Characters / Tekken: Heihachi Mishima

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Heihachi Mishima

The King of Iron Fist

^{Classic Outfit} 

^{Young Heihachi (Tag 2)} 

A fight is about who's left standing...nothing else.

Origin: Japan

Fighting Style: Mishima-style Fighting Karate

Appears in: 1-7, Tag-Tag 2, Death by Degrees, Revolution

Voiced by: Banjo Ginga (1), Wataru Takagi (2), Daisuke Gōri (3-6; JP, The Movie), Jamieson Price (EN, Blood Vengeance & Street Fighter X Tekken; credited as Taylor Henry), Unshō Ishizuka (Tag 2-7: Fated Retribution; JP, Blood Vengeance), Taiten Kusunoki (JP, Bloodline; current), Unknown (EN; Bloodline, credited under the alias S. Hiroshi Watanabe)

The father of Kazuya, a badass extraordinaire who owns two pet bears (both named Kuma) and is a self-made man who owns the Mishima Zaibatsu...after toppling his father Jinpachi. He threw Kazuya into a ravine to see if he would be considered a worthy successor and riled him up further by adopting Lee Chaolan. Years later, Heihachi created the King of Iron Fist Tournament, where Kazuya entered, kicked his ass, and threw him into the very same ravine where Heihachi threw him before. Heihachi survived, writing Kazuya a letter saying, "You should have found a steeper cliff." He then hosted a second tournament where he battled Kazuya again, paid him back, and threw him into a volcano.

For years, Heihachi built up a good reputation with his Zaibatsu while hiding his ambitions. When he's approached by his grandson Jin Kazama, who wants to avenge his mother's death at the hands of Ogre, Heihachi uses him to lure Ogre out. Once Jin beats Ogre, Heihachi betrays Jin by shooting him in the head, only to be smacked back by Devil Jin and thrown out of Ogre's temple through a wall. Later he found out that Kazuya was still alive, and hosts the 4th tournament to lure his descendants for his plans. Jin foils his plan, then he gets ambushed by Jack robots, then Kazuya betrays him, and the Jack robots self-destruct on him after dogpiling him. Heihachi survived, being no ordinary man, but was rendered unconscious for the entirety of the 5th tournament while Jin took over the Zaibatsu. During Scenario Campaign, his plans to take back the Zaibatsu are interrupted in their early stages when Lars shows up and confronts him, revealing that he is Heihachi's son from an affair he had in the Netherlands. The two fight and Heihachi is defeated. As Lars leaves, he surmises that Lars will end up doing his work for him, and continues to lay low. This pays off when, in the end, Jin sacrifices himself to stop the being known as Azazel and Kazuya leaves out of boredom. With Jin out of commission, but still alive unbeknownst to anyone, Heihachi seized control of the Zaibatsu. He now continues the war against G Corporation and Kazuya, hoping to engage in one final battle to decide their fate.

In gameplay, Heihachi is a powerful pressure character, renowned for his exceptionally fast mids and dangerous highs. Heihachi's game plan revolves around getting in the opponent's face and continually putting the pressure on until they are forced to back off or sidestep. If they move to challenge him, then Heihachi has several strong counter hit tools to catch these attempts and launch into combos. Unfortunately, his defense has taken a major hit, and he must play aggressively or lose match momentum.

