Tekken (universe)

Tekken (universe)
Developer(s)	Bandai Namco (formerly Namco) Eighting Arika Hamster Corporation
Publisher(s)	Bandai Namco (formerly Namco) Sony Computer Entertainment Infogrames Hamster Corporation
Designer(s)	Seiichi Ishii Katsuhiro Harada
Genre(s)	Fighting
Console/platform of origin	Arcade
First installment	Tekken (1994)
Latest installment	Arcade Archives 2: Tekken (2026)
Article on Wikipedia	Tekken (universe)

The Tekken universe (鉄拳, Iron Fist), sometimes stylized as TEKKEN, refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties hailing from the long-running series of fighting games created and owned by Bandai Namco. Originating in 1994 for arcades, the series centers around a feud among the members of the Mishima family surrounding the inheritance of Heihachi Mishima. One of the earliest 3D fighting games, the series is a pioneer in the fighting genre and has sold over 60 million copies worldwide, becoming one of Bandai Namco's flagship franchises.

The series was originally represented in Super Smash Bros. 4 through a downloadable content costume for Mii Brawlers based on Heihachi Mishima, while joining the roster with Kazuya Mishima in Fighters Pass Vol. 2 of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Franchise description

Tekken is a 3D fighting game series known for a distinct 4-button control scheme, where each button corresponds to a different limb: left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. The series began as an experimental test case at Namco in the early 90s, exploring texture mapping and 3D character modeling. It slowly morphed into a fighting game, recruiting Virtua Fighter designer Seiichi Ishii to direct the project. The first Tekken was distinguished from its competitor by its controls and its stages, which took place on infinite planes.

While the original Tekken took place purely on a 2D plane, Tekken 3 took the series into true 3D by implementing sidesteps as a system-wide mechanic, allowing fighters to dodge and circle around each other. Beginning with Tekken 4, the series would scrap its infinite planes in favour of more defined stage sizes similar to Virtua Fighter - albeit often with features such as destructibility and stage transitions. Tekken 6 would introduce the Rage comeback mechanic, which was expanded upon in Tekken 7 and 8. The popular Tekken Tag Tournament series comprises a pair of non-canon dream match games featuring nearly every character in the series up to that point, boasting a distinct 2-on-2 tag-team gameplay style.

Though the series possesses a large ensemble cast, Tekken's long-running story centers the bitter feud between the Mishima bloodline, primarily centring patriarch Heihachi Mishima, his son Kazuya Mishima, and Kazuya's son Jin Kazama. Kazuya and Jin are afflicted with a demonic curse known as the Devil Gene, resulting in struggles for physical, supernatural, and systemic power among the family. The first Tekken revolves around a tournament known as the King of the Iron Fist, conducted by Heihachi. Kazuya enters the tournament swearing revenge on Heihachi for abusing him as a child, throwing him off a cliff to test his strength. Emerging victorious in the tournament, Kazuya throws Heihachi off a cliff instead. The storyline becomes more complex in Tekken 2, where Kazuya is revealed to have overtaken Heihachi's Mishima Zaibatsu corporation, and has become increasingly ambitious and power-hungry. Kazuya holds a second incarnation of the Iron Fist Tournament, which a surviving Heihachi wins, and leaves Kazuya for dead.

The series undergoes a timeskip beginning with Tekken 3, taking place 20 years later. Kazuya's son Jin has replaced him as protagonist, and struggles with his own possession of the Devil Gene. Enraged with Heihachi, he hopes to end the Mishima bloodline and its curse. Tekken 4 reveals that Kazuya has been resurrected, inflaming tensions amongst all three of them that last through the remainder of the series, leading to Heihachi's faked death in Tekken 5, Jin overtaking the Mishima Zaibatsu and waging world war in Tekken 6, a final showdown between Kazuya and Heihachi in Tekken 7, and between Jin and Kazuya over control of the Devil Gene in Tekken 8. With 30 years between the releases of the first game and Tekken 8, the series holds the world record of the longest-running story in a video game.

