During the EVO Tekken 8 Showcase event that took place on November 12, 2023, Bandai Namco announced the final character for the Tekken 8 roster. While this wasn’t the Hehichi Mishima reveal that many had hoped for, this character was Reina Mishima, another child of Heihachi Mishima and was one of the leaked characters from earlier this year. For those keeping count, this is Heihachi Mishima’s fourth child and his third biological child (Yes, Lars counts).
She’s a new character in the Tekken series and goes by the nickname of “Purple Lighting,” and was introduced alongside her stage, called “Secluded Training Ground.” During her trailer, she happened to come across both Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima, who were both puzzled as to who she was. Needless to say, this has laid the ground for a very interesting story for Tekken 8, seeing how she will likely want everything that belonged to Heihachi Mishima, which now belongs to Jin.
Her design and fighting style are interesting, to say the least. She reminds me of a Mishima version of Asuka Kazama, while her fighting style resembles the Mishima style and the Taido martial arts. Her purple and black design signifies “Duality,” but I’m not exactly sure what that means. She also has a fierce attitude that she took from her father. She’s also damned evil, and which is part of her entire being.
More importantly, she looks to have some “Devilish” power, maybe not unlike Kazuya and Jin, based on her rage art.
With the addition of Reina, this completes the Tekken 8 full roster, bringing it to 32 characters. There are more base characters than in the base rosters for Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1.
Here are all the Tekken 8 firmed characters.
- Alisa Bosconovich (returning)
- Asuka Kazama (returning)
- Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo (new)
- Bryan Fury (returning)
- Claudio Serafino (returning)
- Dragunov (returning)
- Devil Jin (returning)
- Feng (returning)
- Lili (returning)
- Hwoarang (returning)
- Jack-8 (new)
- Jin Kazama (returning)
- Jun Kazama (returning)
- Kazuya Mishima / Devil Kazuya(returning)
- King (returning)
- Kuma Mishima (returning)
- Lars Alexandersson (returning)
- Lee Chaolan (returning)
- Leroy Smith (returning)
- Leo (returning)
- Ling Xiaoyu (returning)
- Marshall Law (returning)
- Nina Williams (returning)
- Panda (returning)
- Paul Phoenix (returning)
- Raven (returning)
- Reina Mishima (new)
- Shaheen (returning)
- Steve Fox (returning)
- Victor Chevalier (new)
- Yoshimitsu (returning)
- Zafina (returning)
Tekken 8 has a release date of January 26, 2024, and will be available on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.