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Tropes A-J

• Abusive Parents:
  • While his dad was practically a saint (Demonic Possession aside), Heihachi thinks chucking your son off a cliff or adopting another son solely to foment a sibling rivalry are sound parenting skills. Then he tries to kill them when the ungrateful brats don't appreciate all he's done for them.
  • He also extends his abuse over the generations. Grandson? More like live bait to attract an ancient monster that feeds off fighting skills! Did he screw up your plan by killing the beast? A bullet between the eyes. Later on, he ropes his son and grandson into being future subjects for his research.
  • Notably, his second biological son, Lars, who Heihachi did NOT raise, turned out to be a pretty good guy. Parental Abandonment is a blessing when it comes to being Heihachi's child.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Heihachi in Bloodline takes after his characterization shown in 4 and beyond. As such, he is shown to be significantly more abusive towards Jin than the caring grandfather act shown in the games. Because of this, Jin figures out much quicker that Heihachi is not the man he believes to be. Heihachi's betrayal at the end is much more openly evident, significantly softening its impact compared to Jin's ending in Tekken 3.
• Alas, Poor Villain: His backstory in Tekken 7 shows that he was a simple man happy to spend his days training and happily married. Then his wife Kazumi tried to kill him many times. He chose to ignore it, thinking his wife might have mental issues he's not ready to deal with, hoping it goes away. Only to discover that her intentions were genuine; she was sent there to get close and kill him from the beginning. He is forced to kill her and this begins his Start of Darkness.
• Animal Motifs: His black dogi features a tiger's face at the back. Kazumi's similar motif in 7 hints that this is most likely a tribute to her.
• Anime Hair:
  • The only hair he has left grows in two farcical upwards spikes like that of his son and grandson. This must be part of Mishima genetics, not the Devil Gene, as his father has even wilder hair.
  • When he's rejuvenated in Tag Tournament 2, his hair regrows to an improbably sweet swallow's tail. In the series timeline, even when most everyone was younger — in the first two games — Heihachi was already balding, so this is the first time we see him with a full head of hair. This hairstyle made its way into canon in Tekken 7's flashbacks that take place before the first game.
• Anti-Hero: A Nominal Hero in Tekken 2 where he becomes The Protagonist opposing his son Kazuya who has ironically become the Big Bad after taking over Heihachi's empire and becoming even worse than he is. He's still a huge prick who only seeks to regain his former power, and he quickly returns to an antagonistic role from Tekken 3 onwards.
• Anti-Villain: While Heihachi took over the Mishima Zaibatsu for his gain and has a tendency to be unnecessarily cruel, his actions against Jin and Kazuya were only that to wipe out the Devil Gene, having an understandable reason to want to destroy it considering witnessing what it did to his wife. This makes him and Jin alike.
• Arc Symbol: A lot of promotional material for 7 features his Mishima Zaibatsu logo, a three-pointed star above a hexagon (like a thinner variant of Mitsubishi's three-diamond logo). This also appears in his Fated Retribution outfit on the right side of his chest.
• Archnemesis Dad: Like his son, he's on both sides of this trope - his war with Kazuya is pretty much the central plot of the games, but in 5 it turns out he wasn't on good terms with his own dad either. The latter is an inversion, though - his father was a pretty decent guy; Heihachi turned on him because he wasn't.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: How he regains control of the Mishima Zaibatsu at the beginning of 7, as well as his method of employing Claudio.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Father and son team up to kick robot ass! First featured in the opening movie of Tekken 5, but became a playable segment in the Story mode of 7.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: In Story Mode of Tekken 7, once he reacquires the Mishima Zaibatsu, he wears a nice suit that would make Vito Corleone proud. The suit is even called "The Don" in the character customization menu. Even before that, a winter tuxedo was one of his clothing options in Tekken 3.
• Badass Normal: Who needs the Devil Gene to kick ass? He even defeated Devil Kazumi in single combat by pure martial skills, before his Start of Darkness and before he had any idea of what the Devil Gene was!
