Source: tekken.fandom.com/wiki/Mishima_Clan

Have you ever heard of the Tekken series? Or perhaps have seen the characters of the videogame? The Tekken series is one of the most legendary video games ever for gamers. It is a three-dimensional fighting game by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was originally made for the arcade before leveling up to other gaming platforms such as PlayStation, XBOX, PC, etc. The first game of the series came out in 1994 with the title ‘Tekken’ and continued until now with the 8th game of the series, which is ‘Tekken 8’ in 2024. This makes the Tekken series the longest-running video game storyline and longest-running consistent videogame universe by Guinness World Records in 2017.

With this, Tekken players must have been very familiar with the characters and the storyline in the series. One of the most popular and significant characters in the series is the Mishima Clan, the root of the plot itself. The clan produces the protagonists in the series, such as Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, and Jin Kazama. However, this family’s dynamic is very intriguing, and the plot of this storyline is rooted in this family’s conflict. 

The Mishima Clan was originally a warrior clan that had the purpose of serving the Emperor. The family was the one who held the power to capitalize and provide the military resources for Japan. However, Jinpachi Mishima later moved the focus of his corporation from military to martial arts since he does not prefer unnecessary conflict. He built his own dojo and taught his own fighting style, the Mishima Style Fighting Karate. He taught his own son, Heihachi Mishima, and a girl from the Hachijo Clan, Kazumi. Heihachi and Kazumi gradually fell in love with each other and had a son, Kazuya Mishima.

Jinpachi Mishima

In the Mishima Clan, Jinpachi was a man who loved harmony, a man of honor and wisdom. He is one of the few people to show love to his grandson, Kazuya. He was the founder of the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation. Nevertheless, his life changed when his son, Heihachi, planned a coup against him and took over the company by force. His struggle to retake the company tragically failed as he was imprisoned by Heihachi beneath the Mishima temple, Hon-Maru. It became his place of death by starvation, before he would be possessed by a demonic entity.

Heihachi Mishima

Heihachi Mishima, a man with an overwhelming amount of ambition that gradually led him into the dark path. This ambition was shown in his action on planning the coup and taking his father’s company by force, due to his disagreement on his father’s direction of the company. This alarms Jinpachi and Heihachi’s wife, Kazumi. Kazumi had confronted him about his consuming ambition which he would ignore, until Kazumi attacked him.

Tekken 7 Story - Heihachi vs Kazumi

What Heihachi did not know was that Kazumi came with a reason, and that was a mission to kill him. Kazumi’s clan existed to keep watch over ambitious-driven people, like Heihachi, and eliminate them once they had crossed the line and became a threat to the world. Even though she loves her husband, she prioritized her duty. The Hachijo family has an abnormality, known as the Devil Gene. It makes the individual with this gene have the ability to turn into their devil form and possess an inhuman power. Kazumi has this gene, and it makes her become hostile toward her own husband, as she reveals her original intent to Heihachi. However, she failed her mission as Heihachi unalived his own wife due to betrayal and anger. 

Kazuya Mishima

Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi and Kazumi's five-year-old son, learned about his mother’s death and went to confront his father. Heihachi cruelly threw his son off a cliff, claiming that his son is weak and would only be worthy if he survives the impact and climbs back up. Unexpectedly, he survived due to the Devil Gene. That’s where it all began, the seed of resentment and hatred grew inside the boy’s heart to his father. 

Despite the incident, he continued to be raised by Heihachi in harsh teaching with physical and emotional abuse from Heihachi. Kazuya’s violent and cold personality was the result of the family’s harsh and violent environment. Kazuya became stronger and took over the corporation after throwing his father off of the same cliff he had thrown him. He became a corrupt and ruthless leader, just like his father. This continued on until he met a woman, Jun Kazama, whom he had taken an interest in and whom he respected due to her inner strength. They both became close as she attempted to save and purify him from the influence of his Devil Gene. Later, Jun became pregnant with his child and had a son named Jin Kazama.

Jin Kazama

Jin Kazama is the main character in most of the Tekken series games. His story begins when he was fifteen, when his mother sensed an approaching evil. Just as his mother had sensed, an Ogre came and attacked the mother and son. His mother went missing while he fell unconscious and went to find his grandfather, Heihachi, just as his mother had told him to do. He was trained by his grandfather and went to participate in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3. However, his grandfather betrayed him, in an attempt to kill his grandson. This triggers the Devil Gene in him as he survives and flees.

Source: Bandai Namco (Tekken 8 Official Website)

Due to his grandfather’s betrayal, Jin Kazama became an indifferent and detached person. Jin’s detachment led his friends to go to extremes to gain his attention, and yet, he still managed to maintain an indifferent demeanor. However, it is his way as an attempt to protect his loved ones from the Devil Gene, from himself. He had planned to destroy his family and himself, putting an end to the Mishima curse once and for all. However, he could not do it as he saw a vision of his mother and decided to be another person, unlike his grandfather and father, who liked conflicts. He took the road of not killing them. Thanks to his vision of Jun, his mother, he begins to value his own life. 

“Your own life is well worth protecting. Don’t you forget it.”

-Jun Kazama

Now, Mishima Family dynamics remains as one of gaming’s examples of complex family dynamics. Their story is tragic. It tells about power, domination, the consequences of actions, pain, and peace. The more Tekken evolves throughout the years, the Mishima clan acts as a reminder of how family relationships can affect not only the person but also the entire world.

Jun appearing in Jin’s vision in Tekken 8

It also reminds us how important the role of parents is for their children, how their parenting can affect the child’s life and behavior. For instance, throughout the chain of hatred in the Mishima family, Jun Kazama succeeded in fostering hope and healing for her child, which is important to break the pattern. Jin began to realize how meaningless revenge is and how he could break the patterns of the Mishima family by not acting to relieve his resentment and rage, but to protect the one he loves.

Can you kill me, Heihachi? If you kill me, this everlasting chain of hatred…

-Kazumi Mishima, Heihachi vs Kazumi