Neglected Tekken Characters

If there’s one thing you can expect from Tekken, it’s the massive amount of different characters. Whether at launch or after several seasons of DLCs, Tekken rosters tend to balloon out and either surpass or come close to their predecessors.

Because of this, it’s not unreasonable to assume that almost any character you like might eventually make their way into the game. However, throughout Tekken’s history, there have been some characters that got less time in the spotlight than others.

Today, we want to revisit Tekken’s past once again and highlight some of its more neglected characters.

Jun Kazama

As Jin’s mother, Jun played a vital role in the Tekken storyline. She was the one to try and save Kazuya from the Devil Gene’s influence, and it was her parenting that allowed Jin to resist it as much as possible.

Despite being such an important character and constantly getting mentioned in the story modes, we almost never got to play her. Outside of spin-offs like Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Revolution, she was only playable in one mainline title, Tekken 2.

Sure, Asuka inherited many of her moves, but people often underestimate just how unique Jun was when her fighting style was expanded in Tekken Tag 2. Both her playstyle and her story deserve to go on beyond what we got so far, especially with her fate remaining unknown.

The Ogres

Similarly to Jun, Ancient and True Ogre are “one game wonders”. Outside of spin-offs, they only appeared in Tekken 3, although True Ogre would also show up as a boss in Devil Within. Ogre’s ties to the story are somewhat loose, he only seems to have a vague connection with the Devil Gene.

However, when it comes to gameplay and presentation, both Ancient and True Ogre have interesting things going on. For one, they have amazing designs and truly feel like boss characters. We’ve got quite a few large and intimidating fighters after Tekken 3, but few can come close to Ancient Ogre’s dignified and imposing stature or True Ogre’s truly monstrous form.

As a being that absorbs knowledge from fighting the other martial artists, Ancient Ogre is a cool mix of different attacks and styles that fit together to form the ultimate warrior. That in itself is rather special, but it gets even more distinct in his True Ogre form. Suddenly this refined fighter becomes a roaring beast that can fly, breathe fire, and takes full use of the extended reach with his snake arm.

Bruce Irvin

Bruce has a rough history when it comes to being a playable character. He was introduced in Tekken 2 with a relatively extensive backstory, outlining him as a tough fighter with a difficult upbringing who eventually got into Pulp Fiction-style mishap after refusing to participate in match-fixing.

He was then immediately replaced with Bryan in Tekken 3 and would not appear in the mainline games until Tekken 5. His return was short-lived, however. Even though Bruce made it to the subsequent Tekken 6 and Tag 2, he was replaced not once but twice in Tekken 7.

First, he was replaced by Josie, who took his updated moveset from Tekken Tag 2, and then he was once again replaced by Fahkumram, the ultimate Muay Thai representative.

Even though Bruce didn’t miss out on as many games as some other characters on the list, it’s bizarre that instead of him getting added to the roster, we now have three different iterations of his fighting style.

Christie Monteiro

Out of all the characters on the list, Christie probably had it the best. After getting added to Tekken 4, she was present in every Tekken game that came after it, with the exception of Tekken 7.

As such, she’s mostly neglected in a way that, despite being a character of her own, Christie never had any significant changes from Eddy. Mostly serving as little more than a palette swap when it comes to gameplay. Not only that, but her entire storyline throughout the mainline titles, at best, feels like a set-up for something more.

Jinpachi Mishima

Jinpachi is another great example of a cool character who only appeared in one mainline game. This mountain of a man might seem intimidating at first, but in reality, he’s by far the most honorable and kind Mishima. The man rejected conflict and aggression, focusing instead on refining his martial art.

Even after dying at the hands of his son and getting possessed by an evil spirit, Jinpachi retained some of his humanity, and only wanted to be struck down before he could do anything bad.

Despite being yet another Mishima, he offered a significantly different fighting style as well. For one, he utilized his new demonic powers to teleport and even levitate. Befitting a man of his build, Jinpachi’s attacks were also extremely damaging, even if most of them were on the slower side.

