Heihachi Mishima

Heihachi Mishima
'Tekken series character
First game	Tekken

Heihachi Mishima (Japanese: 三島 平八 Mishima Heihachi) is a fictional Japanese character in the Tekken fighting game series.

He is also 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 Tiger Jackson, and Yoshimitsu in his Tekken 3 incarnation. He is also a playable character in the PS2 version of Soul Calibur II.

History

Heihachi is the son of Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Kazuya Mishima, the adopted father of Lee Chaolan, and the grandfather of Jin and Asuka Kazama. He fights with the power of Mishima Style Karate (his style in particular has more Goju-Ryu influences). He is the founder and the "Commander" of the Tekken Force Unit. He has hosted all but the second and fifth King of Iron Fist tournaments (those were hosted by Kazuya and Jinpachi, respectively).

Before the Iron Fist Tournament

Heihachi was born as the heir to the rich, powerful, and well-respected Jinpachi Mishima, the owner of the powerful Mishima Zaibatsu and a world-famous martial arts master. During this time, Heihachi married and eventually had a son of his own, Kazuya. Heihachi's wife, Kazumi Mishima, is believed to have died either in childbirth or not long, maybe 1 or 2 years afterwards. Heihachi raised Kazuya harshly; in his mind, he was forging a strong heir to eventually pass the Mishima Zaibatsu to. Much to his chagrin, Kazuya grew up kind and frail, perhaps due to the more loving treatment he received from his grandfather, Jinpachi (see Kazuya's Tekken 5 ending.) At some point, Heihachi betrayed Jinpachi and stole the Zaibatsu from his father. His motives for this act are as-of-yet unknown, but it can be speculated that he disagreed of Jinpachi's lack of ruthless aggression and his "soft" treatment of Kazuya. After assuming control, Heihachi began to steer the Zaibatsu into the military industry while his father vanished. After some time, Jinpachi attempted to retake the Zaibatsu from his son, but he failed and was ultimately imprisoned underneath Hon-Maru, where he would remain for either close to, if not exactly, 50 years.

The First and Second Tournaments

Finally fed up with Kazuya's "weakness", Heihachi tossed his son 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 actually managed to do so, but only because he'd made a deal with the Devil in order to survive (see Devil Gene.) To further motivate Kazuya, Heihachi adopted a Chinese orphan named Lee Chaolan and raised him as a rival to his true son. It's assumed that Heihachi never really cared about Lee at all, and only used him to irritate Kazuya. Over the years, Kazuya traveled abroad and competed in martial arts championships, becoming an undefeated champion (the only blemish on his record being a draw against Paul Phoenix). Eventually, Heihachi decided it was time to test his son's strength, and he announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament.

Much to Heihachi's surprise, he is defeated by his son, Kazuya. Kazuya tosses him off of a cliff just as Heihachi did to him when he was younger. However, being no ordinary man, Heihachi survived and returned two years later as a competitor in Kazuya's second King of Iron Fist Tournament. After winning the contest, he has a showdown with Kazuya, and defeats him. Afterwards, he tosses Kazuya, who had proven to be much too dangerous, into a volcano and kills him.

Tekken 3

Sometime later, he created the Tekken Force (Tekkenshu in the Japanese version), and used them as a quick-response group to appease the nations of the world. One day, 15 years after the end of the second King of Iron Fist Tournament, the Tekken Force found ruins in Central Mexico and discovered Ogre, who destroyed them all. Later, Heihachi was approached by a young man claiming to be his grandson, Jin Kazama. Heihachi took in Jin and taught him Mishima Style Karate for his own selfish purpose of using him as bait for Ogre. At the conclusion of the tournament, Jin succeeded and defeated True Ogre, but Heihachi betrayed him and shot him in the forehead. Surprisingly, Jin survived, transformed into Devil Jin, and struck Heihachi down before escaping.

Tekken 4

Afterwards, Heihachi intended to combine his own DNA with that of Ogre, but he discovered that he would need the Devil Gene that both Kazuya and Jin possess in order to combine the DNA. Heihachi searched desperately for Jin over the next two years, but could not locate him anywhere. Fortunately for Heihachi, Jin was not the only one with a compatible Devil Gene. Heihachi discovered evidence that his son Kazuya's body was taken by G Corporation (a rival company) and used for research. Heihachi's Tekken Force raided G Corporation's facilities to discover that Kazuya had been resurrected by the corporation. Heihachi decided to hold the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament (with his very company's ownership as the grand prize) in an attempt to lure Kazuya so that he may extract the Devil Gene. At the same time, he expected Jin Kazama to become involved, so he set a trap. His plan was to send the Tekken Force to capture Jin, make the two Devil hosts fight one another, and then defeat the winner while he was hopelessly weakened. With Jin captured by the Tekken Force, Heihachi faced Kazuya in the finals of the tournament, and Heihachi won the fight. He then led Kazuya to his Hon-Maru compound, where Jin was being held captive. Everything went as planned, except that Jin was able to defeat both his father and Heihachi. Luckily, Heihachi was spared Jin's wrath when a vision of Jun Kazama stopped Jin in his tracks.

Tekken 5

Right after Jin's departure, an army of Jack-4 units, sent by G Corporation, invaded Hon-Maru. Heihachi and Kazuya fought together, managing to destroy several Jack-4s, but Kazuya threw Heihachi to the Jack-4s, and he used the opportunity to escape by transforming into Devil, and then he flew away. One of the Jack-4s activated a self-destruct sequence, detonating and completely destroying Hon-Maru, leading everyone to believe that Heihachi was dead. In reality, Heihachi was thrown miles from the site, landing in a graveyard and remaining unconscious for weeks. But Heihachi, no ordinary man, survived the near-impossible odds to take part in the fifth tournament.