Tekken has historically held a close association with Sony, who co-developed the original arcade boards that the series ran on. The Playstation port of Tekken was the system's first game to sell over one million copies; its first two sequels saw even greater success and are widely regarded as superior improvements of its original formula. Console ports of the Tekken series became famous for boasting massive amounts of new content compared to their arcade originals, frequently encompassing rearranged music, new playable characters, and new intro and ending FMVs. They would also frequently possess new side modes and subgames, such as the action beat-em-ups Tekken Force (in Tekken 3 and 4), Devil Within (Tekken 5), and the story-based Scenario Campaign (Tekken 6), to the volleyball and bowling-themed Tekken Ball (in 3, Tag 2, and 8) and Tekken Bowl (in Tag and 7). Tekken 8 became the first game in the series to be developed exclusively for home consoles, with no source arcade version at all.

The main series's home console editions were wholly exclusive to Playstation systems until Tekken 6, which was released multiplatform for both PS3 and Xbox 360. The series would remain multiplatform from then on, with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 additionally releasing on Wii U, and Tekken 7 and 8 additionally on PC. On Nintendo hardware, the series has seen other occasional releases such as Tekken Advance for GameBoy Advance (a pared-down adaptation of Tekken 3 and Tag Tournament), Tekken 3D: Prime Edition for 3DS (a stripped-down port of Tekken 6), and Arcade Archives 2: Tekken for Nintendo Switch 2 (a port of the original arcade game).

The Tekken series has been adapted into non-gaming media, including the first two games' OVA adaptation Tekken: The Motion Picture, the CG film Tekken: Blood Vengeance, and the animated Netflix series Tekken: Bloodline. A crossover with Street Fighter, Street Fighter X Tekken, was developed by Capcom in 2012, and the Tekken team collaborated with The Pokémon Company to develop Pokkén Tournament in 2015.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Heihachi Mishima, one of the central characters from the series, appears as a downloadable Mii Costume. This marks the franchise's debut in the Super Smash Bros. series

Mii Costume

The Mii Costume was first showcased at the end of Ryu's reveal trailer, then released in the second wave of DLC Mii Costumes, alongside Lucas, Roy and Ryu on June 14th, 2015.

Outfit

• Heihachi Outfit (DLC): Heihachi's gi outfit as it appears throughout the Tekken franchise.

Headgear

• Heihachi Wig (DLC): Heihachi's haircut. This version is sourced from games prior to Tekken 4, and in the Tekken Tag Tournament duology.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As part of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, Tekken received significant representation in Challenger Pack 10, which added Kazuya Mishima as a fighter, alongside a stage, 39 songs, and 13 spirits. Previously, Heihachi cameoed in the base game as one of Pac-Man's Namco Roulette taunt sprites, and was re-added as a Mii Costume in Challenger Pack 6.

Kazuya was chosen by Masahiro Sakurai due to his possession of the Devil Gene granting him a unique, Smash-friendly moveset. Heihachi had previously been passed over as a fighter for Smash 4, due to difficulties translating his moveset into Smash. Sakurai focused on making Kazuya's normal moves faithful to the Tekken series, with his special moves based on Devil Kazuya. He translated Tekken's core gameplay concepts by maintaining his normal moves as 1-button inputs, 8-way directionality for complex moves, and distinguish between combo and knockout moves.

Fighter

• 81.
  
