King

Lore & Background

The first King was a brawling orphan who was later adopted by a respectful family. He became a masked wrestler and entered the tournament with the intention of building an orphanage to prevent other children from turning into the type of person he once was. In the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2, King I encountered fellow wrestler Armor King, who convinced him to return to wrestling and continue participating in tournaments to help the orphanage. King I was later killed by Armor King (though some sources suggest Ogre's involvement, the established canon is that Armor King killed him). The second King was a street urchin brought up in the first King's orphanage. Until age 24, he worked hard with King until news broke of the first King's death. Seeing the orphanage would crumble, this man donned the mask of King and imitated his style. One day, a stranger with a black jaguar mask visited the new King, introducing himself as an old friend. This man revealed himself to be Armor King, who was interested in finding out if the rumors of a new King were true. For four years, the two trained, and the new King learned quickly, maturing into a forceful wrestler with extreme power, known as King II. By age 28, he was a worthy heir to the throne, but longed to punish the one responsible for the original King's death.

In Their Own Story

After the third King of Iron Fist Tournament, King II discovered that his master, Armor King, had been killed in a bar fight. The murderer, Craig Marduk, was arrested in Arizona and sent to prison. After being released, Marduk challenged King II to a tournament in Tekken 4. King II won. King II followed him to the hospital to finish him, but decided to spare Marduk after feeling cruel for killing him because of his desire for revenge. However, King II discovered that Marduk, in a black jaguar mask resembling the original Armor King, had challenged King II on television. King II accepted and defeated Marduk, leading to their friendship. Later, Marduk revealed he was attacked by the man he was convicted of killing, Armor King. Determined to uncover the truth, King II and Marduk entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6. They discovered that the other Armor King was the younger brother of the original. King II returns as a playable character in Tekken 7, with an alternate costume based on New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestler "Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada available for him in 2017. King II enters the tournament to pay for the hospital bills of Marduk and Armor King II and to reconcile with them and his old orphanage. The next tournament's host Kazuya Mishima reveals himself as a devil and announces the King of Iron Fist tournament 8. King II joins Jin Kazama's side after learning about Kazuya's evil plans. Later, King and other fighters help restore Manhattan while celebrating freedom from G Corporation's tyranny. In his Tekken 8 ending, King II battles a British boxer named Steve Fox in the quarterfinals.

Reader's Guide

King is known for his professional wrestling attacks and has an arsenal of huge amounts of moves on his command list. King holds the record for having the most moves in the Tekken series, notably in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 7. King has been able to perform the Sharpshooter since Tekken 2. Other moves he uses include the "Frankensteiner", while his "Muscle Buster" pays homage to Suguru Kinniku's "Kinniku Buster." In Tekken 3, the King moveset got even more detailed with more chain throws, and King received additional new wrestling moves such as Rolling Death Cradle, Winding Nut, Stretch Buster, and many others. Benjamin Turner from GameSpy described King's chain throws in Tekken 5 as "ridiculously intricate." In Tekken 8, King gained some additional moves inspired by famous pro-wrestlers, such as Triple H's Pedigree and Randy Orton's RKO. The physical portrayal of King's movements was done by Japanese professional wrestler Minoru Suzuki, who lent his expertise to the character's motion capture sessions. King is seen to be mostly growling throughout the Tekken series.

Did You Know?

• In Tekken 7, King's move count is 186 according to game data, though this is not an official Guinness World Record.
• King's 'Muscle Buster' move pays homage to Suguru Kinniku's 'Kinniku Buster.'
• The physical portrayal of King's movements was done by various wrestlers through motion capture; Minoru Suzuki is not officially credited for King's motion capture.
• Tizoc, a character from The King of Fighters, takes inspiration from King and shares similarities with his appearance, though Tizoc wears an eagle mask as opposed to King's jaguar mask.