The story ofTekkenis the story of the Mishima Family. Like them or loathe them, they’re inextricably linked to practically everything that goes on in the series’ lore. Who killed Eddy Gordo’s father? Kazuya. Who made Dr. Boskonovitch create the Jack robots? Heihachi. Whose military bombing killed Miguel’s sister? Jin.
But the family tree goes beyond the big three. There are foster relatives, illegitimate children, and in-laws to consider, which can make keeping track of them tricky. So, for anyone curious, this is everyone in the Mishima family thus far, along with their backstories and how they’re connected.
Updated on May 17, 2025, by David Heath:With Tekken 8 out and about, fans will finally get to see how the Mishima Family saga ends. Or so the trailers suggested. Tekken 5 also said “Heihachi Mishima…is dead!” before revealing he was alive and playable. It’s why there are still some fans who expect Heihachi to return in some form or another, even after he died in a more obvious way in Tekken 7. Still, it looks like Bandai-Namco is sticking to its guns on Heihachi’s death, with both his pet bear Kuma and his illegitimate daughter Reina gaining much of his old move set. But only time will tell. Until then, this list has been updated with a few more Mishima family members, including the Mishima patriarch’s beloved pets. This seemingly completes the family tree, but with DLC characters on the horizon, there’s always a chance more Mishimas, Kazamas, Hachijōs, etc., could come out of the woodwork.
13Jinpachi Mishima
Strongest Fist
The patriarch of the Mishima Clan,Jinpachi Mishima, was a rather nice guy in life. He was originally considered the founder of the Mishima Zaibatsu. But this would later be retconned to him briefly running an arms company before resigning to focus on the family’s signature karate style. It was through his dojo that his son, Heihachi, would meet his future wife, Kazumi. Jinpachi would also train his grandson Kazuya as a young boy.
Still, he’d eventually succumb to Heihachi’s plot, who’d imprison him in their Hon-Maru temple until he starved to death. However, he was revived by a demonic entity, which threatened to take over his mind completely. He took control of the Zaibatsu in his son’s absence and held theTekken 5tournament in the hopes of finding someone strong enough to kill him before he was completely possessed. His great-grandson Jin was able to do the honors.
12Heihachi Mishima
The King Of Iron Fist
Heihachi Mishimaneeds no introduction. He was practically the figurehead for the whole series with his horn-shaped hair, nifty outfits, and absolute villainy. Taking control of his father’s arms business, he would expand it into the Mishima Zaibatsu, a vast conglomerate that ran multiple businesses in different industries. When his father objected, he locked him up in the family temple in a bid to starve him to death.
His brutal upbringing of his son Kazuya turned him into a literal monster, and his betrayal of his grandson Jin didn’t do him any favors either. His pursuit of power ranged from using his private army to carry out some very hostile takeovers, to investigating mystical entities like the Devil Gene and Ogre. His only regret was having to kill his wife, Kazumi, in self-defense. Age finally got the better of him when his heart gave out long enough for Kazuya to finish him offin their last battle.
11Kazumi Hachijō-Mishima
Host Of The Devil Gene
People thought Kazuya and Jin’s Devil Gene came from Jinpachi. ButTekken 7would reveal it all came fromKazumi Hachijō-Mishima. She was a childhood friend and rival of Heihachi’s, and the two would bond over their shared interest in martial arts. All seemed well as they fell in love, got married, and started a family, but she’d later suffer fevers and violent fits against her husband.
It would turn out that her family, the Hachijō clan, had suffered from demonic blood since ancient times, and mitigated it by using their power to finish off corrupt people in power. With Heihachi’s takeover of the Zaibatsu, she foresaw he’d cause more pain and suffering to come. Despite her feelings, she succumbed to her Devil form and tried to kill him. She failed but would set up a backup plan by asking Akuma to kill him, then her son ifhe inherited her Devil gene.
10Kazuya Mishima
Cold-Blooded Oppressor
Unfortunately for his mother, Kazuya Mishimadid inherit the gene, and Heihachi’s abuse only ensured he’d become a literal devil. He’d either use others to get what he wanted or beat them to a pulp if they were in his way. Having gotten his revenge on his father, he now aims to take control of the world both economically and through sheer strength. But to do that, he needs to beat his son and take his power for his own.
However, like Heihachi, he has some soft spots. He did love his mother and held Kazumi’s death against Heihachi right until their final fight. Then his reactions to Jun Kazama, from bothTekken 2’s lore and her return inTekken 8, suggest he has more conflicted emotions about her. He may find it harder to shed his humanity completely after all.
9Jun Kazama
Light Of Hope
By law,Jun Kazamaisn’t directly part of the Mishima family. Yet she would tie the Kazama clan to the Mishimas as their light counterparts. The Kazama clan has divine blood which purifies evil spirits and gives its memberslatent psychic powers. It was through this power that she saw Kazuya’s devil side. She originally entered the secondTekkentournament to investigate the Zaibatsu, but she stuck around to try and save him from his other persona.