  Kazuya (DLC): Revealed during E3 2021, Kazuya Mishima appears as the sixth downloadable newcomer in Ultimate as part of the Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Retaining his appearance from Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, he also has an alternate costume based on his default outfit in Tekken 7. In battle, he brings over his moveset from his appearances in the Tekken series, such as his Wind God Fist (that becomes Electric Wind God Fist should the player press the input and the button at the same time), Heaven's Door, Devil Blaster and the Dragon Uppercut, as well as being able to Crouch Dash like in his home series. Many of his moves briefly turn him into Devil Kazuya, such as his Smash attacks and his Special Moves. Kazuya also has a unique Rage mechanic that mirrors the Tekken 7 mechanic's functionality which enhances his attacks and turns Heaven's Door into Rage Drive, differing from its original counterpart by causing a Special Zoom and dealing more damage.

Stage

• 
  Mishima Dojo (DLC): The Mishima Dojo stage, a training dojo owned by the Mishima family, was released alongside Kazuya. It is designed around the Mishima Dojo stage in Tekken 7. The stage is initially flat with walls blocking the blast zones, but can be broken after dealing enough damage or launch another fighter with enough force at them. Much like what happens in the Luigi's Mansion stage, the Dojo rebuilds its walls after a while. Heihachi Mishima can be seen in the background of the stage meditating in front of the Fudō Myōō statue, sitting up and watching the battle after one of the walls or the roof of the stage is broken. As an Easter Egg, there is a inscription on the floor that roughly translates to "Kazumi and Heihachi", being a romantic expression to show the love between the pair.

Mii Costume

The Mii costume based on Heihachi returns from Smash 4 as a downloadable content, as part of version 8.0.0, within the sixth wave of Mii Fighter outfits along with Challenger Pack 6 and Min Min. It was released on June 29th, 2020, and prior to Kazuya's addition later in the Fighters Pass.

Outfit

• Heihachi Outfit (DLC): The outfit returns as a DLC from Smash 4, receiving updated visual detail.

Headgear

• Heihachi Wig (DLC): The headgear returns as a DLC from Smash 4, receiving updated visual detail that would retroactively be consistent in style with Kazuya's character model.

Music

Original Tracks

• Kazuya Mishima, Devil Kazuya (DLC): A remix of both Emotional and Eternal Darkness stage themes from Tekken 2.
• Dist Thins Out (DLC): A remix of the character select theme from Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion.
• Karma (DLC): A remix of the Electric Fountain stage theme from Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion.
• Landscape Under the Ghost-Kaminano (DLC): A remix of the credits theme of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, which itself is a remix of the credits theme from Tekken 2.
• Dojo (Japanese-Style Mix) (DLC): A remix of Dojo 1st, the stage theme for Mishima Dojo Round 1, from Tekken 7.
• Moonsiders 1st (DLC): An arrangement of the stage theme for Infinite Azure Round 1 in Tekken 7.
• Desperate Struggle (DLC): An arrangement of the theme that plays during the second phase of the final battle between Kazuya and Heihachi in the Mishima story mode of Tekken 7.
• Aloneness (DLC): An instrumental remix of the credits theme in the story mode of Tekken 7, incorporating elements of The Long Goodbye, another credits theme appearing in the game, and Solitude, the Season 1 Fated Retribution/console release main menu theme.

