Heihachi Mishima

Heihachi Mishima (三島 平八) is a fictional and one of the main characters in the Tekken fighting game series. He is one of only four characters (the others being Paul Phoenix, Nina Williams and Yoshimitsu) to have appeared in every game in the series and he makes two appearances within the series as the final boss (in both Tekken and Tekken 4). He is also the only Tekken character aside from Yoshimitsu to be featured in the Soul series (he is a guest character in Soulcalibur II on the PlayStation 2 console).

Conception and creation
Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada has stated that Heihachi is his favorite character in the overall series. and the character he most frequently selects when playing. He further described Heihachi as a "very human character", stating that while focus had been placed on his appearance he found the character's philosophy more interesting, and that in the series he was a "perfect portrayal of the evil that lurks in mens' hearts", an evil "far more hideous than any made-up monster or demon." Heihachi's fighting style is not based on any existing style, and was instead created by the series' development team.

In video games
Heihachi is the son of Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Kazuya Mishima and Lars Alexandersson, the adopted father of Lee Chaolan, and the grandfather of Jin Kazama. He fights with Mishima Style Fighting Karate and is the founder and the Commander of the Tekken Force Unit. He has hosted half of the King of the Iron Fist Tournaments with the second, fifth and sixth King of Iron Fist Tournaments being hosted by Kazuya, Jinpachi, and Jin respectively.

Tekken plot history
In an attempt to eliminate his son's "weakness", Heihachi tossed Kazuya, his then 5-year old son, down a deep ravine, claiming that if he were truly his son, he'd be able to survive the fall and climb back up. Kazuya survived, but only because he made a deal with the Devil. To further motivate Kazuya, Heihachi adopted Chinese orphan Lee and raised him as a rival to his true son. After Kazuya had traveled abroad and became an undefeated champion, Heihachi announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to test him. Kazuya won the tournament, tossed Heihachi off the same cliff and assumed control of the Zaibatsu. Heihachi survived the event, and returned in the second tournament to defeat his son, and tossed Kazuya's body into a volcano to kill him. Later, he created a military force called the Tekken Force. Fifteen years after the end of the second tournament, in Central Mexico ruins they discovered Ogre, a creature with bloodlust for strong fighters. Seeking to create the ultimate lifeform from the creature, Heihachi took in his grandson Jin Kazama, trained him, and four years later announced the third Iron Fist tournament as bait. Ogre arrived and was defeated by Jin, only for Heihachi to in turn betray and attempt to kill him. Jin survived, transformed into devil, attacked Heihachi and flew away.

Afterwards, Heihachi attempted to combine his own DNA with that of Ogre, but discovered that he would need the Devil Gene as a catalyst, held by both his son and Jin. Unable to find Jin, Heihachi learned Kazuya had been resurrected by G Corporation, a rival company. To lure both to him, he held the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament with his very company's ownership as the grand prize. After the Tekken Force captured Jin upon arrival, Heihachi faced Kazuya in the finals. Heihachi defeated Kazuya, and led him to his Hon-Maru compound, where Jin was being held captive so they could fight. However Jin was able to defeat both, assumed his devil form and almost killed Heihachi. Stopped by a vision of his mother, Jin instead left, telling Heihachi he owed his life to her, flying through the compound's roof.

Immediately after Jin's departure, an army of Jack-4s built and sent by G Corporation invaded Hon-Maru. Heihachi fought together against them with Kazuya, but Kazuya betrayed and threw his father to the Jack-4s, using the diversion to escape. The Jack-4s piled onto Heihachi and one self-destructed, destroying Hon-Maru and seemingly killing Heihachi. However the blast had instead thrown him for several miles where he remained unconscious for the duration of the fifth tournament. Upon waking up, he made his way back to the Zaibatsu headquarters only for troops to block his path and to learn Jin had taken over the company. As a result he enters the sixth tournament in order to recover control of his company.

Endings:

Tekken:Heihachi was not a participant in the KOIFT 1.He hosted the tournament.

Tekken 2:Heihachi is seen carrying an unconscious Kazuya in his arms. He then throws Kazuya into a live volcano, and escapes via helicopter, smiling for his victory

Tekken 3:Heihachi has just defeated True Ogre. He takes a breath and sees Jin lying on the floor. a few moments later, we see Heihachi and Jin on a helicopter. However, Heihachi sees that Jin is showing signs of possession by Devil, so he picks up Jin and throws him out of the chopper, supposedly killing Jin.

Tekken Tag Tournament:Heihachi is shown the sitting on a floor(possibly in Hon-Maru)thinking about the fight he had with Jin and Kazuya and shows a grin.