• Bald of Evil: Until his more youthful appearance as first revealed in Tag 2.
• Battle Aura: Occasionally seen as a blueish-white coloration around him, especially in Tekken 7. However, it seems to almost be like a physical representation of his Determinator status rather than an explicit supernatural force, as if to contrast with the Devil Gene powers of the rest of his family.
• Big Bad: Not so much since Tekken 5, but definitely in the first, third, and fourth installments, where he's the organizer of the King of Iron Tournament and Kazuya's main nemesis.
• Big Bad Ensemble: He and his son Kazuya shared the Big Bad position for the majority of the series as a whole until Heihachi was Killed Off for Real by his son in 7.
• Black Sheep: While the Mishima family is full of evil people, Heihachi was the only one whose descent into villainy was of his own volition. Jinpachi was a good man who fell victim to Demonic Possession, Kazuya turned evil because of Heihachi's actions against him, and Jin is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who thinks nothing of his paternal side. Heihachi however became a power-hungry warmonger even before Kazumi's betrayal.
• Boss Remix: The arcade version of his theme in 3 is a darker, more badass version of Jin's theme. The remixed version, on the other hand, sounds a bit like a Suspiciously Similar Song to "Rollin With Kid N Play", thanks to that bass.
• Broken Pedestal: Jin Kazama looked up to him during the events of 3 in training him against Ogre. It is clear in both of their endings that Heihachi will kill Jin after all is said and done. He failed in the latter's ending, in which became the reason Jin started hating everything about the Mishimas, including the Devil Gene.
• Bullet Catch: Catches one in his teeth in 6's Scenario Campaign.
• Call-Back: His endings in 2 and 3 are titled "A Son's Fall" and "A Grandson's Fall" respectively, referring to Kazuya's canonical ending in 1 (i.e. "A Father's Fall") where he drops Heihachi down the same ravine Heihachi threw him down as a child. Both of Heihachi's endings (the one in 3 is non-canonical) involve him dropping his relatives from a high altitude.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: He's one of the biggest examples of a Badass Normal among Mishimas, having no connection to the Devil Gene whatsoever (even Asuka has her anti-Devil abilities). That said, he's such a skilled Martial Artist that he can deflect missiles with his fists, and headbutt bullets in flight, and when he was younger, he killed Kazumi when she went Devil just to assassinate him. The OVA has him catching Michelle's axe (which she had thrown at his head) with his teeth and grinding it into pieces before spitting the shards out.
• Cool Old Guy: While he can be utterly abhorrent to those he despises, he's also pretty funny and badass. He has some very light-hearted interactions with Kuma and Xiaoyu, and even his endings in 5 and Tag 2 are quite comedic.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: A thoroughly selfish man at heart, Heihachi's only interest as head of his family's conglomerate is to continue pouring its resources into wars and other destructive endeavors, something his father tried to distance the Zaibatsu from.
• A Day in the Limelight: After dropping off plot importance in 5 and 6, 7 gives him the most amount of Character Focus yet. Also comes with A Death in the Limelight.
• Deadpan Snarker: His attitude as he greets Kazuya after their last encounter.
  "You should have found a steeper cliff."
• Degraded Boss: Happens to him twice, no less. After the first game, he is removed as Mishima Zaibatsu head by Kazuya and has to fight through Kazuya's King of Iron Fist Tournament two years later to get it back (he does). Later on, he hosts the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament and this time is declared the official winner but is ambushed at his Hon-Maru compound and presumed dead. He wasn't, and still wakes up in time to compete in the sixth tournament, hosted by his grandson.
• Determinator: Not even being blown up point-blank by a squadron of Jack-4s, shot through the air at breakneck speeds, and crashing into a monument in the middle of a forest miles away is enough to kill Heihachi!
  • This gets exemplified in Tekken 7's story mode. In the final battle between Heihachi and Kazuya, the latter, in full devil form, lights him up with several lasers that create a massive explosion, but he still gets back up. The next battle scene has Heihachi with (visually) low health, to show that he's fighting to his absolute limit. After this, they are both exhausted, and keep trading blows for who knows how long until Kazuya finally deals the finishing blow to him.
