Where is Anna Williams in Tekken 8? Director Harada’s cheeky reply

Anna Williams has appeared in every single Tekken title to date, but if you've just purchased and booted up Tekken 8 you'll be quick to notice she is missing from the starting roster.

Anna Williams offered a high risk high reward playstyle in Tekken 6 and 7, which along with her appearance, led to a rise in her popularity. While she was simply "Nina's sister" in early Tekken entries, adding Anna to Tekken 8 would bring something to the table Bandai Namco knows fans are a fan of.

Anna is not currently playable in Tekken 8, and Bandai Namco have not confirmed she will be in the future. However, Anna was also not part of the launch roster of Tekken 7, and did not arrive until DLC4 in 2018, three years after the game's release. Given Anna's popularity, it's reasonable to expect her to arrive at some point.

Bandai Namco have confirmed there will be four DLC characters in 2024, with three of them now already released; Eddy, Lidia and Heihachi. This leaves the 4th and final slot to be revealed. While Anna is a popular request, so to is Lucky Chloe, Eliza and Josie.

Tekken 8 Game Director Katsuhiro Harada has actually made a direct response to a request for Anna in June 2024, but it was perhaps not the response Anna fans were hoping for. After a Twitter user called Delta Kara offered to buy 5 copies of Tekken 8 in exchange for Bandai Namco adding Anna, Harada cheekily QRTed and said to make it 50 copies. Delta Kara later replied "I would give Anna my whole family inheritance", you can't buy that kind of character loyalty.

Harada's cheeky reply set of a whole chain of over 300 replies offering various copy amounts in exchange the characters they wanted. However, it didn't give any more hope to an Anna Williams return in the near future.

Anna has appeared in every Tekken game, including the Tekken Tag tournament spin-offs, Tekken 3D and even the turn-based Tekken Card Challenge.

Ahead of Tekken 7, Anna decided to retire and fell in love with an elite soldier from the G corporation. However, on the day of her wedding she found her fiancé dead and her sister Nina fleeing the scene.

Enraged by what had happened to her, Anna returned to the King of Iron Fist Tournament for Tekken 7. Anna's ending in Tekken 7 sees her exit a limo and walk up the red carpet. As she poses for the paparazzi, she also simultaneously foils two assassination attempts on herself, one of which was by her sister Nina.

Does sibling rivalry ever truly die? We hope not. We definitely need it in Tekken 8.

We'll update this article when fresh news drops about Anna.