Source Tracks

• Marine Stadium, Japan (DLC): from Tekken PlayStation version.
• Chicago, U.S.A. (DLC): from Tekken PlayStation version.
• Kyoto, Japan (DLC): from Tekken PlayStation version.
• Heihachi Mishima, the King of the Iron Fist (DLC): from Tekken 2 arcade version.
• Kazuya Mishima, Devil Kazuya (DLC): from Tekken 2 arcade version.
• Emotionless Passion (DLC): from Tekken 2 PlayStation version of Kazuya's stage theme.
• Attract -Embu- / Character Select (DLC): from Tekken 3 arcade version.
• Hwoarang (DLC): from Tekken 3 arcade version.
• Jin Kazama (DLC): from Tekken 3 arcade version.
• Heihachi Mishima (DLC): from Tekken 3 PlayStation version.
• Opening Movie (DLC): from Tekken Tag Tournament PlayStation 2 version.
• Jin Stage (DLC): from Tekken Tag Tournament PlayStation 2 version.
• Kitsch (DLC): from Tekken 4 PlayStation 2 version.
• Bit Crusher (DLC): from Tekken 4 PlayStation 2 version.
• Red Hot Fist (DLC): from Tekken 5 PlayStation 2 version.
• Moonlit Wilderness (DLC): from Tekken 5 PlayStation 2 version.
• Poolside (DLC): from Tekken 5 PlayStation 2 version.
• Snow Castle (DLC): from Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection.
• Into Nirvana (DLC): from Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection.
• RESURRECTION (DLC): from Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection.
• Ethno Evening (DLC): from Tekken 6.
• YUKI (DLC): from Tekken 6.
• Only One Fight (DLC): from Tekken 6.
• Arisa (DLC): from Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion.
• Yodeling in Meadow Hill (DLC): from Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion.
• Abyss of Time (DLC): from Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
• Plucking Tulips (DLC): from Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Console version.
• New World Order (DLC): from Tekken Revolution.
• No Easy Way Out (DLC): from Tekken Revolution.
• Heat Haze Shadow (DLC): from Tekken 7 arcade version.
• DUOMO DI SIRIO 1st (DLC): from Tekken 7, Round 1 version.

Announcer

• Victory! Kazuya (DLC): Unlike other fighters, Kazuya does not have a victory theme. Rather, the announcer from Tekken 7 (Josh Keller) replaces the standard announcer and says "Kazuya Mishima wins!" only if the player wins a free-for-all or 1-on-1 game. Otherwise, no themes will be played nor the announcer will return in other game modes.

Other

The original version of "Dist Thins Out" from Tekken 6 was used during the Heihachi Mii costume reveal for both SSB4 and Ultimate.

Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Bros. series

The Tekken universe has media represented throughout the Super Smash Bros. series with a total of 13 games and media. The latest media represented in this universe is Tekken 7, released on March 18, 2015.

Tekken

• Playable characters:
  • Heihachi appears as a costume for the Mii Brawler in both Smash 4 and Ultimate.
  • Kazuya appears as a playable character.
  • Kazuya's devil form is an alternate outfit present in the PlayStation version.
  • 10 Hit Combo is a recurrent move used for many characters in this franchise.
  • Crouch Dash, Dragon Uppercut, Left Splits Kick, and Wind God Fist are moves that first appeared in this game.
  • Kazuya's blue and yellow costumes reference the Player 2 and gold costumes from this game respectively.
  • Kazuya's left victory pose references one of his victory stances from this game.
• Stage elements:
  • Heihachi appears as a background character in Mishima Dojo.
• Spirits:
  • Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law, Nina Williams, Yoshimitsu, and Heihachi Mishima debuted in this game. While King, Armor King, Jack, and Kuma are also present in this game, they are different characters than their current series' incarnations, which are portrayed in their spirit artworks.
• Music:
  • "Marine Stadium, Japan": The theme of the eponymous stage, sourced from the PlayStation version.
  • "Chicago, U.S.A.": The theme of the eponymous stage, sourced from the PlayStation version.
  • "Kyoto, Japan": The theme of the eponymous stage, sourced from the PlayStation version.

Tekken 2

• Playable characters:
  • Devil Kazuya appears as a separate playable character.
  • Devil Blaster is a move that first appeared in this game. Devil Wings also originates from this game as an inspiration for the move, Fly.
  • Kazuya's purple costume references his tuxedo costume from this game.
• Music:
  • "Heihachi Mishima, the King of the Iron Fist": Sourced from the arcade version of this game.
  • "Kazuya Mishima, Devil Kazuya (Remix)": A bombastic arrangement of the arcade version. Used for Kazuya's reveal trailer during E3 2021.
  • "Kazuya Mishima, Devil Kazuya (Original)": Sourced from the arcade version. Used for Kazuya's reveal trailer during E3 2021.
  • "Emotionless Passion": Kazuya Mishima's stage theme sourced from the PlayStation version, except not sharing theme with his Devil counterpart (which has a different theme called "Mirror Darkness"), unlike the arcade version above.