• Didn't See That Coming: Let's just say that Heihachi didn't expect Jin to come Back from the Dead as Devil Jin, kill his Tekken Force mooks (complete with one being Punched Across the Room into a wall with enough force that blood appears to gush out of his armor), drive him through the wall by his head, and then pounce on him from the sky. Heihachi's reaction to #2 on the list is a look conveying "Holy shit! Should I run or turn around?"
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • While he also has the same EWGF-setups all Mishimas have (though since he's taller, shorter characters won't be continuously juggled by his), he has a huge set of solid mid-level and high-level attacks with very save frames and many ways to pressure on block thanks to those said attacks being very safe pokes. Just like Kazuya, he can take a hit-into-a-combo as far as possible when it lands it. The biggest thing you need to worry about is that Heihachi has a severe lack of solid-and-safe low attacks, making his 50/50's quite bad.
  • Even with a buff to one of his low attacks in Tag 2, it's still very atrocious on block like the rest of his available low attacks and thus his means of forcing open one's defense is focused on frame-traps and throws with very unsafe mixups.
  • In the same sense as Kazuya having a "Perfect" variant of the Electric Wind God Fist, Heihachi has a Just Frame variant of the Thunder God Fist, which players refer to as the Omen Thunder God Fist (OTGF). It's a faster version of the move that not only launches the opponent, but also hits a grounded opponent, so a Heihachi player with above-average execution will be well-rewarded in mastering this.
• Divergent Character Evolution: He was originally a Moveset Clone of Kazuya, but began to get more and more original moves and stances of his own from Tekken 2 onwards.
• Egopolis: Played for laughs. In Tekken 3 he promises Ling Xiaoyu he'll give her an amusement park if she wins the tournament. In her ending when she does, he fulfills his promise... and opens up Heihachi Land... which earns him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from Xiaoyu.
• Elixir of Life: In Tag 2, his scientists concoct a serum that restores his youth. In his ending, another dose is administered that turns out to be tainted with Kuma's DNA, turning him into a bear.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite killing Kazumi, Heihachi still loves her, and when Kazuya called him out for it in the Tekken 7 trailer, rather than brushing it off, Heihachi stayed silent, one single tear running from his eye. And though Kazumi knows her husband must be stopped, she also fondly remembers and believes in the love they once shared. He also cares about his pets Kuma I and Kuma II.
  • Though it's non-canon, Heihachi does attempt to save Kazuya from Devil's beam in the former's 2 ending. Too bad Kazuya exploits that for his own victory, and the two never share anything but hatred canonically besides Heihachi shedding a Single Tear right before their final battle in 7. And in Heihachi's 3 ending, he looked genuinely sad when he had to kill Jin by dropping him from his helicopter after the latter displayed signs of the Devil Gene taking him over while being unconscious, mainly the marks appearing on his forehead.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Heihachi may be a greedy, power-hungry, self-centered megalomaniac, but he treats women and young girls with the utmost respect and despises those who bully the weak. He also generously rewards those who serve him well or amuse him, if only because it would tarnish his reputation not to. Further, he expresses distaste at squalor and substandard living conditions, noting that if he ran the Zaibatsu, he'd never let things degrade to such a level.
• Evil Laugh: He also does this the most out of all the Mishimas. In one of his moves, he does this while dashing away from his opponent.
• Evil Mentor: Was this for Jin prior to the third tournament. Heihachi was the one who taught Jin Mishima-style Karate, though he had his own agenda to do that, namely to turn Jin into a powerful fighter that could draw Ogre out, after which he would dispose of Jin via bullet to the head. Though that last bit didn't work out thanks to Jin awakening his Devil Gene...
• Evil Old Folks: Starting with Tekken 3, when he starts getting old. He's been a dick most of his life though.
• Final Boss: Of Tekken, Tekken 4, Tekken Advance, and the Tekken Force modes in 3 and 4. Sub-boss of Tekken 3 (before Ogre and True Ogre) and he and his father comprise the first tier of bosses in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (True Ogre and Jun/Unknown as solo battles comprise the second and third tiers).
