The lengthy rivalry between Heihachi Mishima and his family runs through the Tekken games.
Let’s take a look at this ever-expanding dynasty.
Mortal Kombat Xand its comic tie-in had a running theme about family and living up to the previous generations.
Not just in the young newcomer characters, but with a majority of the cast.
For such a dark series, it was surprising to see such an emphasis on the bonds of kinship.
Tekken, meanwhile, spits in the face of that.
Behind all the wacky character designs, the entireTekkenseries is about the Mishima family destroying itself.
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Tekken 7hyped itself up as being the end of the Mishima saga and…didnt QUITE deliver.
In fact, the story ends with the promise of more Mishima-on-Mishima violence.
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Heres a look of whos who in this violent family tree.
Heihachi was able to oust Jinpachi from the Zaibatsu and take over for himself.
Feeling that he had no choice, Jinpachi challenged his son to battle and lost.
Heihachi chained his father up underneath a temple and left him there to die.
It took a while, but despite his strength and willpower, Jinpachi succumbed to starvation and perished.
Some time afterwards, a vengeful and evil spirit took over his body and resurrected him.
In that battle, Heihachi was perceived as killed and now a demonic Jinpachi was on the loose.
The winner would get ownership of the Zaibatsu itself.
Unlike most final boss villains in these kinds of situations, Jinpachis intentions were anything but devious.
The resurrected, old man knew that he was losing control to the dark spirit by the hour.
It was only a matter of time before hed lose himself completely and destroy the planet.
In the end, Jinpachi got his wish.
His great-grandson, Jin Kazama, won the tournament and defeated him.
With the dark spirit gone, Jinpachis body faded to dust.
KAZUMI MISHIMA
Very little had been known about Kazuyas mother over the years.
ThroughTekken 7, its confirmed that its the latter.
Kazumi Hachijou was a lifelong friend and training partner to Heihachi.
The two grew up together and fell in love.
They were married and Kazumi gave birth to Kazuya.
Yup, things looked great.
Kazumi knew that Heihachi and later Kazuya would be threats to humanity and prepared to kill them both.
Transforming into her Devil form, Kazumi attacked her husband and announced her intentions.
Distraught, Heihachi defended himself and defeated Kazumi.
Although she broke his heart, he broke her neck.
Kazumi sensed a dark future due to Heihachis actions and attacked him.
Would Heihachi have brought doom upon the world regardless or did Kazumis betrayal cause a self-fulfilling prophecy?
This Devil was not the woman he married.
Upon committing the act, Heihachis world darkened.
Heihachi was disturbed at the possibility that Kazuya could have inherited the Devil Gene.
Heihachi threw Kazuya off the cliff as a sadistic test.
If Kazuya survived, he had the Devil Gene.
Years later, Heihachi would note that he should have just killed him on the spot.
Heihachi held a massive martial arts tournament called the King of Iron Fist.
In the finals, Kazuya defeated him and got his revenge.
Kazuya threw Heihachi off a cliff, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
Heihachi survived due to his innate toughness and returned to even up the score.
He threw his sons beaten body into a volcano.
As a couple decades passed, Heihachis age became more and more of a looming threat.
While he was just as keen and powerful as ever, he knew that he couldnt escape his mortality.
Heihachi trained Jin, and for a time there appeared to be a bond.
To lure Ogre out into the open, Heihachi hosted a third King of Iron Fist.
Being that Jin was Kazuyas son, Heihachi secretly became afraid of what Jin could physically become.
After Jin killed Ogre, Heihachi betrayed him by having Jin riddled with bullets.
Wanting to steal Kazuya and Jins powers for himself, Heihachi put together yet another tournament.
This time, the winner would be promised ownership of the Zaibatsu.
Surely, his son and grandson wouldnt be able to resist.
The three ended up battling in a temple, with Jin coming out the winner.
He chose to spare Heihachi and flew away.
Moments after, Heihachi and Kazuya were ambushed by an army of Jack robots.
The two put their differences aside for a moment or two, but it was short-lived.
Kazuya abandoned Heihachi and let the Jacks swarm him.
The robots self-destructed and Heihachi was believed to be dead.
Yet Heihachi shockingly survived.
His body was blasted into the distance and his pulse remained.
By the time he regained consciousness, he found out that Jin had taken over his corporation.
Akuma walked away, not realizing that Heihachi survived.
Heihachi then decided that he was done playing his games.
It was time to end this rivalry for good.
Heihachi and Kazuya fought it out on a volcanic island.
KAZUYA MISHIMA
As a little boy, Kazuya was thrown off a cliff by his father.
His Devil Gene had protected him from death.
Kazuya trained for years, only finding a challenge and rival in fellow martial artist Paul Phoenix.
While the details are unknown, the two conceived a child during the events of the tournament.
Regardless, Kazuya was quickly taken off the board when Heihachi returned and defeated him in the finals.
Victorious, Heihachi made sure Kazuya wouldnt bother him again by dropping the body into a volcano.
Kazuya remained hidden for years, but a raid on the labs by the Mishima Zaibatsu revealed his survival.