Tekken 3

• Playable characters:
  • Electric Wind God Fist and Spinning Demon to Left Hook are moves that first appeared in this game.
  • Kazuya's black costume references his son's Gi, Jin Kazama, first seen in this game.
• Spirits:
  • Ling Xiaoyu, Jin Kazama, and Panda debuted in this game, as well as the modern-day incarnations of King and Kuma. Devil Jin debuted in this game, but would not become playable until Tekken 5 onward.
• Music:
  • "Attract -Embu- / Character Select": The sourced track from the arcade version. Used during the showcase of Kazuya's moves during the E3 2021 Direct and Mr. Sakurai Presents "Kazuya".
  • "Hwoarang": Hwoarang’s stage theme, sourced from the arcade version.
  • "Jin Kazama": Jin Kazama’s stage theme, sourced from the arcade version.
  • "Heihachi Mishima": Heihachi Mishima’s stage theme, sourced from the PlayStation version.
• Other:
  • The term "Wavedash" originated from this game as a result of cancelling a crouch dash into another repeatedly.

Tekken Tag Tournament

• Playable characters:
  • Devil Fist and Heaven's Door are moves that first appeared in this game.
• Music:
  • "Opening Movie": The game's opening, sourced from the PlayStation 2 version.
  • "Jin Stage": Jin Kazama’s stage theme sourced from the console version, playing on both Jin-A and Jin-B stages respectively.

Tekken 4

• Playable characters:
  • Masanori Shinohara, Kazuya's Japanese voice actor, reprises his role in all regions.
• Music:
  • "Kitsch": The theme of theme Beach stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Bit Crusher": The theme of the Shinjuku stages, sourced from the game.

Tekken 5

• Playable characters:
  • Kazuya's appearance is primarily based on his appearance here.
  • Gates of Hell is a move that first appeared in this game.
  • Kazuya's down victory pose references one of his victory stances from this game.
• Stage elements:
  • Heihachi's appearance is primarily based on his appearance here.
• Spirits:
  • Asuka Kazama debuted in this game.
  • Devil Jin was originally an NPC in previous games prior to his playable debut in this game.
  • Heihachi, Kuma II, Asuka, and Paul's respective outfits are primarily based on their appearances here.
• Music:
  • "Red Hot Fist": The theme of the Burning Temple stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Moonlight Wilderness": The theme of the eponymous stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Poolside": The theme of the eponymous stage, sourced from the game.

Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection

• Playable characters:
  • Kazuya's red and white costumes reference the Player 1 and 2 costumes from this game respectively.
  • Kazuya's right victory pose references one of his victory stances from this game.
• Spirits:
  • The modern-day incarnation of Armor King debuted in this game.
  • Xiaoyu's outfit is primarily based on her appearance here.
• Music:
  • "Snow Castle": The theme of the Winter Palace stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Into Nirvana": The theme of the Heaven's Gate stage, sourced from the game.
  • "RESURRECTION": The opening theme, sourced from the game.

Tekken 6 / Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion

• Playable characters:
  • The first appearance of a universal Rage Mode when a character's health is low began in this game, which appears as both a game mechanic since Smash 4 and Kazuya's own Rage Mode.
• Music:
  • "Dist Thins Out": An arrangement from Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, originally played on the character select screen. The original version was also used for the Heihachi Mii Costume reveal in both Smash 4 and Ultimate.
  • "Ethno Evening": The theme of the Temple Grounds stage, sourced from the game.
  • "YUKI": The theme of the Manji Valley stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Only One Fight": The theme of the Noh Theater stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Karma": An arrangement from Bloodline Rebellion arcade update/console version, originally played in the Electric Fountain stage.
  • "Arisa": The theme of the Anger of the Earth stage, sourced from the Bloodline Rebellion arcade update/console version.
  • "Yodeling in Meadow Hill": The theme of the Hidden Retreat stage, sourced from the Bloodline Rebellion arcade update/console version.

