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Enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament inTekken 8, and experience one of the longest-running storylines in gaming history. Martial arts, father-son rivalries, the Devil gene, Tekken Forces, and fighting matches, of course, are all staples of the series.
With each installment of Tekken, new characters and plot twists are thrown in to spice things up. With Tekken 8, the reveal of a new character, Reina, is another part that adds to the mystery. Reina, the Purple Lightning, has her own secret goals as she appears in the game. Here’s who she really is.
Who Is Reina In Tekken 8?
At the beginning of Tekken 8,Reina is a student at the Mishima Polytechnical School, and not too much is known about her. She enters into the King of Iron Fist Tournament, and seeks out Jin Kazama to introduce herself, but gets ignored.
Soon, Reina and Jin meet again when they get matched against each other. It’s only whenReina uses Mishima-style karate against Jin, that he begins to get suspicious about her. A powerful punch from Reina reignites the devil power within Jin for a small moment.
Once Reina realizes what happened, she forfeits the match so Jin can win, and later tells himshe wants to help take down Kazuya.
After being taken back to Yggdrasil,Reina is able tolearn more about the Devil Gene, which is one of her ulterior goals. She joins the forces of Yggdrasil and the United Nations in their fight against G Corporation and Kazuya.
Throughout the story, asReina faces off against Rin Kazama, Kazuya in his True Devil form, and later Nina Williams, all take notice of the fact thatshe uses Mishima-style fighting karate.
During their fight together,Nina Williamsis the first to figure out who Reina really is, indicating that she’s related to the Mishimas.
Ultimately, it is confirmed in dialogue from Reina herself, thatHeihachi Mishima is her father.
The exact extent of her relationship with Heihachi, includingwho her mother might be, isn’t explored in Tekken 8. However, it’s clear that her inclusion in this game served as a sort ofintroduction and origin story for her, and that she will clearly be more important in later games.
If it’s to be believed that Reina really is Heihachi’s child,Reina is now related to Kazuya Mishima, Jin Kazama, andLars Alexanderssonin different ways.
Reina And The Devil Gene, Explained
WhileReina being Heihachi’s daughteris only one piece of the puzzle,her motive during the course of Tekken 8 revolves around understanding more about the Devil Gene.In her fight against Jin during the King of Iron Fist Tournament, she tries to bring out his devil power from within him.
“It would seem thethreat of deathis the key to the devil’s power.”
She tries to awaken the Devil Gene within herduring a fight against True Devil Kazuya, but survives the fight without succeeding in this regard. It’s only during the final showdown against Kazuya thatReina fully sacrifices herself by standing in the path of one of Kazuya’s laser beams.
Reina is revealed to have survived, along withfinally triggering the Devil Gene within herself.As she transforms into her devil form, she vows to avenge her father, Heihachi.
It seems that Reina hasenough knowledge of her heritage to understand she has the Devil Gene, but did not have a chance to learn more about it until the events of Tekken 8. Now thatshe has access to her devil powers, she likely plans to face off against Kazuya once again.
SinceKazuya is the reason for Heihachi’s demise, it’s very likely that Reina blames him.