Sadly, she failed, and Kazuya’s fate was seemingly sealed by Heihachi. But she did end up carrying his child. Jun would raise her son at her family home in Yakushima until Ogre came to her door. She fought it off to protect her son, only to go missing, presumed dead for years. She’d return in equally mysterious circumstances inT8, still hoping to bring peace to the Mishima clan.
8Lee Chaolan
Silver-Haired Demon
With no blood ties,Lee Chaolanmay be the one person who got to be adopted and disowned by the Mishima Clan and survived to tell the tale. He was originally a homeless orphan who fought to survive on the streets. Heihachi came across him on a business trip and was impressed with his strength. He adopted Lee and raised him to compete against Kazuya in both martial arts and business. In other words, Heihachi fostered a child just to play mind games against his blood child.
Getting one-up on Kazuya became Lee’s defining goal, either upfront inT1or behind the scenes inT2as his secretary. Once Heihachi reclaimed the Zaibatsu and (seemingly) killed Kazuya, he had no more use for Lee. He was cast out of the company and out of the family. But Lee didn’t mind. He set up his own robotics company and would aid any anti-Mishima effort either indirectly by helping Lars, or directly by competing in theTekkentournaments.
7Jin Kazama
Lightning Of Fate
Following Jun’s disappearance after her battle with Ogre, her sonJin Kazamafollowed her request to seek out his grandfather in case anything happened to her. After managing to get an audience with Heihachi, he agreed to take him in and train him in the family style. In aiding Jin’s quest for revenge against Ogre, he hoped he’d subdue the creature for his company’s research. But he did it too well, as Jin would destroy it in combat.
Heihachi tried to kill Jin afterward, which only unleashed his Devil form for the first time. Knowing he inherited the Devil Gene from his father, Jin would seek to endthe Mishima Clan’s cursed legacy. But as a result, he’d succumb to their worst impulses, taking over the Zaibatsu from Jinpachi and starting a world war just to eliminate what he thought was the gene’s source in Azazel. Proven wrong,T8sees him trying to make things right by fighting his father directly.
6Kuma I
Tekkenis famous/infamous for its different animal characters, and the first of the bunch wasKuma I. Yes, the series somehow went through two grizzly bears. There isn’t that much difference between the two either. The original Kuma was an abandoned bear cub that Heihachi found in the woods. He took it in and, as it grew up, noticed it was smarter than the average bear. Testing its intellectual limits, he ended up teaching it how to communicate through sign language, alongside how to fight. It could even speak a little Japanese!
The bear not only became Heihachi’s pet, but his most trusted bodyguard, and developed a fierce rivalry with Paul Phoenix through the first twoTekkentournaments. He likely would’ve stuck around if there wasn’t a 19-year time gap betweenT2andT3. At best, bears live up to 47 years in captivity, and Kuma I had already grown up inT2. So, the original bear has since passed away. But that wasn’t before he got to form his own grizzly family and have a son.
5Kuma II
Master of the Salmon
With his first appearance being in the series' most iconic game, and having appeared in every single entry since then,Kuma IIhas since overtaken his dad as the series' big bear. Mainly becauseT1andT2didn’t really give their characters many opportunities to show off their personalities. They had their poses, moves, and PS1 endings, but that was about it.T3and its subsequent sequels made bigger strides here with in-game dialogue, story mode cutscenes, special intros, Rage Arts, etc.
For example, like his dad, Kuma II is the only de facto family member Heihachi actually liked (but still tried to screw over in Kuma’s non-canonTekken 4ending). After his death, the bear practiced Mishima-Style Karate to help defend the Mishima Zaibatsu against Kazuya’s G-Corporation. This newfound cause still hasn’t distracted him from his long, fruitless quest to try and woo Xiaoyu’s pet Panda, nor from trying to make his late father proud by doing what he wasn’t able to do: beat Paul Phoenix.
4Asuka Kazama
Spirited Peacemaker
Asuka Kazamawas originally presented as Jin’s cousin, but series producer Katsuhiro Harada went back on that, saying their familial ties were more complicated. Nonetheless, she is part of the Kazama Clan and has some of their latent power to neutralize evil spirits. Not that she needed it, as she could neutralize situations just as effectively with her fists.
Born and raised in Osaka, she’d talk down/beat down street gangs until they agreed to play nice. Her aggressive approach to mediation would play into her reasons for competing in theTekkentournaments too, by either seeking retribution from Feng Wei for attacking her father or aiming to put Jin in his place inT6for starting a war. If only she didn’t keep getting interrupted by Lili’s over-the-top teases and pranks.
