting career. Unfortunately for Paul, this time Kazuya beat him fair and square instead of both of them ending in a draw.
But at the very least, in this tournament, Paul and Law met and became friends. And regardless of the outcome, the ninja Yoshimitsu ended up committing theft to the Mishima Zaibatsu to be distributed to the poor, one of them being Law and he had enough money to start his dojo, the Marshall Dojo.
Tekken 2
While Paul, devastated with his loss against Kazuya, trained to eventually win the rematch against Kazuya in the 2nd tournament, he ended up fighting against Kuma again, and at least won. However, Paul was once again defeated, this time by Heihachi Mishima.
On the other hand, tragedy struck Law. Kazuya sent a distraught Baek Doo-San to wreck Law's dojo, injuring some of his students. Enraged at this, Law entered the tournament to exact vengeance against Baek. He didn't win the tournament, but his objective was accomplished; Law defeated Baek. While he couldn't forgive Baek for hurting his students, he sympathized with Baek's situation, having wrecked with guilt of killing his father by accident. Law then resumed to run his dojo and expand the business venture of his restaurant, now named 'Marshall China'.
Tekken 3
Marshall's son, Forest Law, has grown into a fine young man and a talented martial artist as well, taking after his father. However, Marshall was very protective of Forest, forbidding him to enter any fighting tournaments. Ever since the tournament, Paul has been friends with the Law family and so Forest knew him. When the third King of Iron Fist Tournament was announced, Paul decided to bring Forest as his companion to the tournament against Marshall's consent, enraging him. Forest, however, saw this as a chance to prove that he's his own man, stepping out of his father's shadow.
While Forest had a good performance, he did not win the tournament. However, Paul had a very great streak, winning against many opponents, including the son of the bear he fought before, still named Kuma, and even reached the finals and defeated the Fighting God Ogre. Swelling with pride, Paul left the scene early, unaware that Ogre transformed into True Ogre and Jin Kazama had to pick up the slack and defeat it. With that, Paul returned home with Forest.
Unfortunately after this, Marshall forbade Forest to enter any other tournament. He's much more successful in this endeavor.
Tekken 4
Paul's victory over Ogre made him very boastful and he ended up bragging a lot, even after opening his own dojo. His personality, however, made him a rather unpopular person that people started calling him a phony to show their annoyance at his boasts that his dojo quickly became empty. Realizing that his overconfidence costed him, Paul decided to enter the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament to show the world that he's the real deal.
Unfortunately for Paul, this time, the younger Kuma came back far stronger than it ever was and he caught off guard, Paul was beaten by said bear.
Law, however, had a more serious problem. Marshall China fell into financial troubles that Law ended up filling for bankruptcy. He went from a rich businessman to someone on the very verge of poverty. However, he saw his chance to redeem himself and save his family by entering the King of Iron Fist Tournament again. But unfortunately for Law, he failed to win, and his financial problems deepened, something that he would not be able to escape for a very long time.
Tekken 5
Distraught with his defeat against Kuma II, Paul trained harder for an upcoming King of Iron Fist Tournament. However, in between this, he got into a motorcycle accident where Forest Law was taking a ride, sending Forest into the hospital. Meanwhile, in desperation to gather money to restore his business, Marshall started working illegally in Japan. News of his son's accident caught up to him and with more in stake, Law entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament to win enough money to save his son. Also perhaps feeling responsible for Forest's state, Paul hoped that if he won the tournament, he will share the money to his friend so Forest can be saved.
Paul had another match against Kuma II, but while victorious, he was so exhausted that he couldn't advance further to the tournament. In the same time, not only Law lost, his illegal work activities were discovered and he was forcefully deported back home.
Tekken 6
In addition of his debt for Forest's state, Paul has accumulated several loans that he also has his financial problem. Knowing that entering alone would get him nowhere, he contacted Marshall again and asks if he's interested in teaming up. Since Marshall was still trying to pay the debt for Forest, he accepted the deal, but just to be sure, he thought that it would be better if it wasn't just the two of them as a team, but forming a team of three. Luckily for them, the boxer Steve Fox was free, so they invited him to team up. He accepted.
Unfortunately, even with the three of them combining their strengths, they still failed to win.
Tekken 7
While Marshall concerned himself to Forest's health, he didn't realize that the students in Marshall Dojo now started to feel dissatisfied and one by one quitted. With his son AND dojo in the line, Marshall knew that something needed to be done, at the very least, he'd need someone to look after the dojo while he concentrated on the debt. Paul volunteered to help, but remembering how it happened in the third tournament, Marshall refused his offer and sought someone else. Just then, he heard about a Chinese Kempo fighter of legendary status, Feng Wei. While he is a dangerous man, Marshall was getting desperate that he decided to check him out and see if he's worthy of running the dojo in his stead.
