Tekken 1 – Tekken 8 plot: The twisted storyline of the Tekken franchise

Bandai Namco's renowned fighting game franchise, Tekken, isn't all just about busting the best martial arts move. Tekken is also about intense family drama. If you're not familiar with the Tekken lore, you'll be surprised to know that this three-decade old saga has been following the back-and-forth conflict in the Mishima family. Abandonment, betrayal, greed, and so much more spice. Follow us in breaking down the Tekken storyline below!

The Tekken storyline begins with the presence of a powerful fighter, Heihachi Mishima, who was also the CEO of Mishima Zaibatsu, a powerful, evil corporation. The conflict in the Mishima family sparked when he was training his 5-year-old son, Kazuya Mishima.

Heihachi, whose methods can be pretty extreme, threw Kazuya off of a cliff in a test of strength. Later in Tekken 7, it was revealed that Heihachi actually wanted to see if Kazuya held a devilish power, which he could possibly inherit from his mother.

Unbeknownst to Heihachi, Kazuya survived the cliff fall and he was filled with deep hatred and vowed revenge. Flash forward to years later, Heihachi desired to find his equal and announced a worldwide martial arts competition, the King of Iron Fist tournament. Kazuya, now grown up and strong, returned to fight his father to Heihachi's shock. At the end of Tekken 1, Kazuya bested Heihachi and ended things by throwing his father off of a cliff. How the tables have turned.

But of course, it takes a whole lot more to kill the mighty Heihachi. While Heihachi survived the cliff fall and retreated to recuperate, Kazuya took over the Mishima Zaibatsu. Kazuya was filled with intent to dominate the world and eliminate his enemies. To do so, he announced the King of Iron Fist 2.

During this tournament, Kazuya met a charming fighter, Jun Kazama. He was attracted to her mysterious self and Jun was equally attracted to his dark aura. The two fell in love and conceived a child - someone who would become a crucial part to the Tekken storyline.

Heihachi, now rejuvenated, joined the tournament and climbed to meet Kazuya in the finals. The old man managed to defeat Kazuya, and for the first time, we saw Kazuya transform into his Devil form. Devil Kazuya - a purplish figure with demonic wings and horns - battled against Heihachi one more time.

But even though he was strong, Jun had actually triggered a conflict within himself, making Kazuya struggle to control his Devil Gene. This gave Heihachi an opportunity to end Kazuya once again. After giving the finishing blow, Heihachi took Kazuya's unconscious body and threw him into the pits of an erupting volcano. This ended Kazuya once and for all. BUT things aren't that simple because this is indeed Tekken's storyline...

Tekken 3 took place an entire fifteen years after Tekken 2. For the first time, the Tekken storyline began to orbit around Jin Kazama, the son of Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama. Jin was now grown up, residing together with his mother on the island of Yakushima. On the other hand, Heihachi was once again the head of Mishima Zaibatsu following his victory against Kazuya. He had also created a military squad for the company's protection called the Tekken Force.

One day, an ancient creature called Ogre, also labeled as the god of fighting, began wreaking havoc in the world, specifically going after martial artists. Jun Kazama sensed that Ogre was coming after her. She told Jin that if anything were to happen to her, Jin needed to seek out his grandfather, Heihachi. Soon after, Ogre arrived and Jin was knocked unconscious. Upon waking up, Jun had disappearead, likely dead, and his home was destroyed. Jin's blood pumped with revenge - his Devil Gene awakened.

Later, Jin successfully met Heihachi who agreed to take him under his wings (obviously with no good intention). Four years after, Jin mastered the Mishima martial arts and Heihachi announced the King of Iron Fist 3, a tournament that served as bait for Ogre. This is because Heihachi wanted to use Ogre's blood to make him stronger. This bait would work out well as Ogre emerged to join the fight.

