With the reveal of Reina Mishima, another spawn of Heihachi Mishima, the base roster of Tekken 8 was made official. When Tekken 8 drops on January 24, 2024, the game will include 32 playable characters, including the return of long-time mainstays and several new characters to the Tekken franchise. However, when looking at this roster in comparison to that of Tekken 7, it falls short of surpassing its predecessor’s base roster.
Let’s take a look at both rosters.
First is the official Tekken 8 roster, consisting of 28 mainstays and four new characters, several of which I found exciting. However, what’s good about the Tekken 8 roster is we’re getting a lot of returning characters, including the return of Jun Kazama. And while we don’t know how she’ll fit into the story, who cares as fans have been asking for her return since she disappeared before the events of Tekken 3.
Tekken 8’s base roster (28 mainstays + 4 new characters)
- Alisa Bosconovich (returning)
- Asuka Kazama (returning)
- Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo (new to the series)
- Bryan Fury (returning)
- Claudio Serafino (returning)
- Dragunov (returning)
- Devil Jin (returning)
- Feng (returning)
- Lili (returning)
- Hwoarang (returning)
- Jack-8 (new to the series)
- Jin Kazama (returning)
- Jun Kazama (returning)
- Kazuya Mishima / Devil Kazuya(returning)
- King (returning)
- Kuma Mishima (returning)
- Lars Alexandersson (returning)
- Lee Chaolan (returning)
- Leroy Smith (returning)
- Leo (returning)
- Ling Xiaoyu (returning)
- Marshall Law (returning)
- Nina Williams (returning)
- Panda (returning)
- Paul Phoenix (returning)
- Raven (returning)
- Reina Mishima (new to the series)
- Shaheen (returning)
- Steve Fox (returning)
- Victor Chevalier (new to the series)
- Yoshimitsu (returning)
- Zafina (returning)
When comparing this to Tekken 7’s roster, it’s important to specify which Tekken 7 game you’re referring to. Unlike Tekken 8, Tekken 7 first appeared in the arcades (2015), and then it saw an update called Tekken 7 Fated Retribution (2016), which changed some gameplay mechanics and several characters. Tekken 7 Fated Retribution is also the version on which the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of Tekken 7 are based – so we’re going with that version.
Though, for some trivia, the original Tekken 7 arcade roster before Tekken 7 Fate Retribution was compromised of just 20 characters.
Tekken 7 console base roster (29 mainstays + 8 new characters)
- Alisa Bosconovitch (returning)
- Akuma (new to the series)
- Asuka Kazama (returning)
- Bob (returning)
- Bryan Fury (returning)
- Claudio Serafino (new to the series)
- Devil Jin (returning)
- Dragunov (returning)
- Eddy Gordo (returning)
- Eliza (returning) **
- Feng Wei (returning)
- Gigas (returning)
- Heihachi Mishima (returning)
- Hwoarang (returning)
- Jack-7 (new to the series)
- Jin Kazama (returning)
- Josie Rizal (new to the series)
- Katarina Alves (new to the series)
- Kazumi Mishima (returning)
- Kazuya Mishima (returning)
- King (returning)
- Kuma (returning)
- Lars (returning)
- Lee Chaolan / Violet
- Leo (returning)
- Lili (returning)
- Lucky Chloe (new to the series)
- Ling Xiaoyu (returning)
- Marshall Law (returning)
- Master Raven (new to the series)
- Miguel (returning)
- Nina Williams (returning)
- Panda (returning)
- Paul Phoenix (returning)
- Shaheen (new to the series)
- Steve Fox (returning)
- Yoshimitsu (returning)
** Eliza is a weird subject, as she was a promo / pre-order character, but some consider her a DLC character. For the sake of argument, Eliza was available before the console versions of Tekken 7 had any DLC revealed or announced.
While there’s just a five-character difference between the Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 base rosters, Tekken 7 (again, for consoles) did feature a larger number of newer characters. I just figured that the Tekken 8 roster would surpass Tekken 7’s. However, the real question is, will the entirety of Tekken 8 surpass Tekken 7?
Remember that Tekken 7 has a very long lifespan for fighting games (2015-2023). It saw multiple season packs, with a number of DLCs released during those seasons, and was the only Tekken title that was released for the PS4/Xbox One, and it’s wild to consider that 2023 is the final year for the game in terms of major fighting game tournaments. But in terms of the roster, when all was said and done, Tekken 7’s roster hit an astounding 51 characters! That’s more than the roster of Ultra Street Fighter 4’s 44 characters, Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition’s 45 characters, but it still falls short of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster of 86 characters!
Tekken 8 will be released on January 26th, 2024, for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and on PC (Steam).