Unfortunately for Law, not only was the tournament cancelled, Feng proved to be something more than he bargained for: The Chinese martial artist was too fierce. To tame the beast, Paul also stepped in and the two friends combined their strengths to strike at Feng... which he got back up and thanks to his God Fist scroll, he displayed an enormous and utterly ferocious aura. Realizing that this is too much even for them, Paul and Law only had only one option: Run away before Feng brutalized them.
Tekken 8
The cancellation of the past tournament also affected Paul, as he only received a fraction of the prize money, so he is also in debt. Meanwhile, the war started by Kazuya takes a toll on Law as his dojo is repossessed as collateral damage. The two team up again for the 8th tournament because they will absolutely lose everything, their nation of the USA included, if they lose.
At the same time, Kuma II has gone through a rough patch in his life. After Heihachi's disappearance, Jin Kazama had Kuma II deported to Southeast Asia. He managed to claw his way out and return to Japan, only to find the Mishima Zaibatsu in disarray and his beloved master Heihachi missing, later turning out to be dead. Refusing to give up on the Zaibatsu, Kuma II starts wearing Heihachi's possessions as his Tragic Keepsake and decides to oppose Kazuya to honor his beloved master, even if it may as well be his last fight.
Both Paul and Law advance to the finals of the North American branch, but in the end, Paul emerges victorious to represent their nation in the semifinals in Italy. Law makes Paul promise to share their prizes if he wins, and Paul accepts. In addition, knowing that he used to be a rival of Kazuya, he also promises to give Kazuya a 'piece of his mind'.
And the one awaiting Paul in the semifinals is none other than Kuma II. Not too pleased that he has to fight this constant obstacle against the championship, Paul fights as fiercely as he can, while Kuma II also fights to put an end to his constant pestering when he's got better things to think of, like saving the Zaibatsu. However, once the semifinals conclude, the Yggdrasil attacks the coliseum, and Kazuya uses this chance for the next step of his plan to revive Azazel and ultimately absorb him.
The semi-finalists escape. Lars Alexandersson then recruits some of them to help him and the Yggdrasil fight against the G Corporation. Paul answers the call so he can finally confront Kazuya. And surprisingly, Kuma II also answers, viewing Kazuya as the greater enemy compared to Jin, who deported him to Southeast Asia and made him unable to be at Heihachi's side in his final moments. Even if he has to work with Paul, it's a price worth paying for.
During the attack against G Corporation, Paul is taken by surprise when he learns that Law is on G Corporation's side. Law berates him for breaking his promise of splitting the prize money, and Paul has no other reply than that he just forgot. The two end up in a fight, with Paul berating him for his money obsession and thinking that he has the moral high ground, also forgetting that Law also has his family at stake, so he has a greater urgency to clear his own debts. Kuma II then tries to launch a sneak attack on Paul while he's being occupied by Law. However, a missile flies right behind Paul, and Kuma II just happens to be in the way, so the bear takes a hit from the missile, and Paul is moved, believing that Kuma II has buried the hatchet and protected him. Of course, Kuma II tries to deny it, in bear language.
In the end, Jin defeats Kazuya for good. Paul and Law reconcile, and together, they join with the other fighters to hold a relief effort to heal the world. And it seems that Kuma II also joins the two in the effort. The world may be saved, but who knows what other misfortune may await the duo in the future?
One of the more complex side stories in Tekken is that of Yoshimitsu, a master ninja and thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. He becomes tangled with the Mishima Zaibatsu's plans throughout the series, and comes into conflict with his former student Kunimitsu and the cyborg Bryan Fury.
- Important characters within this arc include: Yoshimitsu, Kunimitsu, Dr. Bosconovitch, Bryan Fury
Tekken 1
The Manji Party are an organisation of Robin Hood-type ninjas who work to rob the corrupt individuals of the world of their ill-gotten gains, and give to the poor. They are lead by a master of Manji-style ninjutsu bearing the title of Yoshimitsu, which has been passed down the clan for centuries, dating back to the Warring States period.
His distant ancestors' stories are explored within the Soul Series, but for a basic summary, the title of Yoshimitsu derives it's name from that of the clan leader's katana - which was tainted with an evil energy transferred to it from the cursed blade known as Soul Edge. Even so, the blade was passed down from generation to generation, with it only being trusted to the most elite members of the Manji Party due to it's cursed nature.