Ogre eventually lost to Paul Phoenix. Yes. It was an unexpected victory and Paul Phoenix walked out of the arena believing he was finally the victor of the Iron Fist tournament. However, Ogre then transformed into True Ogre, his stronger form, and Jin was reinstated to fight this creature.

Jin ended up taking out Ogre but the victory would quickly stumble across betrayal. Heihachi and the Tekken Force hit Jin with a barrage of shots as they no longer needed him. But Jin, who's Devil Gene has awakened, rose and smashed Heihachi through a wall. Heihachi looked up as Jin flew away with his Devil wings.

The aftermath of Tekken 3 saw Jin in exile, unlearning the Mishima techniques due to his resentment to his family. Heihachi, who got ahold of Ogre's body, discovered that he couldn't use Ogre's blood because he did not have the Devil Gene. Around the same time, Heihachi learned that a highly-advanced biotech company called G Corporation had retireved Kazuya's remains from the volcano. Mind you that this incident happened twenty-one years after Kazuya was thrown into the pits of a volcano.

Immediately, Heihachi dispatched his Tekken Force to find Kazuya's body. But his troops would be wiped out by a now-revived Kazuya himself. Heihachi wanted to lure out both his missing son and grandson and decided to host the next King of Iron Fist tournament. But contrary to the previous fund prize, the winner of this tournament would be handed control over the Mishima Zaibatsu.

During the tournament, Jin was set to fight against Kazuya. But before the epic battle managed to take place, Jin was ambushed by the Tekken Force and was imprisoned in Hon-Maru, a Mishima Dojo (martial arts training room).

Kazuya won by default and met Heihachi in the finals. The old man proved that he was still strong and defeated Kazuya. But before finishing him off, Heihachi asked if Kazuya wanted to see his son and brought him to Hon-Maru.

In Hon-Maru, the three generations met. Jin was chained and Heihachi planned to do the same to Kazuya. The grandfather had planned to harvest both their Devil Genes for himself. Meanwhile, Kazuya had his own plans. It was revealed that when Kazuya was thrown into the volcano, a portion of his Devil self went to Jin - and Kazuya wanted to take it back.

Heihachi was first knocked unconscious by Kazuya. Jin and his Devil Gene was then awakened and he took on Kazuya successfully. Jin proceed to also defeat Heihachi and flew away - again. An iconic ending to Tekken storylines..

Tekken 5 continued right after Jin fled the scene. Hon Maru was ambushed with a bunch of Jack-4 units sent by G Corporation. In a temporary alliance, both Heihachi and Kazuya fought back. Kazuya would eventually throw Heihachi into a group of self-imploding Jack-4s and depart. The explosion seemingly killed Heihachi and destroyed Hon Maru.

The destruction of Hon Maru caused someone to be unleashed from beneath the temple. That person is Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Heihachi and the creator of Mishima Zaibatsu. -- The Mishima drama just got a lot more twisted.

The Tekken storyline unfolded, and it appeared that Heihachi was the one who chained his father beneath Hon Maru after a coup to take over Mishima Zaibatsu. Despite facing death at one point, Jinpachi was awakened by a malicious energy. This evil force was taking over Jinpachi and he wanted to put a stop to it before it was able to dominate the world. Thus, Jinpachi announced the King of Iron Fist 5.

In this tournament, Jin officially made his Devil Jin debut. For the first time, the King of Iron Fist tournament saw Jin transform into his Devil self and took out long-time rival, Hwoarang. He then matched up against Jinpachi, the final boss and gave the old man a defeat. Jin was now the head of Mishima Zaibatsu, gaining him full control of the Tekken Force and all the organizations under it.

But wait a minute - what happened to Kazuya?

The next installment in the Tekken storyline revealed that while all that great grandfather drama was going on, Kazuya had settled some personal problems with G Corporation. He took down the company executives as revenge and ultimately took over the company.

