With fighting games being back in vogue, it’s surprising that there aren’t many 3D ones back in action.Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat,andKing of Fightershave 3D graphics but stick to the 2D plane for gameplay. The ones where fighters can move all around the stage, likeDead or Alive,Virtua Fighter, andSoulCalibur, are all currently dormant. However, the biggest of the bunch,Tekken, is still around and is bigger than ever.
Tekken 8’s default roster has 32 characters ready to duke it out against each other, which also means there’s going to be some significant gulfs of strength between them. This list compiles the characters who, be it one, twice, or multiple times, turned out to be the weakest ones in theTekkenseries.
Updated on February 2nd, 2024 by David Heath:Tekken 8is finally out and has made a big splash with its broader Story Mode, educational Super Ghost Mode, funky Arcade Quest Mode, and the return of the almighty Ball Mode. However, it also has a bundle of characters who stand above the rest of the roster in strength.
Jun Kazama is back and better than ever, and her son Jin is no slouch either. Azucena is also strong in the right hands, as she’s a tricky character to get to grips with. But there are some that require more effort to climb up theTekkentree. As such, this list has been updated to include a few more infamously underpowered characters, including one who’s currently bottom of the list atTekken 8’s launch.
15Jack
Tekken’ssequels improved so immensely on the original thatit’s hard to go back to it. It didn’t help that, according to producer Katsuhiro Harada, balancing wasn’t as big a priority during the infancy of 3D fighting games. Getting it finished and ported to the PS1 was a more pressing concern.
King can stuff everyone with his elbow, and the Mishimas introduced the world to their Wavedash shenanigans. Jack just had to take them because he was too big and slow to fight back. Even with his reach, he was the most disadvantaged member of the default roster. Still, he’d get better with each of his numbered upgrades, with Jack-8 being particularly strong inT8at launch.
14P.Jack
Prototype by Name, Prototype by Nature
Jack’s flaws inT1also applied to his sub-boss,Prototype Jack. Beyond his junkyard-looking design, there weren’t many fundamental differences between the two.Tekken 2changed that by giving P.Jack a new, military-inspired look and a few unique moves like his Flying Stomp and Body Smash throw. Story-wise, he was supposed to be Jack without humanity. An all-mechanical menace.
In practice, he’s more like a rough, incomplete version instead. His moves were slow, unsafe, and he lacked the few mix-ups the main Jacks had. InTekken Tag Tournament 1,Bandai-Namco embraced him as a joke character with his spanking side-throw and twirling attacks. Still, it didn’t help that, inTekken Tag Tournament 2,he needed a banned customizable crane move to compete against the roster’s big hitters.
13Wang Jinrei
Behold the Ravages of Age
There wasn’t much toWang Jinreiin his early games. He was the originator of the Waning Moon, a throw that left the opponent vulnerable to attacks from behind. But unlike Ogre inTekken 3, he didn’t have the tool set to make that throw a nightmare to deal with. He was basically Michelle/Julia Chang with a Deathfist and fewer follow-ups.
TTT1began to switch up his moves a touch, and thenTekken 5changed his animations entirely to give him a largely unique move set. They just about kept him out of that game’s bottom tier, and he had improved enough to reach B-Tier inTekken 6. Which is just as well, because this was his last canonical appearance, where he went out with a bang. (Just ignore his C-D Tier appearance inTTT2afterward.)
12Roger, Roger Jr., and Alex
When The Joke is On the Player
T2was such a vast improvement overT1that it was hard for some to believe it was made with the same arcade tech. It’s easier to believe now, as it’s still more rigid than later games, and it still had the annoying moon jumps. But it was jam-packed with characters and secrets. For example, if players won the last round of Stage 3 in Arcade Mode with 5% or less health, they’d fight eitherRoger the kangarooorAlex the dinosaur.
They essentially used the same move list as King, but without the multipart throws and with some unique strikes that left them open if blocked. Roger’s wife and son got more nimble inT5, which got them as high as they would get competitively. After that, they went back to joke status. Though if players could get to grips with their odd moves, they could get the last laugh.