The current-day Yoshimitsu enters the initial King of Iron Fist Tournament after hearing that Ganryu, a sumo wrestler who was expelled from a professional circuit for match fixing, is in cahoots with the tournament organisers, the Mishima Zaibatsu. The Manji Party orchestrate a plan to take the money from Ganryu's stash while Yoshimitsu's tournament presence serves as a distraction. While it's unclear whether Yoshimitsu even fought Ganryu in the tournament let alone if he defeated him, he lasts long enough for the Manji Party's plan to work.
The first two tournaments also had Kunimitsu in attendance, an ex-member of the Manji Party who joined in order to become a master ninja, renouncing her Japanese heritage to remain anonymous. However, she was expelled from the Party for stealing for her own self-interests, stealing from those who do not deserve it and even from the Party themselves. After getting kicked out, she spends some time working as an air conditioner repairwoman, before hearing rumours that the Zaibatsu's head honcho, Heihachi Mishima, is after a treasure of Native American origin - the same treasure Michelle Chang's father was killed for not delivering to the Zaibatsu. Kunimitsu figures if the Zaibatsu are seeking said treasure, it must be very valuable, and eventually discovers the key to finding the treasure is an amulet that was passed down to Michelle herself. Kunimitsu enters the tournament in hopes of stealing the amulet from Michelle and selling it to the highest bidder, Heihachi or otherwise, but is unsuccessful, being defeated by Michelle in the tournament.
Tekken 2
At some point between the first two tournaments, Yoshimitsu discovers that the Mishima Zaibatsu have begun mass-producing JACK-2 robots powered by a perpetual energy engine developed by Dr. Gepetto Bosconovitch. He orchestrates a raid on their labs to retrieve it, but it doesn't go well at all. The clan gets spotted, activating a military grade laser which promptly fires, cutting off Yoshimitsu's left arm. Now might be a good time to mention that it was a prosthetic arm, as Yoshimitsu had his biological left arm amputated so he could safely wield his cursed weapon with the prosthetic. The clan was still able to escape, however, and got in touch with Bosconovitch, who lent his efforts to develop a cybernetic left arm, powered by the very same perpetual energy engine, to replace the prosthetic arm Yoshimitsu lost in the raid - granting Yoshimitsu the ability to do helicopter attacks with his sword.
Afterwards, Bosconovitch is kidnapped by the Zaibatsu, now under the leadership of Kazuya Mishima, and is forced to work for the Zaibatsu's R&D department against his will. When Yoshimitsu hears about the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2, he enters with the express intention of getting Bosconovitch out of there, believing he owes the good doctor his life after the raid. Whilst under Kazuya's watch, Bosconovitch has a hand in creating Roger and Alex, repairing Prototype JACK, and developing the Cold Sleep machine, which he originally designed with the purpose of preserving the body of his daughter Alisa, who passed away some time prior, but would instead be used for an experiment involving the Williams sisters. After completing these tasks, Kazuya decides Bosconovitch is no longer of any use to him and orders for him to be executed, but Yoshimitsu appears just in the nick of time to rescue the doctor and pay him back for saving his skin previously.
Meanwhile, Kunimitsu learns from her grandfather that Yoshimitsu's katana is a relic of unimaginable value, having been passed down the Manji Party for centuries and absorbing the strength of each of it's wielders. The old man spent a lifetime trying to forge a copy of the sword, but was unable to replicate the secret Manji techniques used to grant it's power. She enters the second tournament in the hopes of stealing the sword from her former master to make the old man proud, but when she faces Yoshimitsu in the tournament, she is easily defeated. That's the last we see of Kunimitsu, Yoshimitsu has yet to see her ever again, suspecting that she might have succumbed to the wounds he caused, or worse, the God of Fighting Ogre claimed her.
Tekken 3
Nineteen years later, Yoshimitsu pays the good doctor a visit to discuss the recent disappearances of his opponents in the previous tournament, only to discover Bosconovitch is suffering from a terminal illness that he believes to have contracted while working on the Cold Sleep machine. He also believes a cure is possible for this disease, but only through injecting himself with the blood of Ogre, the Aztec God of Fighting who recently made his presence known. Upon learning this, Yoshimitsu enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 in the hopes of retrieving said blood, and while he doesn't win the tournament, he is still able to get a sample by stealing it from the Mishima Zaibatsu. After experimenting it with a live rat and turning it into a temporary threat of a giant creature, Yoshimitsu managed to save Bosconovitch.
