Heihachi Mishima Announced as Tekken 8’s Third DLC Character After His Return from the Dead

Tekken 8 launched to much fanfare earlier this year, and updates keep coming for the 3D fighter with the largest Evo numbers ever.

Just before the competition’s finals got underway, Bandai Namco took to the Evo 2024 stage to reveal Heihachi Mishima as the third DLC character for Tekken 8 in a bombastic new trailer.

Although he was thrown into a volcano at the end of Tekken 7 and director Katsuhiro Harada said last year that Heihachi was “completely dead,” it appears the head of the Mishima family is still alive and well after his lava bath.

There’s no direct gameplay of Heihachi in a match, but we do get glimpses of the demon-slaying karate master’s signature moves, such as his double palm, uppercut, and Wind God Fist.

It looks like Heihachi and the Mishima style will play a big role in Tekken 8’s first Story Mode expansion, with a group of “Tekken Monks” said to be taking down the remnants of the Mishima Zaibatsu.

Eddy Gordo and Lidia Sobieska also feature in the new chapter of the story, while Reina notes that “it’s almost time”.

Heihachi is depicted laughing as he walks out of a flaming landscape. However, it doesn’t look like the volcano from Tekken 7, as he now wears the same emblem as the Tekken monks. This implies that he is probably their leader.

Although Heihachi has died at least two or three times in previous games, he has never missed a Tekken team since the original, and it seems he doesn’t want to break that streak.

It was assumed that Reina would fill a similar role as the former leader of Mishima Zaibatsu, with similar moves and powers, but it seems that there is no better version of the original.

No release date has been announced for Heihachi yet, but it’s safe to say he’s still on track for a fall 2024 release, followed by another character in the winter.

Lidia will be released tomorrow, July 22nd, as the second DLC character in Early Access for Year 1 Pass holders. You can pick her up yourself starting July 25th. The new update will include Photo Mode and the new Beach Stage for all game owners.

Everyone will receive the new chapter in a future update, but no release date has been announced yet.

Either way, the man, the myth, the legend returns.

Bandai Namco couldn’t even keep him away for a whole year, like Capcom did with M. Bison’s similar return in Street Fighter 6.