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: He's playable in Tekken 5; in the story canon, however, he never participated.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has an X-shaped scar across his chest, but a hero he is not.
• Greater-Scope Villain: While Kazuya became the Big Bad of the series (or at least the Devil inside him), it isn't hard to argue that everything bad in the series is Heihachi's fault in the first place, not only because him throwing his son off a cliff opened him up to the Devil Gene, but also because of him wresting control of the Mishima Zaibatsu from Jinpachi and pushing it toward weapon development, leading the Hachijo clan to predict the danger he would become if left unchecked, which led him to kill Kazumi. And his desire to rule the world would eventually lead to him wanting to discover the secret of the Devil Gene after witnessing firsthand what it does, leading to him setting his crosshairs on Jin and vice-versa.
• Ground Punch: A new attack he gained in Tekken 7. It causes the opponent to stagger, and if an opponent is lying on the ground when his fist hits the floor, it will pop them up high enough in the air for a potential juggle if they're close enough.
• Gruesome Grandparent: While not as much of an enemy as he is with Kazuya, he has every intention of offing his grandson Jin as well.
• Guest Fighter:
  • In Soul Calibur II on the PS2 and in his youthful appearance in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
  • He's a playable character in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, appearing in his younger appearance from Tag 2.
• Heartbroken Badass: As shown in the story mode of Tekken 7, the death of his wife Kazumi was the chief reason his heart had hardened. The revelation that her Hachijo blood was demonic in nature, and that her blood was passed on to their son Kazuya, was what originally drove him to toss him off a cliff. Kazumi's death also preceded his takeover of the Mishima Zaibatsu from his own father Jinpachi, and the Zaibatsu's subsequent move to the military-industrial complex.
• Heel Realization: Vaguely implied in Tekken 7's Scenario Campaign. Before his final battle with Kazuya, he brings in the reporter that's narrated the story thus far to give him exclusive info about his actions and misdeeds, including the revelation of what really happened with Kazumi, with the request to tell it to the world. Though he does go back to his Jerkass behavior and has the man knocked out and thrown out for being an associate of Lars in the end, when asked what he thought about the ongoing war, the reporter states that he saw a 'mournful look in his eyes'. Considering the circumstances, it seems Heihachi knew how much of a bastard he was and effectively gave a biography before marching off to find some resolution in this mess.
• Hidden Depths: As he is confronted by Kazuya in their final battle in Tekken 7, a single tear falls from his eye. In a later trailer titled "Rage and Sorrow," he represents "Sorrow" as his reason for fighting, implying that there might be deeper reasons for his apparently evil actions all throughout Kazuya's life.
• Hunk: One may protest, but he fits this down to a T. His younger self certainly does, at least.
• Immortality: This seems to be his main motivation in later entries; as if being Made of Iron wasn't enough, he's now seeking a way of becoming young again, which he achieves in Tag Tournament 2 when his scientists develop a youth serum and he tests it on himself, leading to him appearing as he does in that game (in fact, that's the only shred of a plot this game has - well, that and Jaycee actually being Julia filling in for a friend).
• In Spite of a Nail: It's implied in Tekken 7 that his Start of Darkness would've happened anyway since he had still overthrown Jinpachi with plans to continue the warmongering business, but having to kill his wife with his own hands in self-defense didn't help.
• Jerkass: Ultimately, everything the Tekken series is and has been being a result of Heihachi's heartlessness and zeal. He sealed his father away under the Hon-Maru compound to seize the Zaibatsu, he threw his son off a cliff to "make him stronger" and later in his life (upon learning of his survival), held the first King of Iron Fist Tournament to draw him close. Then 22 years later he brings his grandson into the third tournament (also one he hosted) to use as living bait for Ogre and shoots him when things don't go the way he wants. Even though Kazuya and Jin are both bitter enemies, Heihachi has earned contempt from both.