The third tournament was also the debut of Bryan Fury. An Interpol officer suspected by his partner Lei Wulong of taking bribes from the very gangs they were trying to bust, Bryan was killed in the line of duty during a shootout with said gangs. Afterwards, his corpse was transported to the laboratory of Dr. Abel, a brilliant but mentally-unstable scientist stuck in Bosconovitch's shadow. Seeing Bryan as the key to completing his masterwork of a cyborg army, Dr. Abel used his cybernetics expertise to revive the officer and make him stronger than ever (though increasing his Ax-Crazy tendencies in the process), and sent him off to collect data on Bosconovitch. Bryan sneaks his way into the tournament with the intent of eliminating Yoshimitsu due to his ties to the good doctor, but is unsuccessful.
Tekken 4
Two years after the previous tournament, the Manji Party is running dangerously low on funds, leaving Yoshimitsu unsure of the organisation's future. Upon receiving information regarding a fourth tournament, Yoshimitsu envisions a union between the Manji Party and the Mishima Zaibatsu, and enters the tournament hoping to make a deal with Heihachi Mishima to receive funding to continue providing resources to the impoverished - or at the very least, they could steal the money from the Zaibatsu.
At some point during the heist, he comes across Bryan Fury, on the brink of death. He had entered the tournament seeking revenge on his creator, Dr. Abel, who abandoned him shortly after the previous tournament to work for the Mishima Zaibatsu, but collapsed from the energy source of his cybernetic implants losing power. Out of the good nature of his heart, Yoshimitsu and a small cohort of Manji Party members leave their comrades to carry on the heist themselves, culminating in stealing an entire vault full of cash from the Zaibatsu, while they take Bryan to Bosconovitch's lab to fix him up. Yoshimitsu isn't aware that Bryan was given the mission of killing him, but Bosconovitch is more than aware of Bryan's origins. Bosconovitch offers to mechanise Bryan in order to save his life, in exchange for giving up his old body to the good doctor. Finding Bryan's body to be too complex, Bosconovitch opts to use an updated version of the perpetual energy engine found in Yoshimitsu's own cybernetics, and before putting him under, informs Bryan that the process will take a year to complete - though it will only seem like a few moments for Bryan himself.
Tekken 5
Unfortunately for both Yoshimitsu and Bosconovitch, Bryan awakens much earlier than anticipated, surging with power from the perpetual energy engine - and an insatiable bloodlust, taking his already-unstable nature to the next level. He proceeds to "thank" the doctor for his efforts by seriously wounding him and slaughtering his way through the Manji Party members that got him there. By the time Yoshimitsu arrives at the grisly scene, he's already too late. Hardened with resolve to avenge his fallen clan members, Yoshimitsu enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 with one lone goal in mind: to make Bryan Fury pay for his treachery.
Tekken 6
Things get even worse for Yoshimitsu during his pursuit of Bryan, as while he is able to prevent him from making it far in the fifth tournament, he realises his sword has begun to thirst for blood. It feeds off of the blood of evildoers, and should it go thirsty for too long, it will drive it's user insane and drive them to massacre the innocent as a last resort to feed the blade. With this in mind, Yoshimitsu calls off the revenge act to prioritise keeping the sword's bloodthirst at bay.
No longer able to use his traditional blade on it's own, Yoshimitsu opts to use another known as Fumaken, so named as it was forged by the Fu-Ma clan centuries ago, and in the Manji Party's possession for about as long as it was originally given to the second Yoshimitsu as a gift upon his ascension to leadership. Devising a new fighting style that could use both swords in tandem, Yoshimitsu enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to feed the cursed sword with the blood of any evildoers he encounters - namely the Zaibatsu's new warmongering leader, Jin Kazama.
Meanwhile, Bryan is enraged at Yoshimitsu's meddling of his plans for testing the new perpetual energy engine within him, and begins to relieve said anger by causing as much chaos as he could around the globe, travelling to various battlefields of the Zaibatsu's conflict with G Corporation just to lay his hand in the destruction. He eventually grows tired of the repetition of it all, though, and eventually decides to enter the sixth tournament, feeling it's a much better fit for a frenzied psychopath such as himself.
Tekken 7
With the return of Heihachi Mishima, Yoshimitsu sensed a bad aura coming from him, and focused on the CEO instead of Bryan (who instead decided to participate in a random act of violence because he can). When it turned out Heihachi cancelled the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Yoshimitsu decided to take a direct approach and infiltrate the Mishima headquarters instead. Unfortunately, he ran into Leo Kliesen and got caught into a misunderstanding and mistaken that he had killed them. A successful attempt to resuscitate them ended in disaster after Leo freaked out at his appearance.