Tekken 4:Heihachi and Kazuya are seen in Hon-Maru where Jin is held captive.Kazuya is then tangled in chains and is thrown in the air to hang with Jin.Kazuya struggles to break free but Heihachi tells him that the chains weakens your powers.Heihachi then walks off telling Kazuya that him and Jin helped him achieve his objective.

Tekken 5-Tekken 5 DR:Heihachi is seen telling the story of what happened to him after the explosion at Hon-Maru. He says that the explosion blew him miles away and that he woke up in a base in the middle of a forest, and that after he woke he went to a hill and look in some binoculars at the Space Center where Jin,Jinpachi, and Kazuya were chained around the rocket. As countdown continues Jin,Jinpachi, and Kazuya are shocked to see each other. The rocket blows away and they all scream while Heihachi has a victorious laugh.

Tekken 6:Heihachi is shown in a space shuttle where he has tied up Jin and Kazuya.The depolit door opens and Heihachi unties Jin and throws him into outer space.He then says "you're next Kazuya" and unties him but Kazuya manages to kick Heihachi causing him to fly into outer space with Kazuya.The trio catches on fire due to gravity kicking in and plunges in to Earth where they turn into sparkles. Ganryu is then seen watching them.

Other appearances

 * Heihachi makes a very brief appearance on the Tekken spin-off game, Death by Degrees. He appears on a monitor talking with Enrique Ortega, explaining that he has assigned the Tekken Force to help him. When Nina Williams arrives, he recognizes her as the great assassin, and signs off leaving Enrique to fight her. The player can choose on the last stage on Nina mode, whether they want to fight against Heihachi or Anna Williams (in case Anna mode has been completed).
 * Heihachi is one of the bonus characters available to play as or against in Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis for the PlayStation, alongside fellow Namco characters, including Richard Miller (from Time Crisis), Pac-Man, Reiko Nagase and fellow Tekkenites Eddy Gordo, and Yoshimitsu in his Tekken 3 incarnation.
 * He also makes an appearance as a playable character in the PS2 version of Soulcalibur II. This is currently the only game in which he speaks English. Also, he is the only character in the Soul Calibur series to fight unarmed.
 * Heihachi also makes a guest appearance in the RPG Tales of the Abyss as one of Anise's custom dolls.
 * Heihachi also appears in Pac-Man Fever, alongside Tiger Jackson, Astaroth from Soul Calibur, Reiko from Ridge Racer, and Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.
 * Heihachi makes a cameo appearance in the popular Italian satirical comic Don Zauker, where he fights the musclebound and libidinous exorcist, just to be beaten and shown "who has the best God".
 * Heihachi appears in Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 as an unlockable character.
 * Heihachi also appears in Namco × Capcom as a playable character.
 * In Ridge Racer 6, Heihachi can be heard as one of the race commentators (as an unlockable feature). He does not appear physically in the game, however.
 * In the 2010 film Tekken, Heihachi is portrayed by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

In other media
Tohru Fujisawa featured Heihachi as a cameo in his manga Great Teacher Onizuka, modeled after his younger appearance in Tekken. In it, he engages in an arm wrestling competition with protagonist Onizuka, shouting out controller inputs while the crowd shouts for him to "Do a combo!" Though Heihachi strains him for a moment, Onizuka defeats him, calling him "triangle head" as an insult. Heihachi cameos again in a later issue briefly, overseeing students as they clean graffiti from the school's walls.

Promotion and reception
In 2006, Namco released a Heihachi figurine as part of a Tekken 5 set based upon his promotional artwork for the game. While not posable, the PVC figure came with equipable clothing items modeled after those in the game. A "statue" of Heihachi modeled after his Tekken 5 attire also appears in the Namco-themed lounge available for Japanese PlayStation Home users.

In 1996, Gamest magazine named Heihachi the fifteenth best character of the preceding year, and in December 1997 he placed fortieth on their list of the fifty best video game characters. IGN called him "...one grandpa you don't want to come across in the retirement home", citing his ruthlessness in their profile of him. GamePro in their preview of Soul Calibur II ' s console ports called Heihachi's appearance in the series a landmark both as the second Tekken character to appear in the titles and as the first unarmed fighter in the series. GameDaily named his hairstyle one of the weirdest in gaming, stating "Heihachi Mishima is a tough old bird, and he's got the wings to show for it." GameSpot named him one of the top ten villains in video games at number three, describing him as one of the most interesting villains in fighting games and adding "Heihachi really has only changed in appearance. He has of course grown older and has received new clothes and such. But his style has pretty much remained the same, strong and powerful". Edge described him as "a legendary fighting game villain", and cited the impact of his supposed death in Tekken 5.