While his story reached a definitive conclusion, there’s still a lot that could be said about Jinpachi’s past life, and it would be great to see his fighting style represented once again.

Raven

If you started Tekken with 7, you must be familiar with Master Raven, the flashy ninja with a futuristic appearance. She’s actually the second Raven in the series, and as the name suggests, she’s the master of Raven who was introduced in Tekken 5.

With a design inspired by Blade, it’s safe to say that Raven looks amazing and only gets better when combined with a completely unique moveset that sets him apart from any other Tekken character.

Even though his functions were replaced, Raven could still use another appearance. Perhaps with a new iteration on his fighting style and a new role in the plot, especially now that he could work alongside Master Raven.

Wang Jinrei

Wang Jinrei is one of the more forgotten Tekken characters, despite showing up in both Tag games and four mainline titles. Part of it is down to Jinrei never being awfully popular and his first two games being Tekken 1 and 2. It doesn’t help that despite having a role in the general storyline, he is rarely treated as anything more than a background character.

His sheer existence, however, is a testament to the respect that Tekken developers have for martial arts. From Jinrei’s archetype as the wise old master to his actual style representing a rather obscure Chinese martial art known as Xin Yi Liu He Quan.

With Leroy Smith borrowing many of his moves, it might seem like Jinrei will forever remain in the past, but you should never count him out. After all, this isn’t the first time that he skipped a few games.

Mokujin

One of the weirdest characters in Tekken’s cast. A wooden dummy that only seems to come alive in response to the awakening of great evil. Despite a somewhat ominous backstory, he’s actually one of the most comedic characters in Tekken, alongside Kuma and Panda.

Even though he’s probably one of the more well-known characters on this list, he’s relatively neglected. It is somewhat understandable, however, as Mokujin’s playstyle revolves around a crazy gimmick of fully copying the moveset of different fighters every single round. 

He’s not so much a character that you’d main, but rather a fun way to show your mastery or challenge yourself. Because of this, Mokujin added a lot to the game without actually having a single unique move.

Baek Doo San

The original Taekwondo master. Baek Doo San is one of the earliest TKD representatives in fighting games and served as Hwoarang’s teacher. After his debut in Tekken 2, Baek was swiftly replaced by his apprentice and would only return for Tag games, as well as Tekken 5 and 6.

Despite having a replacement, Baek’s movelist remains almost entirely unique and underlines his role as a specialist with decades of experience. While Hwoarang puts a focus on power, Baek is known for the high speed of his strikes and having lots of different strings that he executes with ease.

As such, he still has a lot to contribute to the roster, and if he ever makes it back, it would be great to see more of his interactions with his rebellious pupil.

Angel

Bizarre and enigmatic character even by Tekken standards. Angel appeared in Tekken 2 as nothing more than the Devil’s palette swap, and we still don’t know much about who she is or what her goals are.

In Tekken Tag 2, Angel got a more interesting moveset that combines elements from both Devil Jin and Devil Kazuya. However, she was such a weak character overall that you’d almost never see people playing her.

It’s hard to say whether or not Angel has a place in another mainline Tekken game, but she’s by far one of the most forgotten characters, staying in the shadows even within the games where she was present.

Alex & Roger

Outside of Kuma and Panda, Tekken used to have another goofy animalistic duo with Roger the kangaroo and Alex the dinosaur. 

While the bears picked up some techniques from Mishima-style karate, Alex and Roger are much closer to King and Armor King, basing their fighting style around wild strikes and wrestling throws. As you’d expect from animals with such unorthodox postures, they fought in a way that took advantage of their strong tails and sharp claws.

Alex and Roger are a rare example of characters that have very unique movesets and yet didn’t make it to most of the mainline titles. With no Tag 3 in sight, who knows when these two will get another chance to shine.