Heihachi's endings

Template:Spoiler Tekken 2 (Canon)

Heihachi defeats Kazuya and throws him into a volcano. He then flies away in a helicopter, smiling as the volcano erupts.

Tekken 3 (Non-Canon)

Heihachi defeats True Ogre, who then dissolves into nothing. He finds Jin Kazama's unconscious body, and he brings it aboard his helicopter with him. While in the air, Heihachi discovers Devil markings appearing on Jin's face. Rather than confront a Devil-possessed Jin, Heihachi throws Jin's body out of the helicopter. Heihachi watches as Jin begins to fall towards the ground.

Tekken Tag Tournament (Non-Canon)

A smiling Heihachi reminisces about brutalizing Jin and Kazuya.

Tekken 4 (Partially-Canon)

Heihachi and Kazuya arrive in Hon-Maru to find that Jin has been chained up. Heihachi then turns on Kazuya, chaining him up as well. Heihachi is going to extract the Devil Gene from both of them, which he will use to complete his world domination plan.

Note: The first half of this ending is canon. Heihachi did defeat Kazuya and brought him to Hon-Maru, but when they arrive, it becomes partly Kazuya's ending where he becomes Devil for a second to fight Jin. He will lose this fight as well. From there, it becomes Jin's last part of his ending, when Heihachi steps in, fights Jin, and loses.

Tekken 5 (???)

Heihachi has Jinpachi, Kazuya, and Jin chained to the top of a rocketship, and he uses binoculars to watch as it blasts off into the sky, laughing maniacally.

Soul Calibur II (Non-Canon)

Heihachi, after defeating many combatants, shatters Soul Edge with a single punch and returns to his time.

Analysis of Heihachi

At times, his actions are cold-hearted (he used his own Jin Kazama as bait for a murderous monster) and sometimes, they are inspirational (he has survived every attempt on his life thus far from pure willpower). But, in general, Heihachi is not above betrayal, deceit, or committing small crimes in pursuit of what he perceives as a "greater good". Blood relation means nothing to him. Once Heihachi discovers anything he perceives as a threat, it will be eliminated without hesitation.

The Mishima Family Tree.

Heihachi is basically the epitome of a self-made man. Heihachi believes in complete self-reliance and in being the best in every endeavor. The only charity he will give or alliance he will accept is in a case where it can be beneficial to himself; he is therefore a somewhat Machiavellian character. Thus, Heihachi treated his own son cruelly in an attempt to instill him with the same toughness. When Kazuya proved too stubborn, he resorted to drastic measures; an action that has come back to bite him on several instances. Occasionally, Heihachi will reward people that he deems as extraordinary. For example, he adopted Lee Chaolan after witnessing the orphan fighting, he took in Jin Kazama (and many believe he actually came to respect the boy's determination to defeat Ogre before he sensed the Devil Gene and decided to eliminate him), and admitted Ling Xiaoyu into his school (complete with a Giant Panda bodyguard, who is aptly named Panda) after she aggressively attacked one of his yachts. Of course, he also had ulterior motives to each of these actions, which fits into his personal code of mutual gain. The only times Heihachi has been shown with a genuine soft side is when he plays with his best friend and pet bear, Kuma and Kuma's son, Kuma Jr.

It's not yet known why Heihachi has become so interested in creating an "ultimate lifeform" by combining the DNA of himself, Ogre and Devil, but it can be assumed that because he no longer wishes to succeed his company to either of his hereditary heirs (Kazuya and Jin), and that the best he could do now would be to clone an heir and ensure that it would be worthy. Another theory is that he wants to find a way to use Ogre and Devil's blood to make himself an immortal, thus making an heir unnecessary. A third theory is that his interest may simply have something to do with his desire to take over the world using these lifeforms. The answer to this will likely come in future Tekken installments.

Trivia

• In English, his full name would roughly be translated to "Eighth Peace of the Third Island". Apparently all Mishima are given names end with the kanji 八 (meaning eight, pronounced as "Ya", "Pachi", or "Hachi").
• Heihachi is one of only four Tekken characters (the others being Nina Williams, Paul Phoenix, and Yoshimitsu) to have appeared in every game in the series.
• Despite being 75 years old (as of Tekken 5), Heihachi appears to be in superhuman health. However, he's still not Tekken's oldest combatant. Both his father Jinpachi and Wang Jinrei are his seniors by at least 30 years.
• In the first Tekken, when playing through the game with Heihachi, his opponents are the sub-bosses of the other fighters and his son, Kazuya Mishima. They also always appear in this order: Kunimitsu, Kuma, Wang, Ganryu, Lee, Prototype Jack, Armor King, Anna, and Kazuya.
• Heihachi doesn't have a Devil Gene, though due to conflicting information in the series, the reasons for this are never truly explained.
• In Tekken 3, when Ogre is defeated, he seems to absorb Heihachi to transform into True Ogre (unless the player plays as Heihachi, in which case it is Jin who gets absorbed).
• Heihachi has been voiced by Daisuke Gouri since Tekken 3, but he was voiced by Banjou Ginga in the first two Tekken games.
• Heihachi also made a guest appearance in the RPG Tales of the Abyss as one of Anise's custom dolls.