While there are ample pickings to be had for the latest installment in our Spotlight series, we at PSU Towers felt it somewhat appropriate to focus on Tekken’s legendary brawler Heihachi Mishima following the tragic passing of long time voice actor Daisuke Gōri last month. So, whether you’re a die-hard Tekken aficionado or just happened to pop by for a quick butcher at the latest articles on PSU, take a load off and join us as we extol one of the beat ‘em up genre’s most iconic combatants.
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Heihachi isn’t your average cuddly old bloke who loves to potter around in his garden or sit in a comfy chair smoking an exorbitantly priced cigar. Rather, Mishima’s past times include hurling his son off a cliff, popping a cap in his grandson’s forehead, and world domination. It’s interesting to note that unlike Kazuya (or indeed Jin, for that matter), Heihachi hasn’t been, for lack of better term, pushed in to his dastardly ways. Rather, the Mishima Zaibatsu chief is about as intrinsically evil as they come, and his unscrupulous activities date back some 50 years where he imprisoned his own father, Jinpachi, beneath the Hon-Maru building deep with the Zaibatsu compound after forcefully assuming control of the family business. Apparently the ruthless old goat was married to a woman named Kazume during the earlier years of his life, though she passed away not long after the birth of his son, Kazuya. He later adopted the chinese-born Lee Chaolan to kick Kazuya in to shape and encourage a healthy rivalry between the two, and somewhere along the lines also fathered a second child, Lars, who tracked him down during the events of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6.
Now, it would be disingenuous of us to suggest Heihachi doesn’t have a sympathetic bone in his body. Well, OK, near enough, but he does sport some notable, albeit somewhat incongruous past times that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a man of his caliber. These include collecting shoes of all things, as well as training and raising his pet bear (yes, a bear) named Kuma, who’s various incarnations throughout the years has competed in all Tekken tournaments to date, forming a bitter rivalry with Paul Phoenix. Oh, and then there’s the bathing. Can’t forget that – ol’ Hei loves a good long relaxing soak in the tub (although, that particular avenue of pleasure creates a rather distrubing mental image we really don’t want to experience ever again).
To date, the pointy haired brawler has hosted three Tekken tournaments – that is, the first, third and fourth entries – and served as the final boss for both the first and fourth King of Iron First tournaments. After losing to Kazuya in the original game, Heihachi was subsequently cast down a deep chasm by his son and was presumed dead until he made a triumphant return in Tekken 2, assuming control of the Mishima Zaibatsu and dispatching of Kazuya after a grueling battle by chucking him inside the mouth of a volcano. Nineteen years later, Heihachi set his sights on capturing a demonic life form known as Ogre, and utilized his grandson, Jin Kazama, as bait to lure the demon out of hiding. Kazama successfully vanquished Ogre, only to be shot in the head by his grandfather having served his purpose. However, things didn’t go according to plan for the Mishima bigwig, as Jin soon exhibited the same demonic powers as his father, transforming in to a Devil and smashing Heihachi through a brick wall before taking flight. Ouch.
Undeterred in his quest to create the ultimate being, Heihachi attempted to track down his grandson in order to extract the Devil Gene that inhabited his body, a vital component in his plans. However, pretty boy Jin had since gone in to hiding, forcing Heihachi to look elsewhere. It was in this time that he learned that the corpse of his son, Kazuya, had been recovered by a leading biotech firm know as G-Corporation, who were conducting experiments on the body in the confines of their laboratory in Nepal. Not wasting anytime, ‘ol man Mishima raided the base and soon discovered a not-dead Kazuya pummeling his Tekken Force to a bloody pulp. As such, Heihachi soon hosted the King of Iron First Tournament 4 in an effort to lure Kazuya out. This succeeded, and Heihachi defeated Kazuya in combat for the second time and managed to capture Jin to boot. Upon leading Kazuya to the Hon Maru building to clap eyes on his son for the first time, Devil Kaz piped up and knocked the old boy out of the room, before engaging Jin in combat. Kazama triumphed, and went on to give Heihachi a battering too before fleeing the building.
Almost immediately after, a platoon of Jack-6 robots invaded the compound and engaged Kazuya and Heihachi in combat. As the battle raged on, Kazuya capitalized on an increasingly fatigued Heihachi and threw him in to a large group of Jack-6, who bundled on top of the poor old bloke before one of them detonated, apparently killing the Mishima Zaibatsu CEO in the process. Kazuya fled the scene prior to the explosion and escaped. However, Heihachi survived the explosion, though missed the subsequent King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 on the account of being blown several miles and landing in some poor sod’s grave, where he lay unconscious for several weeks. Having lost his company for the second time, Heihachi retreated to his peaceful abode in the mountains, where he trained vigilantly until the chance to reclaim his firm materialized in the form of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6. Quite how that pans out for him remains unknown, though you can be sure we’ll find out whenever Namco churns out the inevitable Tekken 7.
Still, we think it’s about time we subjected Heihachi’s abilities as a fighter under the microscope, and examine why he remains such a popular combatant in the Tekken Universe. To put it mildly, Heihachi is a powerhouse. The old boy may be in his late 70s, but he’s still just as nimble and dexterous as he was in the days of Tekken 2, and has proven to be more than a match for virtually any character in the series to date. He boasts a fine mix of high, mid and low attacks, plus also possesses some delicious juggles, with his uppercuts pretty much bread and butter for any self respecting Heihachi player. Whereas in his early days he was very much a slightly modified version of Kazuya, latter incarnations of Tekken have firmly cemented Heihachi in his own league, and he now boasts a very distinctive style of his own. Heihachi, we salute you.
Magic Moments
Check out some of our most memorable Heihachi moments throughout the series below. Enjoy.