Jin now sits on the throne of Mishima Zaibatsu and had flared up devastating war across the world. The Mishima Zaibatsu's influence was massive and Jin utilized this to create a global war. With Mishima Zaibatsu now labeled as the bad guys, its opposing entity, G Corporation, was hailed as the hero. Yes, Kazuya as the people's hero. Kazuya placed a bounty on Jin's head and as a response, Jin announced the next King of Iron Fist tournament.

While the world was heated with war, the leader of the Tekken Force, Lars Alexandersson, decided to rebel against Jin. He brought along with him a large portion of the Tekken Force and charged against Mishima Zaibatsu. Lars stumbled across a droid, Alisa Boskonovich, who would become his adventure buddy.

Lars would then learn that he is the illegitimate son of Heichaci, making him a direct relative to Kazuya, Jin, and even Heihachi's adopted son, Lee Chaolan. After confronting Jin, Lars had to battle Alisa, who turned out to be programmed as Jin's bodyguard.

Meanwhile, Jin travelled to an ancient temple in Egypt and there crossed paths with a demonic, powerful creature called Azazel. This creature was prophesized to take a physical form once there were enough miseries in the world. Only a person with a Devil Gene can defeat this creature and once successful, the Devil Gene will be eliminated. Thus it was revealed that Jin had purposely erupted endless war to hasten Azazel's formation with the intention to kill it and remove his Devil Gene.

Jin successfully defeated Azazel, but he ended up sacrificing himself as he jumped into the pits of the desert with Azazel's body. At the end of Tekken 6, it was shown that Jin survived, frail and weak, with his Devil Gene remaining intact. Azazel was also revealed to not be completely gone.

Tekken 7 storyline took place right after the incident with Azazel. Jin went to retreat and while he was away, Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation continued their heated rivalry. Mishima Zaibatsu no longer had a leader following Jin's absence and Nina Williams was in charge. However, her reign was cut short as Heihachi himself returned.

Let's flashback to when the horde of Jack-4s self-imploded and destroyed Hon Maru. Heihachi's body actually flew due to the explosive force and landed somewhere far. He took months to fully recover before stepping back into Mishima Zaibatsu which to his convenience, had no leader at that time.

Heihachi's return only meant one thing: he ought to find revenge against his son, Kazuya. To bring down Kazuya, who was the CEO of G Corporation, Heihachi believed he needed the public opinion to turn on them. And the only way to do it was to expose Kazuya's Devil form to the world. To do this, he announced the King of Iron Fist 7.

In the midst of it all, Heihachi was approached by an incredibly powerful fighter, Akuma, who wanted to destroy him. This fighter was sent by Heihachi's late wife, Kazumi, not only to take down Heihachi but also their son, Kazuya.

Here's the backstory: Kazumi was a part of the Hochijo clan which can foresee the future. She saw the world plummeting into destruction by the Mishimas and was sent by her family to kill Heihachi. Before confronting Heihachi herself, she called upon Akuma to do the deed if it fails. Kazumi's attempt to stop Heihachi was fruitless, even with her Devil Gene. Eventually Heihachi killed Kazumi in self-defense. This was finally the explanation to how Kazuya and Jin inherited the Devil Gene - as well as why Kazuya hated his father so much, believing he killed his mother.

Now, back to Akuma. In the Mishima dojo, the oldest Mishima and the brutal fighter exchanged punches. Akuma was the dominant one in this battle and after besting Heihachi, he fled to G Corporation to search for Kazuya. Heihachi survived but declared himself dead, simultaneously cancelling the King of Iron Fist 7. Heihachi's new plan was to wait for Akuma's battle against Kazuya and televise his Devil transformation.

Akuma arrived at G Corporation and battled with Kazuya outside. As Akuma was too strong, Kazuya ended up using his Devil Gene and transformed into the purple nightmare. This was perfect for Heihachi's plan to turn the public against G Corporation. Live footage of Devil Kazuya travelled worldwide and the public began to turn against G Corporation. Heihachi used a massive satellite to then fire a destructive laser to G Corporation's building. For revenge, Kazuya fired back his Devil laser to the satellite and it crumbled down to Earth - causing the public to then turn against Mishima Zaibatsu.