11Kuma & Panda
Grizzly Results
If there were anyTekkencharacters comparable to classic gag-meisters likeStreet Fighter’s Dan, they would be the bearsKuma & Panda. Not that this was always the case. Kuma I fromT1and2was basically a bigger, slower Jack who held his own better than P.Jack.T5even saw his son, Kuma II, and his crush Panda reach upper mid-tier status thanks to their long reach and crouching stance.
But from theirT3debut toTTT2, their slow speed made them easy to sidestep, counter, and punish. Even when the bears gained somewhat separate fighting styles inTekken 7, they joined Lars and Yoshimitsu at the bottom of the list.T8saw Kuma adopt more of his old master Heihachi’s moves, and Panda fight more like her guardian Xiaoyu, and they actually made it to A-Tier! Only time will tell if they’ll stay there.
10Gon
Everyone Kills the Dinosaur
Taken from Masashi Tanaka’s titular manga,GonisTekken’s first guest character, and was the only one until Akuma, Geese, Negan & co turned up inT7. He’s a tiny orange dinosaur that can be unlocked by beating him inT3’s Ball Mode, which wasn’t difficult. LikeYoda inSoulCalibur 4,he was so short he could jab at his opponent’s legs while they were swinging at the empty air above him.
Or he could if his moves weren’t terrible. Gon’s attacks had a pitiful range thanks to his stubby limbs. His charge attacks and fireballs could be easily sidestepped, as could his fart attack. It didn’t stop him from becoming one of the series’ best novelty characters though. However, due to licensing issues, Harada ruled out any possible return for the orange dino, so he’s a one-game wonder.
9Dr. Boskonovitch
He Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down
Gon wasn’t the only (in)famous gag character inT3. If players complete its Force Mode three times to collect enough keys, they can fightDr Boskonovitchon the 4th run and unlock him. In lore, he’s the scientist who created the Jack robots, Yoshimitsu’s cybernetic, spinning hand, his robo-daughter Alisa inT6, and more. In gameplay, he’s anold man who can’t stand up straight.
He was deliberately complex, requiring multiple directional presses just to avoid falling down constantly. Then his basic throw was a weak multipart, and instead of a ten-hit combo, he had a twenty-hit one that was as hard as it was easy to dodge. Needless to say, he was bottom tier. He didn’t get much better when he got a new move set inTTT2, but at least he learned how to stand up on his own.
8Lei Wulong
The Hong Kong “Super Police”Lei Wulongis quicker than Jack, and not a gag character like Roger & Alex. But as one of the series’ mainstays sinceT2, he’s gone up and down in quality like a yo-yo. He largely stuck around the upper-mid tier, withTekken 5: Dark Resurrectionbeing his peak at S- Tier, whileT7brought him down low.
His nadir was inTekken 4, where his multiple stances and tricky mix-ups weren’t enough to make up for his lack of strength and harder juggles. Players had to put more time into making Lei viable. Even then, the likes of Jin and Nina could shut him down with considerably less effort. Knowing one stance from another couldn’t overcome the power of their Just-Frame Laser Scraper and Ivory Cutter.
7Bruce Irvin
Kickboxing Chump
Bruce Irvin’s appearance here may seem odd. For most of his appearances, he’s actually been one of the strongest fighters inTekken. He was quick, nimble, and powerful, with a long reach, strong launchers, and nasty juggles. InTTT2, he was the strongest non-Mishima character in the game, and stood high above regular Jin and formerT5boss Jinpachi.
But when Bruce was brought back into canon inT5, he was at the bottom of the barrel. He got slower, and his moves got worse at tracking the opponent. Just as Jin was significantly nerfed after his broken run inT4, Namco tried to balance Bruce out more. He would have to wait untilT6to get his groove back.
6Zafina
An Inauspicious Debut
Debuting inTekken 6,Zafinawas one of the more interesting new characters. She was tied to the story and its big boss, Azazel, and she had a weird fighting style that was good at confusing opponents with their shifts and mix-ups. For some, she was strong enough to hang in the upper tier. But most rank her as the worst character in the game.
The tier differences inTekkenaren’t usually as serious as 2D fighters. However, master players could see through Zafina’s tricks. Many of her moves hit mid or low, making her susceptible to low blocks and parries. Then, like Lei, she required a lot of practice to get her combos and juggles going.T7andT8improved on her flaws by building on her pressure tactics, and giving her attacks a damage boost.