However, Yoshimitsu is about to face a greater crisis. Afterwards, while wandering, he was caught in a surprise attack by a familiar face. Kunimitsu lived and she's far stronger than before. Surprised and shocked at the sudden strike, Yoshimitsu fought bravely, thinking that Kunimitsu was still up for her old dirty tricks, but this Kunimitsu faced him head on and beat him fair and square. The last he heard was that she heard about Yoshimitsu from her mother. As it turned out, after the second King of Iron Fist Tournament, Kunimitsu retired from both fighting and the way of thievery, eventually giving birth to a daughter whom she trained in the arts of ninjutsu, succeeding her as Kunimitsu II and she decided to finish the task that her mother undertook for her great grandfather: Taking Yoshimitsu's cursed sword. And when Yoshimitsu woke up, that's exactly what happened: His cursed sword were no longer in his possession!
Tekken 8
One way or another, Yoshimitsu manages to recover his cursed blade from Kunimitsu II. At the same time, he also saves Eddy Gordo from being killed by Kazuya Mishima. Yoshimitsu leaves him with a figure Eddy hadn't seen for years to solve his issues.
Returning to his usual duties, he receives a mission to investigate ancient ruins pertaining to the history of the Mishima clan. He finds out that the clan used to be a clan of exorcists. However, in the middle of the investigation, Yoshimitsu's cursed blade acts up once again, affected by the demonic aura surrounding it and trying to consume him. Yoshimitsu stabs himself with the sword to hold the curse at bay.
It is a good thing he took the blade back from Kunimitsu II; the poor girl might not be able to handle the curse due to her inexperience, as more of his story with the cursed blade unfolds here.
Regardless, Yoshimitsu consults the Manji clan elders to learn how to suppress the malevolent will. He spends his time training for that goal, and to help him, Dr. Bosconovitch designs a new armor for it. But it is still not enough to completely silence the malevolent voice. Yoshimitsu is led to believe that the source of the voice may be revealed in the upcoming King of Iron Fist Tournament. The state of the nation and his own well-being, should he lose, are of no concern to Yoshimitsu. He has to get to the bottom of the mystery of the cursed sword.
Yoshimitsu's skills prove immense enough that he wins the tournament's Asian Block A. Advancing to the semifinals, he ended up facing his usual nemesis, Bryan Fury. As usual, in the meantime, while Yoshimitsu worked hard to suppress his curse, Bryan just spent his time causing wanton violence to satisfy his own lust. Disgusted with this, Yoshimitsu once again tries to put an end to his nemesis. However, the semifinals are interrupted by the attack of Yggdrasil, forcing Yoshimitsu to flee.
The encounter with Bryan may have increased the negative thoughts surrounding the cursed blade, especially after the reappearance of Azazel. Yoshimitsu ends up fighting Bryan one last time, but Bryan overwhelms him. Driven to desperation, Yoshimitsu unleashed the cursed sword's full strength in order to defeat Bryan. However, Yoshimitsu leaves the scene with an ominous aura. He has fully been taken over with his cursed blade and has become a killing machine. The ninja who helped the poor is gone.
Good thing the previous paragraph didn't happen. Because canon-wise, while Yoshimitsu did not answer Lars' call-to-arms against G Corporation, he shows up just fine after Jin Kazama defeats Kazuya Mishima. As usual, he's helping with the relief efforts to heal the world from the damages caused by G Corporation.
The Chang family have a fairly meaty story arc as well, despite being relatively minor characters in the overarching storyline. Additionally, this also contains a bit of a story involving the sumotori Ganryu who flip-flops between corrupt and decent, but had a small link towards the Changs.
- Important characters within this arc include: Michelle Chang, Julia Chang, Ganryu
Tekken 1
Michelle Chang is the daughter of a Hong Kong archaeologist tasked with retrieving a treasure of immense value for the Mishima Zaibatsu. However, he instead found a treasure of his own in the form of a Native American woman who would become his loving, caring wife, and the mother of Michelle. They lived a peaceful life in Arizona until Michelle's eighteenth birthday, when she discovers that her father has been murdered by the Zaibatsu for not paying them his dues. Filled with rage, Michelle enters the first King of Iron Fist Tournament in the hopes of exacting her revenge on Heihachi Mishima, the Zaibatsu's leader and the man who ordered for her father to be killed. During the tournament, it's discovered that an amulet Michelle received as a keepsake from her parents is in fact the key to finding the treasure Heihachi was looking for. This also caught the attention of the ex-Manji Party member Kunimitsu, who Michelle defeats in the tournament, but doesn't make it much further than that.