Tropes K-Z

• Karmic Death: After years and years of cheating the Reaper, karma seems to have finally caught him for good by the end of Tekken 7. Forced into a fourth battle with his estranged son—whose life he destroyed mainly out of misplaced hatred for his wife's sins—the aging Heihachi ultimately proves no match for Kazuya's sheer hatred against him, even after Heihachi forced him off from his devil form, and meets his end after receiving a powerful, fatal strike to the chest (without Kazuya's gloves on). To add insult to injury, Kazuya then carries his lifeless body in yet another Ironic Echo of their past fights. Only this time, rather than toss Heihachi down a cliff again, Kazuya opts to finish the job once and for all by dumping his corpse down a volcano, to make sure he's Deader than Dead. A fitting end for such a poor excuse of a "father".
• Kick Them While They Are Down: More like a stomp. Also, one of his victory scenes has him berating his unconscious opponent, holding them up by their hair, and shouting, "Come back when you're ready to fight!" before slamming their head back down and walking away in contempt.
• Killed Off for Real: His ultimate fate in Tekken 7. Despite putting up what is perhaps his most valiant effort seen yet in the series, he is ultimately no match for Kazuya, who kills him with a fatal, Devil Gene-empowered strike to the heart. And to ensure that he dies for good, Kazuya gives the deceased corpse of his father the same treatment that he gave Kazuya in 2: being thrown into a volcano.
• Large Ham: Ya think? "With this, the world will hail MY victory! Gwahahaha!"
• Last Dance: The final battle in 7 takes place from his perspective.
• Laughably Evil: Since the original Tekken, he's been Played for Laughs just as often as he's been played seriously. Some of the weirder things he's done (or been subjected to) are: left a bear (Kuma) in charge of his company while he left to fight in a tournament, made his own amusement park, had his company make a magic potion (which he drank without testing first), was forced to work as an "exotic" drink server with a bomb shaped like a bow-tie strapped to his neck...
• Made of Iron:
  • In Tekken 3, in Jin's ending, Devil Jin picks Hei up like a ragdoll, smashes him through a solid concrete wall and drops him several stories below, leaving somewhat of a crater on the ground, before flying away. Though a little stunned, shortly after that Heihachi gets up completely unscratched.
  • The intro of Tekken 5 has him surviving being blown up by a group of Jack units rigged with explosives. In previous games he's a Badass Normal; from that moment onward he's apparently Superman.
  • Tekken 7 takes this to absolute absurd levels. The amount of punishment Kazuya has to inflict on Heihachi to finally put him down is ridiculous. Kazuya throws the proverbial kitchen sink at Heihachi in his regular form, it's not enough. Then Kaz goes into his devil form, beats him down and blasts him, but Heihachi proceeds to get up. Another back and forth How Much More Can He Take? ensues and Kazuya finally takes him out and tosses him into a volcano.
• Mad Scientist: Many storylines have him show interest in scientific supervillainy, namely in Tekken 4 where he shows interest in combining the genetic material of Ogre and the Devil Gene to create an Ultimate Life Form. Sometimes, he also wants to take the power of the Devil for himself. In Tekken Tag 2, he has his scientists create a formula that restores his youth (and transforms him into a bear in his ending).
• A Man of Wealth and Taste: Tekken 6 reveals that he dislikes Paul and Marshall Law, considering both horrible wastes of talent living in squalor. He also expresses disgust in several cities being ruined during Jin's war.
• Manipulative Bastard: Heihachi has been a two-faced piece of trash all his life, manipulating his biological and adopted sons against one another and politicking against his own father Jinpachi. However, his manipulation of Jin in 3 is especially cruel. Jin was naively convinced that Heihachi was a good grandfather, but Heihachi merely saw Jin as a weapon against Ogre and shot him in the back of the head once that purpose was fulfilled. This betrayal spurred Jin's struggle with the Devil within himself and led to a three-way Mishima war that would leave the world in ruins.
• Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: Tekken 7 reveals an odd example. Heihachi was forced to kill Kazumi in her Devil form, but it wasn't just Kazuya he was taking it out on. Throwing him off that cliff had a hidden purpose: to see if he inherited her Devil Gene based on whether or not he survived. When it turned out to be true, he knew he had to destroy them both, and eventually Jin as well.
• Miser: Seems to consider charity for its own sake extraordinary stupidity at best. In the Tekken 4 endings, the only character he outright refused to hand over his company to (the prize for that tournament) was Yoshimitsu, specifically because he was a Robin Hood type who robbed the rich to help the poor (of course, Yoshimitsu expected that and was in the middle of robbing him anyway). While Heihachi can appear generous in public, this is always to pass off as a Villain with Good Publicity or to otherwise get something in return.
• Moveset Clone: Heihachi started as a clone of Kazuya with a few moves from Paul.