Tekken: Blood Vengeance

• Stage elements:
  • Unsho Iishizuka, Heihachi Mishima's late Japanese voice actor, first voiced the character in this movie.
• Spirits:
  • Nina Williams' spirit artwork is sourced from this movie.

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition

• Stage elements:
  • As a background character at Mishima Dojo, Heihachi reuses Unsho Iishizuka's archived voice lines from this game up to Tekken 7. This is due to his passing one year after the console release of Tekken 7, thus making it impossible to record new lines.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

• Playable characters:
  • Heihachi's Mii costume is based off the Young Heihachi design from this game.
  • Heihachi's sprite in Pac-Man's Namco Roulette taunt is sourced from the game.
  • Devil Kazuya becomes part of normal Kazuya's moveset as his transformation form while retaining his human counterpart's outfit in this game onward.
• Spirits:
  • Yoshimitsu's spirit artwork is taken from this game.
• Music:
  • "Abyss of Time": The theme of the Wayang Kulit stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Plucking Tulips": The theme of the Tulip Festival stage, sourced from the console version.
  • "Landscape Under the Ghost-Kaminano": An arrangement of the credits theme from this game, which itself is a remix of the credits theme from Tekken 2.

Tekken Revolution

• Music:
  • "New World Order": The main menu theme. sourced from the game.
  • "No Easy Way Out": The theme of the Moai Excavation stage. sourced from the game.

Tekken 7 / Tekken 7: Fated Retribution

• Playable characters:
  • The first appearance of Rage Art and Rage Drive, Super/EX moves similar to those seen in SNK's Samurai Shodown.
  • Kazuya's business suit outfit is taken from this game.
  • Kazuya's ultimate devil form used in his Final Smash first appears in this game.
• Stage:
  • Mishima Dojo originates from this game.
• Spirits:
  • Jack-7 comes from this game; the Jack robots are recurring playable characters since the first Tekken game, but each game has its own Jack model (baring Jack-4, who was not in Tekken 4 and is an NPC unit model since Tekken 5).
  • All spirit artwork except Nina Williams and Yoshimitsu comes from this game.
  • King II, Armor King, and Panda's respective outfits are primarily based on their appearances here. For King II's case, it comes from Fated Retribution' arcade/console updates, which is a caped version of his new outfit from the original release.
• Music:
  • "Heat Haze Shadow": One of the final battle themes between Heihachi and Kazuya in the game's Story Mode, this version is taken from the original arcade intro of Tekken 7.
  • "Victory! Kazuya": Josh Keller reprises his role as the announcer if Kazuya wins a free-for-all game.
  • "Dojo (Japanese-Style Mix)": An arrangement of the theme of the original Mishima Dojo stage.
  • "DUOMO DI SIRIO 1st": The Round 1 theme of the eponymous stage, sourced from the game.
  • "Moonsiders 1st": An arrangement of the Round 1 theme of the Infinite Azure stage.
  • "Desperate Struggle": An arrangement of the track that plays during Round 1 of the match against Devil Kazuya in the final battle of the game's Story Mode.
  • "Aloneness": An instrumental arrangement of the Story Mode credits theme. Its arrangement also features "Solitude", the game's Season 1 main theme, and "The Lone Goodbye", a theme for the game's staff roll.

Trivia

• Tekken is the only third-party universe to debut as a minor universe and later become a major one.
• True to its original game traditions, the Tekken cast speaks in their native languages in all international versions of their Smash appearances.
• Tekken is the only universe to not have a true victory theme.
• Tekken is the only DLC universe to not introduce a support spirit skill.

External links

• Article on the Tekken Wiki.