In the meantime, Ganryu was a sumo wrestler with dreams to open up his own sumo stable. He's the youngest to ever receive the "Ozeki" title and many would think that he could achieve the Yokozuna title. However, he's known for his immoral behavior on the ring, which eventually caused him to be kicked off. He resorted to crime and illegal gambling to build up his wealth and after hearing the King of Iron Fist Tournament to gain more money and prove his strength. Unfortunately, the opponent he faced was the Manji clan member Yoshimitsu, disgusted at his immoral actions at a sport he's a fan of and now Ganryu's life of crime. The result of the battle is unknown, but it's highly likely that Ganryu was defeated.
Tekken 2
Two years later, the Zaibatsu's new leader Kazuya Mishima orders for Michelle's mother to be kidnapped, and used as a bargaining chip for Michelle to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2. Kazuya had another backup plan, however. He recognized Ganryu's strength in the last tournament and decided to hire him as a bodyguard, paying him a good sum of money to feed his gambling addiction. Ganryu was then tasked to defeat Michelle and take the amulet off her hands - allowing the Zaibatsu to stake it's claim on the aforementioned treasure. Michelle enters the tournament in the hopes of rescuing her mother, and eventually comes face to face with the corrupt sumo. However, Ganryu fell in love with Michelle at first sight, and let his unreciprocated feelings for her got the best of him. He did propose to her, but Michelle, already disgusted at his terrible history, rejected him outright.
Though Michelle once again lost the tournament, she was able to keep the amulet in her possession.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, Michelle comes across a baby girl that had been abandoned in the ruins of a Native American settlement. She chooses to adopt the child, and names her Julia. Julia grows up to have a strong love of her mother and the rest of the tribe, and is trained in the exact same fighting styles her mother used in the previous two tournaments so that she could protect their homeland should anyone threaten it. As she got older, Julia also developed a strong love of the tribe's history, and began to study archaeology to learn more about it.
Tekken 3
Nineteen years after the second tournament, just as Julia reaches adulthood, stories of several power fighters disappearing reach their tribe, leaving them concerned the stories of the Aztec God of Fighting, Ogre, may be coming true. Michelle fears the amulet may have something to do with it, so she travels to Japan to ask Heihachi Mishima why the Mishima Zaibatsu was after the amulet in the first place. Heihachi isn't very co-operative, however, and instead chooses to kidnap Michelle and use her amulet to awaken Ogre. With her mother having vanished from her life, Julia concludes the Mishima Zaibatsu are responsible for her sudden disappearance, and enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to rescue her - just as Michelle did for her own mother nineteen years prior. Towards the end of the tournament, Julia is successfully able to rescue her mother, and learned of what Heihachi had used the amulet for. She develops a desire to get revenge on Heihachi, but Michelle quells her bloodlust and convinces her to return home peacefully.
Tekken 4
After returning home to Arizona, things begin to change for the Chang family as they discover their homeland is in danger of being consumed by the encroaching desert. Julia decides to put her archaeological studies on hold for the time being to focus her attention on researching ways of ecosystem restoration. She eventually joins a team of advanced genetic researchers working for G Corporation, using their maximum-security labs to conduct research and development on the GENOCELL project, and trusting them with securely storing their research data. However, after the Mishima Zaibatsu attacked G Corporation's labs in search of Kazuya Mishima's remains, they ended up stealing the GENOCELL data in the process. G Corp is forced to put the project on indefinite hold, leaving Julia anxious as to her homeland's future. She has to get the data back by any means necessary, so upon hearing of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, she enters without hesitation. She doesn't make it far and is unable to retrieve the stolen data.
Ganryu hasn't been heard since the third King of Iron Fist Tournament. With Ogre displaying some of his sumo moves, many thought he was slain by the God of Fighting, but that simply wasn't the case: After the second tournament, Ganryu managed to overcome his corrupt mindset and gambling addiction and started clean. In time, he managed to start his own sumo stable at Hawaii, fulfilling his dream at last. He also got over his rejection by Michelle. It would seem that he was able to leave his past life of crime and start the path of a honest man. But some of his old vices remain. At 55 years old, he found himself a broadcast of the fourth tournament and saw Julia in action. Julia was such a spitting image of Michelle in the past and this made Ganryu fall in love once again.
Tekken 5
After the fourth tournament, Julia tries her hardest to continue her reforestation research. Unfortunately, even though she puts as much time and effort into it as she can muster, she can't make sufficient progress without her old data from G Corp. It is then she receives a mysterious letter written in Japanese, with an invitation to a fifth tournament attached. Unbeknownst to her, it was Ganryu who wrote this letter for her, believing that if he can help her retrieve the stolen GENOCELL data, surely she'd be willing to reciprocate his feelings for her. She accepts the invitation, and though she herself doesn't make it that far, Ganryu is successfully able to retrieve her lost data. Unsurprisingly, Ganryu tries to use this as a means to get Julia to love him, but while she is indeed grateful for his efforts, she is still uninterested in him romantically.
