History YMMV / Tekken

* SavedByTheFans: Kazuya. Once fans of Tekken heard that Kazuya had been killed in the third game's backstory (the game hadn't really come out yet at this point, mind you), clamors for his restoration apparently began very quickly, very strongly. Ultimately, Namco acceded to this demand by revealing Kazuya's continued existence in Eddy's ending for the Playstation version. Then he returns full blown in Tekken 4 and has been a mainstay again.

** What is Lee's exact position on the morality table? He's never been seen to make a formal HeelFaceTurn and his endings show him to be a bit of a jerk, but he is one of the most helpful characters in ''6''[='s=] storyline. Most would peg him as a neutral entity. He's generally decent nowadays (with quite a few PetTheDog moments in both ''6'' and ''Blood Vengeance'') and really only has it in for the Mishimas (adoptive half-brother Lars notwithstanding). At the end of ''7'', it looks like [[spoiler:he's on Jin's side, already securing him from Mishima Zaibatsu's grasp, helping Lars and Alisa, aiding the Zaibatsu deserters]], which may make him look like he did the formal HeelFaceTurn already, but perhaps there are still some ulterior motives hidden beneath those...

** In ''Tekken 7'', [[spoiler:Heihachi is killed by a Devil Gene-empowered punch to the chest, and thrown into a lava pit by Kazuya, for good measure. However, due to Heihachi's history of [[JokerImmunity cheating death]], some fans have a hard time believing he's gone for good, arguing that he'll probably just be resurrected somehow, much like Kazuya himself after his death in ''Tekken 2''.]] [[WordOfGod Harada himself]] had to confront it head-on in the lead-up to ''Tekken 8'' by outright stating during an interview that [[spoiler:Heihachi Mishima is ''completely'' dead.]]

** Kazuya was born with the Devil Gene inherited from Kazumi. Heihachi abused him and threw him to a ravine [[spoiler:and partially for his own experiment to confirm if the Gene was in him]]. He only survived because of the Devil Gene within him, but after those abuses and losing his beloved mother and grandfather from said father, he became a bonafide ruthless evil man who lusts for power and sought only it thanks to the cruel fate thrusted to him. It got worse later in ''Tekken 7'', when Kazuya found out that [[spoiler:Kazumi has prepared to kill him just in case he got the Devil Gene inside him via [[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma]], further destroying Kazuya's world when the people he thought to be his MoralityPet turned out that she wanted him dead too. ''He's alone all along''.]]

* EvilIsCool: [[CoolOldGuy Heihachi]] may be an old bastard. But he has earned his place as one of the most recognizable villains in the fighting game genre thanks to proving multiple times to be one of the biggest badasses in the series, whether it in the ring, his endings, or the general aura he gives off.
** Kazuya became a villain in ''2'' and remained that way, but he never once lost his coolness factor.
** In terms of characters outside the Mishima family, there's [[AxCrazy Bryan]] [[PsychoForHire Fury,]] [[CombatPragmatist Dragunov,]] [[ProfessionalKiller Nina,]] [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Feng Wei,]] Ogre, and of course Devil.

* TransAudienceInterpretation: Leo. There is an impassioned debate on whether Leo is a boy with a [[CrossdressingVoices high-pitched voice]], or an extremely {{Bifauxnen}} tomboy, not helped by the fact that Japanese went out of its way to use ''gender-neutral pronouns'' (or just the character's name) when referring to Leo. It was eventually revealed by Harada that Leo had [[WhatCouldHaveBeen initially]] been conceived as a female character named Eleonora, which lead to many interpreting Leo as having born female with the name Eleonora and later adopted the "Leo" moniker as a disguise, as well as the [[GodNeverSaidThat widespread false claim that Harada had confirmed Leo is female]]. However this interpretation would become muddled with Leo later receiving [[TheOtherDarrin a male voice actor]], doing away with the high-pitched voice they had when they made their debut, being referred to as male on the official Tekken 7 website and even in the game itself post-reveal, and players having the option to give Leo facial hair in Tekken 8's character customizer, an option that is only available to male characters. This lead to the new interpretation that into Leo is a transgender man.

* TransAudienceInterpretation: Leo. For a long time there was an impassioned debate on whether Leo is a boy with a [[CrossdressingVoices high-pitched voice]], or an extremely {{Bifauxnen}} tomboy, not helped by the fact that Japanese went out of its way to use ''gender-neutral pronouns'' (or just the character's name) when referring to Leo. It was finally revealed by Harada himself that Leo is female and born with the name Eleonora, and the most common theory was that Eleonora adopted the "Leo" moniker as a [[SweetPollyOliver disguise]], but Leo continues to be referred to as male on the official Tekken 7 website and even in the game itself post-reveal. Thus, the most common way interpretation with which fans reconcile this information is that Leo is, in fact, a transgender man. When pressed on the subject Harada gave a ShrugOfGod regarding Leo's gender identity as being up to the player.