Heihachi held the fourth King of Iron Fist tournament in hopes of drawing out Kazuya and his son Jin.
Heihachi successfully captured Jin and then faced Kazuya in the finals.
Kazuya won and was brought to the temple where Jin was being held.
Jin did so and overpowered Kazuya and Heihachi before flying off.
Immediately after, the G Corporation sent a series of Jack robots to assassinate Kazuya and Heihachi.
The G Corporation was the only thing in his way, and the public saw Kazuya as a hero.
Instead, Kazuya was defeated by his half-brother Lars Alexanderrson.
Jin went missing and Heihachi returned to take over the Mishima Zaibatsu.
The war continued with G Corporation appearing to have to upper hand.
Akuma confronted Kazuya and the two fought it out on the rooftop of G Corporations headquarters.
Kazuya survived, but his PR took a huge hit.
The world knew about his true nature.
He then met with his father for the final battle, where he ultimately bested and killed Heihachi.
After dropping Heihachi into a lake of lava, Kazuya sensed Akuma nearby.
Kazuya transformed into his Devil form and the two fought once more.
JUN KAZAMA
Jun Kazama is a psychic who worked for a wildlife protection organization called the WWWC.
During the event, the two gave the punching a rest, and instead, Kazuya impregnated Jun.
Jun gave birth to Jin and raised him.
Ogre, the battle-hungry god, sought her out.
Jun told Jin to go seek out his grandfather Heihachi, and she took on the god in battle.
Jun was defeated, although her remains were never recovered.
In other words, shes probably alive somehow, even though shes too boring to ever bring back.
Jun has lived on in two ways.
The second is through the non-canonTekken Tag Tournamentgames.
Not only is she playable in both, but both games feature a boss character named Unknown.
Unknown has yet to make an appearance in the main series.
Lee was filled with hatred, but got over it.
After all, the best revenge is living well, and hed definitely outlive that old geezer.
Over the years, Lee started his own robotics company, where he created a fighting android called Combot.
Lee created a new persona as Violet and entered, revealing his true identity later on.
Sadly, he was defeated by his adopted brother Kazuya.
Lee entered the fifth tournament because he figured Kazuya was the new leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Lee fixed Alisa, although she initially tried to kill him.
They reconnected with Lars and found the weakened, unconscious body of Jin Kazama.
Swedish soldier Lars was the leader and opposed both the Mishima Zaibatsu and the G Corporation.
During a mission, Lars was the only survivor and was struck with amnesia.
As that was happening, the android girl Alisa Bosconovitch was activated.
Heihachi was taken aback, but admitted he had his suspicions that he had another kid out there.
- Heihachi briefly suggested working together, but Lars instead attempted to kill him.
Heihachi caught a bullet with his teeth (!)
and Lars decided to table their spat.
Soon he discovered that Alisa was really working as surveillance for Jin and was forced to attack him.
In the climax, Jin and Azazel appeared to kill each other and Alisa was badly damaged.
Lars discovered his nephew Jin in the Middle East and protected him from Zaibatsu forces.
JIN KAZAMA
As mentioned, Jin is the offspring of Kazuya and Jun.
He was brought up by his mother, but that life came crashing down when Ogre appeared.
Heihachi set up a King of Iron Fist tournament knowing that Ogre would have to show up.
Jin was able to avenge his mother by destroying Ogre once and for all.
Suddenly, he was gunned down by Zaibatsu soldiers.
Heihachi appeared and fired a gunshot straight to Jins head.
By transforming into his Devil form, Jin was able to shrug it off and manhandle his traitorous grandfather.
Jin entered Heihachis next tournament and made it far, only to be overpowered and captured by Heihachis forces.
Kazuya ended up winning and afterwards, he and Heihachi went to where Jin was being held.
Jin was released from his chains and defeated both his father and grandfather.
He began another transformation into Devil Jin, but he received a vision of his mother and calmed down.
He spared Heihachi and flew off into the night.
Afterwards, he entered Jinpachis tournament and killed his great-grandfather.
As the winner, Jin gained ownership of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Rather than play the hero, Jin followed suit with his bloodline and embraced megalomania.
Jin knew that he would soon lose control to the Devil within him.
Likely inspired by Jinpachi, Jin wants someone to kill him before its too late.
Wandering around like a wounded animal, he came across Hwoarang yet again.
The two fought it out, but Hwoarang saw some enemy soldiers coming for Jin and helped him escape.
Jin weakly wandered from village to village and was almost taken in until Lars appeared and rescued him.
While Heihachi made an effort to capture Jin, Lars kept him safe.
Jin spent almost the entirety ofTekken 7recovering from his battle with Azazel.
Hes ready to do the right thing.
She didnt catch up with him, but did cross paths with Jin in his Devil form.
Shes since been sidetracked by dealing with Lilis unhealthy obsession with her.
It makes sense that this would be the finale to the Mishima turmoil.
If there is aTekken 8, maybe they can get around to centering it around Paul Phoenix.
That badass doofus is worth a story or two.
