This girl opens a new character season in the fighting game TEKKEN 8. Anna was substantially remade since her previous appearance in the series.
So far, DLC characters in TEKKEN 8 are a mix of familiar faces and one guest fighter. Season 2 starts with another legacy character — Anna Williams.
She was introduced to the series in TEKKEN 4, and fans sure love her fiery personality. Now, Anna has returned! Her current version is significantly different, starting from her weapon and up to her stances.
All the essential basics about Anna in T8 are here: her moveset, basic combos, release details, and backstory highlights.
TEKKEN 8 Anna Williams release date
Anna joins TEKKEN 8 on March 31 via early access and April 3 as the full official release.
- The release date of TEKKEN 8 Anna Williams depends on your time zone. For Japan and Europe, early access begins April 1, and her full release is on April 4.
The details of Anna's release date were first shared during the Season 2 TEKKEN Talk stream with Katsuhiro Harada.
How to unlock Anna in TEKKEN 8?
To play T8 Anna, you need to purchase the DLC character.
- Anna Williams is part of the TEKKEN 8 Season 2 Character Pass. It costs $29.99. The bundle with two new stages costs $39.99. After this purchase, you get 72-hour early access to all DLC characters of Season 2.
- You can buy Anna for TEKKEN 8 individually for $7.99.
Scarlet Lightning: Who is Anna Williams in TEKKEN 8?
The story of TEKKEN Anna is dramatic enough to have its own anime series.
She was a professional assassin, known as Scarlet Lightning for her exceptional beauty and deadly fighting skills. Then, Anna started working for G Corporation as an operations strategist, a subordinate of Kazuya Mishima. Back then, she fell in love with a man, who was an executive at G Corp. They decided to marry, but Anna’s sister, Nina Williams, attacked during the ceremony and killed the guy.
The tragedy came with losing the job for Anna — hatred toward Nina reached new heights. Sure, the girl discovered a bit later how terrible a person that fiancé was with his connections to a criminal syndicate and probably just using Anna. Nina still must pay for this. It was her who took the position at G Corp. Revenge!
Anna requested the creation of a new powerful weapon. Dr. Nakamura made Lovely Tom specifically for her. To use the full potential of this transformer gun, Anna Williams even adjusted her fighting moves — and she is perfectly fresh in TEKKEN 8.
TEKKEN 8 Anna Guide: How to play Anna Williams
This character has quick movement and a nice variety of mixup tools. In TEKKEN 8, Anna can deal high damage — even on block, with her new Fragile debuff. Her offense is of the rushdown style, which is generally in tune with the best way to play TEKKEN 8.
However, a decent level of skill is needed to utilize the pressure and mixup game with Anna. She can be punished severely, and her own punishing tools are somewhat lacking.
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Anna’s stances
In TEKKEN 8, Anna has classic and new stances. She transitions into them after some moves, and they give players access to different follow-ups.
- Chaos Judgement: Anna raises her leg, ready to attack. You cannot block in this stance. The character takes Chaos Judgement after 2, 3, and other moves.
- Hammer Chance: Anna can use her weapon as a hammer. An example is d/b+4.
- Bazooka stance: To shoot the bazooka. H.u/f+3, 1 and H.u/f+3, 2 are examples of such a transition.
Lovely Tom
Anna‘s new weapon can be used as a hammer to smash opponents or as a bazooka to shoot from a mid distance.
- fF+3, 2 — It’s a Heat Engager, mainly safe on block (-7). The attack has two hits, and the second one is a hammer move with Lovely Tom.
- d/b+4 — Anna applies her Hammer Chance stance to smash opponents with Lovely Tom. It’s dangerous on block, though.
- d/f+1, 2, F — The starting move, d/f+1, is quick enough to be a general pressure tool. Add 2 and hold forward for a follow-up and transition to the Hammer Chance. It’s a nice way to enhance your damage with T8 Anna.
- H.u/f+3, 1 — It’s an essential move for Anna, as it activates the Fragile debuff on the opponent. All the following moves deal a big chip damage from all Anna’s moves. The debuff is active till the victim hits Anna. The move is +4 on block. The Fragile debuff can be applied even on block.
Anna’s low attacks
Hitting low is still an effective technique in TEKKEN 8, and Anna has some good buttons for this.
- d/f+4 — The move is quick, 16 starting frames.
- SS+2 — The move has 20 startup frames, and it’s -12 on block.
A high move among the best buttons of T8 Anna
If your opponent likes to crouch and hopes to avoid your low hits, use Anna’s high moves.
- fF+2 — The range is big, and side-stepping doesn’t work. 17 frames of startup, +4 on block. It’s a knockdown on hit, and you can use your low attacks as a follow-up.
Combos for Anna in TEKKEN 8
Some time is needed to figure out the best combos for TEKKEN 8 Anna. Still, some are already known in the community.
- 1, 2, 1, 2 — It’s a very simple sequence that can be used as a block string. It deals good chip damage in the Heat state and with the Fragile debuff. The opponent is pushed away, so the ending is safe for Anna.
- d/f+2 — This is a pretty standard launcher for Anna’s combos.
- d/f+2, u/f+2, Hammer Chance 2, 1, u/f+1, Hammer Chance 2, 2, 2
- 2, 2, 2, Hammer Chance 2, 1, u/f+1, Hammer Chance 2, 2, 2
- u/f+3, 2, 2, Hammer Chance 2, 1, u/f+3, Hammer Chance 2, 2, 2
The TEKKEN Talk stream right before the release of Anna highlights a lot from Anna gameplay, including her combo potential. This portion starts at around minute 49.
After the release of Anna, three more DLC characters join the game in Season 2: two returning and one new. Can we witness the showcase of Anna Williames at Evo Japan 2025? This event kicks off TWT 2025, the new competitive season.
For all TEKKEN 8 news and updates, stick around on esports.gg!