• Mr. Fanservice: His primary in 4 was a fundoshi. In Lee Chaolan's ending in 5, he's introduced via a Female Gaze shot of his ass, wearing nothing but a tight speedo with a bowtie. In Tag 2's character customization, while older characters his age are supplied with modest swimsuits that cover up most of their bodies, Heihachi and the other male characters get the fundoshi.
• Neck Snap: In 7, this is how he kills Kazumi after defeating her Devil form.
• Never My Fault: Implied as one way to look at his Start of Darkness. Having already overthrown his father with his plans for the family business, Kazumi had ultimately been sent to kill him to prevent all the damage and misery he would later cause. While he does feel guilty about having to kill his own wife, he may have decided to focus the blame on the Devil Gene for making him go through with it, instead of acknowledging that his warmongering plans were why they were trying to kill him to begin with setting the stage for his own attempt to put an end to the Devil Gene. Considering what it is, Heihachi may still have some valid reasons for doing so anyway.
• No One Could Survive That!: Nuked by dozens of Jack robots? No problem.
• No-Sell: Heihachi's Counter-Attack (b+2+3) can intercept opponent strikes, but doing so also hurts Heihachi. If successful he tanks the hit, clutches their limb against his shoulder, and then pushes them to the ground with a fierce leg thrust but suffers some damage in the process.
• Offing the Offspring: On his son and grandson, no less. None of his attempts at doing so succeeded for good.
• Pet the Dog: In the non-canonical Kazuya ending in Tekken 2, Heihachi tried to cover Kazuya from Devil's laser beam. Kazuya responds by grabbing Heihachi and use him as a human shield from Devil's laser, and tosses Heihachi aside when he's close enough to uppercut Devil to death.
• Pragmatic Villainy: While the Mishima Zaibatsu was more evil under Kazuya, that's more due to this trope than Heihachi being some Anti-Villain. Heihachi wasn't as inclined to have people assassinated or make links with the criminal underworld, but he was still highly unethical at best. He was smart enough not to do anything overtly criminal (or at least, to not get caught doing it). He's still a thoroughly selfish, power-hungry bastard through and through.
• Promoted to Playable: Was the unplayable final boss in the original arcade version of Tekken 1. He became an unlockable character in the home port, and has been playable in every subsequent game (usually by default).
• The Protagonist: In 2 and 7. In the latter case, the Story Mode opens and ends with you playing as him. Not counting the Extra Match against Shin Akuma, of course.
• Psycho Electro: Some of his attacks have electrical properties, and he's an asshole.
• Rasputinian Death: Before finally dying, he survives being tossed off a cliff, being punched through a wall by Devil Jin, blown up point blank by several Jack-4 robots, crashing into another place as a result of said explosion, sustaining Akuma's Raging Demon, and finally, blasted by several lasers at once by Devil Kazuya. What finally kills him is a heart-stopping, devil-powered strike to the chest by Kazuya, then getting thrown into a lava pit for good measure.
• Rated M for Manly:
  • A ripped old man wearing nothing but a worn karate gi has an impossibly cool horned hairstyle and can match supernatural entities with his own raw strength and combat prowess. He gets even manlier with age.
  • As for his guest appearance in Soul Calibur II, 'Hachi needs no stupid weapons; he'll beat you senseless with his bare hands.
• Recessive Super Genes: He's the only member of the Mishima family who doesn't have the Devil Gene.
• Refuge in Audacity:
  • In the first two games, being dropped off a cliff is enough to keep him out of action for roughly two years. In the fifth, though, he takes multiple miniature nuclear bombs to the face and isn't even scratched; instead, he is thrown several hundred miles through the air and crash lands into the hard earth. He's mostly just annoyed.
  • His way of taking care of Jin and Kazuya in his endings in 5 and 6. He straps them onto a rocket in 5, and sends them plummeting into Earth from a space station in 6. In the latter case, though, Kazuya is not about to go gently into the night, and successfully pulls Heihachi with him to burn up in the atmosphere.
• Self-Made Orphan: Attempted with his dad; he had to settle for sealing him away forever under the family home. Conversely, he is the target of his son and grandson (and those two want to do the same thing to each other).
• Serial Escalation: Most of his endings tops the one before it. From dropping Kazuya off a cliff (in the backstory), he drops him into a volcano in the second game. In the third game, he throws Jin out of a helicopter. In the fifth game, he launches Kazuya and Jin into space. In the sixth game, he drops them FROM ORBIT, but Kazuya screws him over as well by dragging him along for the fall.
• Silver Fox: There's evidence within the Tekken universe that points him toward this.
• Smug Snake: Bar Tekken 2, his plans rarely go how he wants them to. And he wouldn't have been in that situation if he hadn't lost to Kazuya in Tekken 1.
• Social Darwinist: He threw Kazuya off the cliff to test his strength as a worthy successor to his corporate empire. He will also immediately respect someone if they show enough ambition and resolve, so long as they don't stand in his way.
• The Starscream:
  • According to 7's story mode, Heihachi took over what would become the Mishima Zaibatsu from his father Jinpachi.
  • Having lost control of the Zaibatsu to Jin by the time of 6, Heihachi wants to take it back. He succeeds by the beginning of 7's story.