** Leo. To the point that there's [[FlameWar a split]] on whether Leo is a boy with a [[CrossdressingVoices high-pitched voice]], or just a tomboy. It didn't help that the Japanese used ''gender-neutral pronouns'' (or just the character's name) when referring to Leo. (What most don't know when regarding Leo is that s/he is 19 years old, and thus an adult. The term "boy" wouldn't really apply in most countries; this is a "man" if Leo is male. Anyway, technicalities.) It was finally revealed by Harada himself that Leo is female. But now there's even MORE confusion as Leo is referred to as he on the official Tekken 7 website and even in the game itself...! Some of this could be reconciled by the possibility that Leo is, in fact, a transgender man, and when pressed on the subject Harada gave a ShrugOfGod regarding Leo's gender identity as being up to the player.

** Quite a few people are convinced that Ogre is holding Jun's '''severed head''' in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0JM1QdafWg arcade intro]] to ''3''. Alternatively, this could be how Jin ''interpreted'' the events, seeing as he was knocked unconscious by Ogre.

*** Wang Jinrei's fans are enraged against the newcomer Leroy Smith, despite how the latter's Wing Chun is a completely different style compared to the former's Xinyi Liuhe Quan. It does not help that Wang [[spoiler:died during the events of ''6'']], making the case outright insulting to his fanbase.

* EvilIsCool: [[CoolOldGuy Heihachi]] may be an old bastard. But he has earned his place as one of the most recognizable villains in the fighting game genre, thanks to proving multiple times in the ring and [[CrazyIsCool his insane endings]] to be one of the biggest badasses in the series.

** How did Kazuya dislike Jun to the point of having very low Netsu point on her in ''Tag'' games, but treats her with either awe or respect in the canon games? One may say that this is DependingOnTheWriter, but since ''Tag 2'' confirms that Jun is Unknown... There is a room for an alternate interpretation: Kazuya sees the ''Tag'' version of Jun as just an impostor since she couldn't induce the same mysterious aura that lowers his guard in the canon games, and he does not like Unknown or impostors in general. In terms of Devil carrying her off in BridalCarry in ''Tag 1'', it should be known that Devil in ''Tag 1'' has yet to merge with Kazuya, so he may have different opinions about the ''Tag'' version of Jun/Unknown (so when Kazuya offs Unknown while laughing maniacally in ''Tag 2'', Devil has no say about it since Kazuya is the person in control at that time).

** Kazuya becomes this in ''2'' onwards.
** In terms of characters outside the Mishima family, there's Bryan Fury, Dragunov, Nina, Ogre, and of course Devil.

* EvilIsCool: [[CoolOldGuy Heihachi]] may be an old bastard, but that dosen't stop him from being one of the best fighters in the series and one of the most recognizable villains in the fighting game genre.

** Although she's had her fans during the franchise's earlier years, Anna Williams was considered by many to be an inferior version of her sister whose character was solely defined by her SiblingRivalry with Nina. This wasn't helped by how her [[MovesetClone moveset started out extremely similar to Nina's]], essentially making her a waste of a character slot that could be reserved for other fighters. As time went on, however, Anna started garnering a larger and more vocal fandom, with many citing that her charisma and FemmeFatale vibes made her a more entertaining character than her cold-blooded sister. Not only that, but both Anna's and Nina's endings often show the former as a frequent target of some misfortune at the hands of the latter, which only made Anna less of a nuisance and more of a sympathetic underdog [[TheDogBitesBack who is simply fighting back against her sister's bullying]].

** Jin is definitely the biggest recipient for this. He inherits all of the cursed genes plaguing his family, his mother went missing/presumed dead when he was at the age of 15, and his grandfather (Heihachi) trained and used him to lure the killer of his mother for his own schemes and then attempted to kill him when he outlived his usefulness... and it was the impetus of his SuperpoweredEvilSide, Devil Jin, to appear. This gave Jin identity crisis that makes him fear to endanger whatever friends he made before (Xiaoyu and Hwoarang). So he distanced himself with them until he won the 5th King of Iron Fist Tournament and decided to plunge the world into chaos to destroy the source of evil that made him the way he is.
* DesignatedHero: Heihachi was, more or less, the central character in ''Tekken 2'' alongside Jun. The franchise as a whole runs on this trope, with Kazuya the lead in 1 and Jin the lead in every game from 3.

* HarsherInHindsight: Twofold for Heihachi. He's very much respectful towards women, always preferring to negotiate first unless he has absolutely no choice, and its made plenty of memes of him being a [[SilverFox ladies' man]] that seemed to be above temptation nevertheless. Then Lars was revealed to be [[LukeYouAreMyFather Heihachi's bastard son]], meaning that behind the scenes he ''was'' still getting with women, albeit a good number of years ago. [[spoiler:Then we find out about Kazumi, Heihachi's first and only legitimate wife that he truly loved and had Kazuya with, and whom he killed in self-defense, meaning after his StartOfDarkness, he likely abandoned his vows from the vast betrayal and fathered at least multiple illegitimate children, either by accident or as means of spreading the Mishima Zaibatsu's influence. [[EpilepticTrees Reina seems to be even more proof to this]] in ''8''.]]

