Musings & Thoughts

Tekken 8 - Return of Heihachi Mishima (24/7/24 - after trailer reveal)

I mean......did anyone actually think he was dead? People really believed Harada? Lol. Not for one second did I. So, in relation to Lee, what could his return mean?

Well, Lee didn't even really believe him to be dead in T8 anyway, at least in his wording. He was pretty surprised in Tekken 5 (see here for analysis on that), and I guess another time wouldn't through him off too much.

As mentioned in theories, the devs have kinda sidelined Lee in terms of his presence with Heihachi & Kazuya despite being directly related having grown up alongside both. Interestingly, they have kept him as the an integral part of the family without taking into account his adoption, which is hilarious. They obviously have set him up with Lars and Jin because of this (arguably), but he's not mentioned or present in a lot of the family ties EXCEPT in Reina's ending for Tekken 8. About Reina...

I've started a fanfic with these two meeting, but their actual ties will probably be loose in game because they KEEP trying to minimise Lee's presence in his family, I swear to god can they stop! If you forgot, Lee was never disowned; read more about that here if you don't know.

Reina's ending in Tekken 8 shows us the devs still care somewhat - Lee being there is due to his ties to the Mishima family, and it's not a mistake that it's him and Lars holding back Kazuya for Reina. Fans have speculated this is since Reina loves Heihachi, she wants to insert herself and bond with the family members (Jin is there too). She's idealising the family, having her has head honcho and her brothers at her side, but she's very much the one in control. She probably sees Kazuya as her biggest threat considering he's the one answering to her lmao. She's still all about power, which is something Heihachi values the most and what he hammered into Lee & Kazuya. Unsurprising!

How would they actually interact? Since Reina's ending isn't canon, we can't use it for certainty, but we can use it as a base. Reina is aware of Lee's presence in the family and wants to get to know him along with the rest of the family. Heihachi probably adored her considering he is favourable of women and dislikes men (loved his wife, likes Ling Xiayou, likes Reina etc) so I'm a little surprised she's so favourable of them. Jin was likely told Kazuya Mishima & Lee Chaolan were horrible people as in Tekken Tag Tournament Lee dislikes Jin (but not in #2), and in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Jin dislikes Lee (but not in #1). This was weird, and I don't think the decision makers were thinking about why or have anything set in stone. Kazuya is hated in both cases.

As long as her family knows their place, she wants them to be beside her. Reina would accept Lee and want to get to know him, while Lee would be wary of her but likely warm up extremely fast considering he's so friendly with Lars and Jin. Once he finds out she has the devil gene he would want to help her rid of it with Reina denying and keeping it as a gift. Potential for good drama here, but don't count on it!

In conclusion, I hope they don't squander this opportunity for family drama. I'm happy they've included Lee with Reina's family feuds...would love to see them getting on well. The family desperately needs it!