Comes the final scene - Heihachi finally confronts Kazuya at a volcano to end it once and for all. Both of them had a lengthy, epic fight and Kazuya was almost defeated - until he remembered his past and was fired up by vengeace. He gave Heihachi one final punch before Heihachi finally dropped down and is officially deceased.. the end of an era. Kazuya sealed the rivalry by throwing his father into the volcano, a must-do for the Tekken storyline.

Akuma then arrived to once again battle Kazuya - the aftermath of this fight wasn't told and remained a mystery. However, it could be that Kazuya eventually killed off Akuma or that Akuma survived and was in retreat. Meanwhile, Jin finally awakened and vowed to end this Mishima conflict.

Tekken 8 took place six months after Tekken 7. Jin and the rest of his circle confronted Kazuya, however it would come to a fail as Jin lost control over his Devil Gene. This was due to Kazuya showing Jin the deaths of millions and Jin was then haunted by images of Ogre murdering his mother.

Kazuya, now proudly showing his Devil form, announced the King of Iron Fist 8. This tournament would pit nations against each other, with the winner being rewarded and the loser facing destruction. Jin joined the qualifiers for the tournament despite being unable to control his Devil powers. During the qualifiers, he met a fighter named Reina who desperately wanted to join Jin in the war against his father. But Reina was actually an illegitimate daughter of Heihachi, who only wanted to learn to activate the Devil Gene for herself.

Around the same time, Zafina, the keeper of Azazel's temple, talked about helping Jin. Remember when Azazel was defeated but not dead? The spirit of Azazel was actually sealed on Zafina's arm. She warned the others that Kazuya must be stopped and the only way to do that was to help Jin seek his powers. Zafina and her friends then infiltrated the tournament.

During the King of Iron Fist tournament, Jin met against an American fighter called Leroy Smith. After Jin defeated Leroy, he told Jin to let go of his fears and follow his heart. Jin dwelled on his words, slowly finding the key to activate his Devil powers.

It was then revealed that the tournament was a set up. Kazuya attacked Zafina and unleashed Azazel from her arm. Azazel was resurrected and Kazuya absorbed its body to become a True Devil. Immediately, Jin and his allies retreated. Kazuya was also delayed as he struggled to control Azazel's powers.

To retrieve back his powers, Jin went back to the place where it all started. The Yakushima island. At the same time, G Corporation followed Jin, followed by many other combatants from the King of Iron Fist tournament. Jin went unconscious as he tried to search for his feelings, exploring his subconsciousness. During this time, his allies were trying to buy time as battles erupt everywhere around Jin.

In his deep dormant state, Jin encountered his Devil self, which mocked him for his previous sins. Jin fought against himself and eventually accepted his Devil Gene, awakening the lost power. A battle between Kazuya and Jin, father and son, finally broke out.

When the fight got tougher, Jin saw visions of his mother kindly encouraging him and Jin transformed into his Angel form. Their epic battle elevated to space and both their strong energies ended up blasting each other, knocking out and eliminating both their Devil Genes. Both of them sparred as human fighters and ultimately, Jin bested Kazuya.

Jin was finally free from the Devil Gene and he fled away with his allies. Kazuya, on the other hand, was approached by a figure of Jun Kazama.

Interestingly, the ending showcased a possible new villain. Reina, the illegitimate daughter of Heihachi, vowed to avenge her father. She then transformed into her Devil form and it is revealed that she now possesed the Devil Gene.

And THAT summarizes the entire Tekken storyline.. well at least from the Mishima family perspective. There are tons of lore surrounding other fighters and combatants and most of them are directly connected to the Mishima family. Hopefully this piece helped you understand the twisted Tekken storyline and the bizarre relationships in the Mishima family.

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