** In ''Tekken 7'', [[spoiler:Heihachi is killed by a Devil Gene-empowered punch to the chest, and thrown into a lava pit by Kazuya, for good measure. However, due to Heihachi's history of [[JokerImmunity cheating death]], some fans have a hard time believing he's gone for good, arguing that he'll probably just be resurrected somehow, much like Kazuya himself after his death in ''Tekken 2''.]]

** In-universe we can get this thanks to what the characters think of each other in the ''Tag'' games. Kazuya hating everyone and Jun liking the animals is [[JustForPun natural]] enough, and Asuka and Leo (and Lili) are friends in the Tekken comic, which can be seen as an implication that they would naturally get along with each other. But Bob and Asuka? Miguel and Bob? Paul and Bryan Fury? Ganryu and Devil Jin?

** Quite a few people are convinced that Ogre is holding Jun's '''[[WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees severed head]]''' in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0JM1QdafWg arcade intro]] to ''3''. Alternatively, this could be how Jin ''interpreted'' the events, seeing as he was knocked unconscious by Ogre.

* PolishedPort: The home console versions are almost always even better than the arcade originals with their added modes, features, and in some cases (like ''Tekken 3'') characters. The home versions of ''1'', ''2'', and ''3'' are downgraded in terms of graphics and sound[[note]]''1'' and ''2'' only have very minor downgrades, ''3'' has more significant ones[[/note]], but more than make up for it with all the extra content. The home version of ''Tag Tournament'' is actually graphically superior to the arcade version[[note]]The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLtcFl8c0Y arcade version]] is basically an expanded version of Tekken 3, running on hardware similar to a PS1[[/note]] (though the arcade version has a higher frame rate), and from ''4'' onwards the home versions are almost [[ArcadePerfectPort arcade perfect]]. Special mention also goes to the Wii U port of ''Tag Tournament 2'', which boasts all the features of the [=PS3=] and 360 versions plus Nintendo-exclusive content like [=GamePad=] support (allowing for off-TV play), crossover costumes, Mushroom Battle, and Tekken Ball.

* VideoGameMoviesSuck: The [[Anime/TekkenTheMotionPicture 1997 OVA]] was decent, if narmy and not on the level of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'''s [[Anime/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie anime]]. The [[Film/{{Tekken}} live-action film]] is praised for its fight scenes but lacking in other areas.

** In-universe we can get this thanks to what the characters think of each other in the ''Tag'' games. Kazuya hating everyone and Jun liking the animals is [[JustForPun natural]] enough, and Asuka and Leo (and Lili) are friends in the Tekken comic, which can be seen as an implication that they would naturally get along with each other. But Bob and Asuka? Miguel and Bob? Paul and Bryan Fury? Ganryu and Devil Jin? [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs Crack]] Pairing being the operative word.

* EvenBetterSequel: It is widely agreed that ''Tekken 2'' is this compared to ''Tekken 1'', and ''Tekken 3'' is this compared to ''Tekken 2''. Also, ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' compared to ''Tekken Tag Tournament 1''[[note]][[CasualCompetitiveConflict Outside of competitive play, anyway]] -- TTT2 is at best divisive in the competitive community, and at worst considered horribly imbalanced and hated.[[/note]] and ''Tekken 6'' (which came out immediately before it, and uses largely the same engine).

** Despite being cousins, [[KissingCousins Jin and Asuka]] receive a lot of attention from shippers who don't pair them with their respective rivals, Hwoarang and Lili. It helps that the exact nature of their relationship largely remains unexplored (it isn't even established whether they are first, second, or third cousins) save for a one-time encounter in ''T5'' (which was itself dripping with ShipTease), leading to plenty of untapped story potential. Doesn't help that Harada confirmed on twitter that Jun and Asuka are't even cousins, just "part of the same clan."

* {{Adorkable}}: Alisa, especially in ''Tag 2''.

*** ''[[Videogame/StreetFighterXTekken Street Fighter X Tekken]]'' has the pair of them team up to go to Antarctica. Note that someone with Lili's resources could have probably gotten anyone other than Asuka to accompany her. Instead she chooses to go with Asuka.

*** [[VideoGame/StreetFighter Akuma]] was the first one revealed, and is only the second guest character after Gon, making his inclusion quite the shock. Even more so after it was revealed he was going to have a major role in the game's story mode.

* {{Adorkable}}: Alisa especially in ''TTT2''.

* Adorkable: Alisa especially in ''TTT2''.