As noted above, somewhere along her time fighting, Julia also befriended the Masked Luchador King II. She has taken note of his vendetta against Craig Marduk and tried to advise him not to give in to Revenge. Regardless, Julia was beaten by him, but it seemed that her advice has an effect somehow, since it strengthened King's resolve to go into Defeat Means Friendship route against Marduk, which succeeded. While this is of little mention to Julia's overall arc, her friendship with the wrestler has some sort of an effect on her in the future.
Tekken 6
Having finally recovered her research data, Julia is just about ready to get to work on her reforestation project when she encounters an old woman who claims to be able to commune with spirits. This old woman would leave Julia with a dire warning:
"Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima must not be allowed to clash. If they are to fight, a source of great evil will be resurrected and unleashed on the Earth."
Initially skeptical of this prediction, Julia would come to realise the threat was more imminent than she thought when she learns of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 on the flight back to her lab. And so, Julia's plans take a back seat as she decides to enter the tournament. Thankfully, the intervention of the rebel Tekken Force led by Lars Alexandersson puts a stop to this threat, and life eventually begins to return to normal.
Much like his deal with her mother, Ganryu got over Julia quickly enough... somewhat. Returning to Hawaii, he decided that he wanted to expand his sumo stable into a restaurant chain based on sumo dishes. Problem is, he didn't have enough money. He decided to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to gain enough money to kickstart the business. While he certainly didn't win the tournament, he managed to gain enough money to kickstart his new restaurant chain, Chanko Paradise, and with that, he could finally retire from fighting as his restaurant continue to enjoy decent advertising.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 7
Shortly after the sixth tournament's conclusion, Julia receives a request from a close friend who fought as a professional wrestler under the name Jaycee. After a car accident left her too injured to continue fighting, she asks for Julia to don the mask and enter the ring in her place. Since she has fought some wrestlers in the past (and being friends with King II), this wasn't that much of a problem for her to learn some wrestling moves in addition of her martial arts. As one might expect, Julia is much more flamboyant, confident and aggressive as Jaycee, and is able to win the crowd over - potentially crossing paths with the Kings during her tenure. However, she takes to being a pro wrestler a bit too well, and the higher-ups arrange for her to be rebranded as a Heel due to her strength. This causes her once-loyal fans to despise her, and she quickly decides to retire as a result, changing her image to ensure she wouldn't be recognised.
Julia then gets back to work on her reforestation project and kickstarts it via donations from the general public, but very few people are interested initially. And then Kazuya Mishima's Devil nature is exposed to the world following his fight against Akuma. Julia decides to seize the opportunity to gain traction for her fundraising campaign, and decides to become a professional live streamer, opting to broadcast the goings-on at the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7 to her devoted followers, letting some shades of her more confident and boisterous Jaycee persona shine through while on-camera.
Meanwhile... it turns out that Ganryu still held a small candle in his heart for Julia, although he was definitely not going for direct proposal anymore. With the money he got from advertisement of Chanko Paradise, he decided to follow Julia's footsteps in becoming a streamer, and showed his affection by mimicking some of her streaming mannerisms and wearing normal clothes that also had the text expressing his affection whenever he's on-camera and mic (not fighting). Naturally, when Julia learned about Ganryu's streaming style, she is not amused.
- Important characters within this arc include: Baek Doo San, Hwoarang
Tekken 2
Baek Doo San is the son of a respected Taekwondoka, who trained him and helped him hone his talent despite said father being weighed down with his own alcoholism. However, tragedy immediately struck during his youth: During a friendly spar, Baek accidentally killed his father. Regardless of his issues of alcohol, Baek respected his father so much that he was wracked with guilt. His only solace was to use his talent in any way possible, being a gym buster and attacking various martial arts dojos to ensure that his arts of taekwondo did not go to waste.
Eventually, Baek encounters a man under the order of the Mishima Zaibatsu. This man also holds rivalry with the Marshall Dojo ran by Marshall Law, but most importantly, he holds the information of Baek's tragedy. Threatened with the man exposing his tragedy to public and his sanity still not recovering from his father's death, Baek has no choice but to invade Marshall Dojo, hurting many students and enraging Marshall Law that the two agreed to settle the score in the second King of Iron Fist Tournament.
