Heihachi_Mishima

Heihachi Mishima

}} is a fictional and one of the main characters in the Tekken fighting game series. He is one of only four characters (the others being Paul Phoenix, Nina Williams and Yoshimitsu) to have appeared in every game in the series and he makes two appearances within the series as the final boss (in both Tekken and Tekken 4). He is also the only Tekken character to be featured in the Soul series aside from Yoshimitsu. (He is a guest character in Soulcalibur II on the PlayStation 2 console.) Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada has stated that Heihachi is his favorite character in the overall series.

Conception and history

Designs

In video games

Heihachi is the son of Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Kazuya Mishima, the adopted father of Lee Chaolan and the grandfather of Jin Kazama. He fights with the power of Mishima Style Fighting Karate and is the founder and the Commander of the Tekken Force Unit. He has hosted half of the King of the Iron Fist Tournaments with the second, fifth and sixth King of Iron Fist Tournaments being hosted by Kazuya, Jinpachi, and Jin respectively.

Tekken plot history

In an attempt to eliminate his son's "weakness", Heihachi tossed Kazuya down a deep ravine, claiming that if he were truly his son, he'd be able to survive the fall and climb back up. Kazuya survived, but only because he made a deal with the Devil. To further motivate Kazuya, Heihachi adopted Chinese orphan Lee and raised him as a rival to his true son. After Kazuya had traveled abroad and became an undefeated champion, Heihachi announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to test him. Kazuya won the tournament, tossed Heihachi off the same cliff and assumed control of the Zaibatsu. Heihachi survived the event, and returned in the second tournament to defeat both his sons, and tossed Kazuya's body into a volcano to kill him.

Later, he created a military called the Tekken Force, and fifteen years after the end of the second tournament, in Central Mexico ruins they discovered Ogre, a creature with bloodlust for strong fighters. Seeking to create the ultimate lifeform from the creature, Heihachi took in his grandson Jin Kazama, trained him, and four years later announced the third Iron Fist tournament as bait. Ogre arrived and was defeated by Jin, only for Heihachi to in turn betray and attempt to kill him. Jin survived, transformed into a demon, attacked Heihachi and flew away.

Afterwards, Heihachi attempted to combine his own DNA with that of Ogre, but discovered that he would need the Devil Gene as a catalyst, held by both his son and Jin. Unable to find Jin, Heihachi learned Kazuya had been resurrected by G Corporation, a rival company. To lure both to him, he held the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament with his very company's ownership as the grand prize. After the Tekken Force captured Jin upon arrival, Heihachi faced Kazuya in the finals and lost. He then led him to his Hon-Maru compound, where Jin was being held captive so they could fight. However Jin was able to defeat both, assumed his demon form and almost killed Heihachi. Stopped by a vision of his mother, Jin instead left, telling Heihachi he owed his life to her, flying through the compound's roof.

Immediately after Jin's departure, an army of Jack-4s built and sent by G Corporation invaded Hon-Maru. Heihachi fought together against them with Kazuya, but Kazuya betrayed and threw his father to the Jack-4s, using the diversion to escape. The Jack-4s piled onto Heihachi and one self-destructed, destroying Hon-Maru and seemingly killing Heihachi. However the blast had instead thrown him for several miles where he remained unconscious for the duration of the fifth tournament. Upon waking up, he made his way back to the Zaibatsu headquarters only for troops to block his path and to learn Jin had taken over the company. As a result he enters the sixth tournament in order to recover control of his company.

Other appearances

Heihachi makes a very brief appearance on the Tekken spin-off game, Death by Degrees. He appears on a monitor talking with Enrique Ortega, explaining that he has assigned the Tekken Force to help him. When Nina Williams arrives, he recognizes her as the great assassin, and signs off leaving Enrique to fight her. The player can choose on the last stage on Nina mode, whether they want to fight against Heihachi or Anna Williams (in case Anna mode has been completed).
Heihachi is one of the bonus characters available to play as or against in Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis for the PlayStation, alongside fellow Namco characters, including Richard Miller (from Time Crisis), Pac-Man, Reiko Nagase and fellow Tekkenites Eddy Gordo, and Yoshimitsu in his Tekken 3 incarnation.
He also makes an appearance as a playable character in the PS2 version of Soul Calibur II. This is currently the only game in which he speaks English.
In the manga series, GTO, the title character, Onizuka, arm-wrestles a man who looks strikingly like Heihachi Mishima as he appeared in Tekkens 1 & 2. When Onizuka defeats this look-alike, one of the onlookers says, "So much for the Mishima style!"
Heihachi also makes a guest appearance in the RPG Tales of the Abyss as one of Anise's custom dolls.
Heihachi also appears in Pac-Man Fever, alongside Tiger Jackson, Astaroth from Soul Calibur, Reiko from Ridge Racer, and Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.
Heihachi makes a cameo appearance in the popular Italian satirical comic Don Zauker, where he fights the musclebound and libidinous exorcist, just to be beaten and shown "who has the best God".
Heihachi appears in Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 as an unlockable character.
Heihachi also appears in Namco x Capcom as a playable character.
In Ridge Racer 6, Heihachi can be heard as one of the race commentators (as an unlockable feature). He does not appear physically in the game, however.

Heihachi Mishima will appear in the 2009 film, Tekken potrayed by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

Promotion and reception

In 2006, Namco released a Heihachi figurine as part of a Tekken 5 set based upon his promotional artwork for the game. While not posable, the PVC figure came with equipable clothing items modeled after those in the game.

IGN called Heihachi "...one grandpa you don’t want to come across in the retirement home", citing his ruthlessness in their profile of him. GamePro in their preview of Soul Calibur II's console ports called Heihachi's appearance in the series a landmark both as the second Tekken character to appear in the titles and as the first unarmed fighter in the series.