• Start of Darkness: 7 reveals his: In one year, he wrested control of the Mishima clan from Jinpachi, who had wanted to stray away from being a warmonger and focus his devotion to martial arts. Meanwhile, he was forced to kill Kazumi, who had revealed that she had married the Mishimas to kill him. This leads to his hatred towards Kazuya and Jin; both of whom hold the cursed blood that drove Kazumi to make her attempt on Heihachi's life.
• Straw Nihilist: Shades of this in the game, addressed in Tekken: The Motion Picture where he states to Jun that people's beliefs are killing themselves and others, and he thinks the world should be wiped clean so they can start again. Jun is utterly disgusted by this.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Another possible interpretation of his Start of Darkness. Having to kill his beloved wife in self-defense, he may have decided to become the very warmonger they tried to stop him from becoming in order to destroy them for what they made him and Kazumi do to each other.
• The Trains Run on Time: Heihachi considers it beneath him to allow his company, or the territory it controls, to become shoddy, run-down, or inefficient.
• Ultimate Life Form: After encountering Ogre and witnessing his grandson transform into a Devil, he combines genetic material from the two to create an ultimate weapon for world domination.
• Unreliable Narrator: There are some hints that Heihachi's autobiographical story to the nameless reporter in 7 is not entirely truthful, as he paints himself in a far more heroic light than all other accounts indicate. His motivation is to increase his publicity for the war against Kazuya and G Corporation. He explains that he killed Kazumi in self-defense and wanted to eradicate the Devil Gene by killing Kazuya, justifying his continued conflicts against his progeny. However, this runs contrary to his past motivations of wanting to appropriate the Devil Gene for himself. Considering the sliding nature of Tekken's story, this version of events may only be true for Tekken 7.
• Use Your Head: His "Stonehead" throw (which a male opponent can keep going back and forth with him on). One of his moves is a headfirst forward lunge to his opponent. This is also the second hit of his Rage Drive.
• Villain Protagonist: A case could be made that Heihachi is the true protagonist of the Tekken series. He is, after all, the only one of his bloodline to be in every game, and he is always the driving force of the plot, whether he's the game's main protagonist/antagonist. Word of God has recently painted him in this light with the advent of Tekken 7, seeing as how they want it to be the final battle between the Mishimas.
• Villain Respect: Heihachi is a typical Machiavellian villain. While all he cares about are his ambitions, he will still give credit to others when it's due. Heihachi generally likes people with strength, refined tastes, and manners.
  • He was impressed enough by Ling Xiaoyu after she stormed his boat and beat up his guards to give her a full scholarship to his school and a panda bear for a bodyguard.
  • During the Scenario Campaign in Tekken 6, he only attacks women such as Ling and Anna after they stand in his way, and he feels he has no choice. He openly expresses distaste at fighting women.
  • Kuma I and Kuma II are the only known characters that Heihachi always respects.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Founded the Tekken Force to promote world peace, repair the damage Kazuya had done to the Zaibatsu's public image, and hunt down and capture ancient demonic fighting gods to find out how to harness their power.
• Villainous Valour: In his final duel with Kazuya, he acts somber and almost respectful towards his son.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: If not clad in his dogi, he'll be shirtless. 4 has in a fundoshi.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: It turns out the real reason Heihachi had thrown Kazuya down the ravine all those years ago was because of Kazumi's attempt on his life while her Devil Gene was active. With his trust destroyed, paranoia overcame him in thinking Kazuya was also embedded with the same power; combine that with Kazuya explicitly trying to kill him as well due to Kazumi's death, and Heihachi tossed him down the ravine to see if he had inherited the Devil Gene and thus survive the fall. He did, and thus Kazuya's Face–Heel Turn was cemented for the rest of the series.
• Would Not Hit a Girl: Heihachi considers himself a gentleman with chivalrous manners. He deliberately tries to be respectful to women and young girls, to the point that he is disgusted when he finds the Tekken Force (which he considers his even under Jin's command) attacking one lone girl. But, if any lady stands against him, he'll take them down all the same.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Seriously. He has a powerbomb and an atomic drop as throws. In Tekken: Blood Vengeance, his grandson Jin discovered that Grandpa Mishima has added a German suplex to his moveset.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • In Tekken 3 to his own grandson, whom he used to lure Ogre out of hiding and then tried to kill once the latter was defeated.
  • The continue screen for the Jinpachi/Heihachi battle in Tag 2 has him do this to Jinpachi, sending him plummeting down a trapdoor. He sure is fond of those things...
• You Killed My Mother: 7 reveals he killed Kazumi, Kazuya's mother. Kazuya devoted his life to avenging his mother.