Law's rage proves too much for Baek that he's defeated. But in the same time, he ends up recovering some of his sanity that he quits invading gyms, but instead opens up his own Taekwondo dojo to teach young people the arts he learned from his father.
Tekken 3
Baek's dojo continues to grow even when Law diversifies his business into a restaurant chain. During this time, there's only one student that would be considered his most brilliant: A young man by the name of Hwoarang. This young man, however, tends to use Baek's teaching to pretend like he's some sort of weakling, only to soundly trash his opponent and rob their fortunes, helped with his own biker gang. This action eventually leads to a fierce fight with a certain Jin Kazama, the only person that could match up with Hwoarang's skills, setting up their rivalry. When he's not making a ruckus, Hwoarang shows his soft side by helping Baek move on from remembering his tragedy whenever it passes his mind and sends him into a sad wreck... by loudly announcing of his rebellious attitude that would make him look like a slacker who misuses his teaching. Even if Baek punishes him in return, he's grateful that his student helps him recover from his trauma.
The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 is approaching, and Hwoarang is eager to enter after he learns that Jin Kazama is participating. However, sometime before the tournament, Hwoarang heard terrible news: The Fighting God Ogre attacked several martial arts, killing them and absorbing their skills, and Baek was announced as one of the victims. With an extra motivation to avenge his master, Hwoarang participates within the tournament. However, Jin defeats him and carries on his will to defeat Ogre. Despite the tragedies that befalls on Jin later, in Hwoarang's eyes, Jin has helped him carrying his vengeance, so their rivalry would take on a friendlier tone... in as much as Jin could muster considering his tragic life.
However, what Hwoarang did not know was that Baek only barely survived the attack by Ogre. Left in a coma, he's saved in the nick of time, but does not wake up for a very long time.
Tekken 4
After the third tournament, Hwoarang finds himself drafted into the South Korean military. However, he quickly gets bored with the lifestyle of the army, and he only fondly remembers the time when he fought Jin Kazama. Thankfully for him, he heard that the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament is announced and that Jin will be participating. Eager to get out of the lifestyle that bored him, Hwoarang deserts the army and joins the tournament.Hwoarang actually advances quite far to the tournament and is set to face off against Jin. However, Jin is not as enthusiastic as before. Hwoarang doesn't have any idea about Jin's family business that weighs upon him, so he forces the fight anyway. However, their battle is interrupted by the South Korean army, intending to drag Hwoarang back as a punishment for desertion. They succeed in that, leaving Hwoarang even further unsatisfied with his duel interrupted.
Tekken 5
Hwoarang ends up having to serve his sentence of desertion, to stay jailed. However, it's during this time that Baek wakes up from his coma and uses his connection with Hwoarang to convince the army to get him out of his jail time and enter the fifth tournament. Pleasantly surprised with his master still alive, Hwoarang takes the chance to train under his master and join the 5th tournament.Even with the training, Hwoarang still fails to win the tournament. However, during this time, he finally catches a glimpse on why Jin has been avoiding him: During a motor ride in the streets, he catches the glimpse of Devil Jin. He slowly learns that there's more than meets the eye in his rival.
Tekken 6
To Hwoarang's surprise, not only Jin won the fifth tournament, he suddenly transformed into a sinister man who declared war on the world. This means that Hwoarang and his nation fall under the wrath of Jin. While he still wants answer from Jin, he still has the obligation to defend his country. Using his experience as a gang leader, Hwoarang sets up a small band of resistance against the Zaibatsu, that even Baek joins right up.Both Hwoarang and Baek help out both Lars and Alisa during their quest to seek answers from Jin. However, there is a possibility that Baek perishes in a battle trying to cover for his studentnote . However, nothing is confirmed to be canon in this case, leaving Baek's status to be unknown at the moment.
Tekken 7
Once the world war started by Jin ends, he also vanishes to parts unknown. Hwoarang still had so much that he wants to ask from Jin, so he tracked him down, eventually meeting him in Middle East. Badgering Jin too much, however, forced him to transform temporarily into Devil Jin. However, to his surprise, Hwoarang has grown so much that he could keep up with the devil-powered man himself.However, when Hwoarang still asks questions on Jin, several soldiers of the G Corporation have tailed on them and wanted to eliminate Jin at all costs. Hwoarang detects this and shoves Jin away as they throw a grenade to Jin. As the explosion clears, Jin is nowhere to be seen, but Hwoarang survives the ordeal. However... it comes at the cost of his eye, heavily wounded due to the explosion. Hence, he's seen sporting an eye patch in the preparation of the seventh King of Iron Fist Tournament, which is unfortunately cancelled by Heihachi Mishima.
