Kazuya Mishima

Kazuya Mishima (三島 一八) is a fictional character in the Tekken fighting game series. Although originally appearing as the main protagonist, he is now one of the series' leading villains.

Background
According to Namco's official backstory, Kazuya Mishima is the son of Heihachi Mishima, the long-time Chief Executive Officer of the Mishima Zaibatsu: a powerful worldwide conglomerate and its various subsidiaries. He is also the grandson of Jinpachi Mishima, foster brother of Lee Chaolan through the adoption of Heihachi Mishima, half-brother of Heihachi's illegitimate son Lars Alexandersson and father of Jin Kazama, having had a relationship with Jun Kazama.

When Kazuya was a five years old child, he was thrown off of a cliff by his father, who claimed that his son was weak. If Kazuya was to be his father's successor to the Mishima Zaibatsu throne, he was to not only survive the fall, but climb back up the rocky cliff as well. Kazuya nearly died from the ordeal, but his survival was assured through a deal with the Devil, who promised him enough power to take his revenge on his father.

In the years prior to the events of the original Tekken, Kazuya entered martial arts tournaments all over the world, becoming an undefeated champion (only Paul Phoenix ever managed a draw with him.) When the first King of Iron Fist Tournament was announced, Kazuya took the opportunity for vengeance. It is during the tournament that the original game takes place.

Tekken
Though all Tekken games feature multiple endings, the main plot of the first Tekken assumes that Kazuya's is a "correct" ending. According to this ending, he overcomes all opponents and battles Heihachi in the final round. Apathetic towards the tournament's proposed one billion dollar prize and fueled by his hatred for his father, Kazuya wins and drops Heihachi's unconscious body from the same cliff he had been thrown from as a child.

Tekken 2
Tekken 2 then picks up two years afterward. In this story, the Zaibatsu has become more corrupt than ever under Kazuya's leadership and engaged in many illegal activities such as assassination, extortion, drug dealing and the smuggling of endangered species. A second King of Iron Fist Tournament is also announced. Heihachi, having survived both his battle with Kazuya and the subsequent fall, enters the tournament, having trained and meditated in the hills after his defeat. This time, Tekken 2 assumes that Heihachi's ending is correct, and thus the official story states that he reclaims the Mishima Zaibatsu by defeating his son. Afterwards, Heihachi throws Kazuya into the mouth of an erupting volcano, killing him supposedly.

Absence from Tekken 3
The story for Tekken 3 begins by stating that, before his defeat at the hands of Heihachi, Kazuya became intimate with Jun Kazama, who conceived their son, Jin Kazama.

Kazuya does not appear as a playable character in Tekken 3, but he appears in Eddy Gordo's ending in a photo, and Eddy realizes that he is the man behind the murder of his father. He also appears alongside Jun Kazama in the game's alternate intro.

Tekken Tag Tournament
Kazuya also appears in the non-canonical game, Tekken Tag Tournament. Though he is featured prominently within promotional art and packaging for the game, it bears no weight on the series' official story.

Kazuya's return in Tekken 4
Kazuya returns as a central character in Tekken 4. His prologue in the game states that he was revived by G Corporation, a rival genetics company of the Mishima Zaibatsu, a few days after his supposed death. Kazuya allows the company to perform various experiments on him in order to learn the true nature of the Devil Gene within his body (although he does not know that they are only using him and plan to kill him afterwards), but an attack on the research facility by the Tekken Force twenty-one years later (sent by Heihachi to retrieve Kazuya's remains for the Devil Gene) impedes further success. Kazuya fights the Tekken Forces off, and vows to get his revenge on Heihachi in the recently announced King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, and at the same time, extract the half of his Devil Gene stored in the body of his son, Jin Kazama.

Kazuya makes it to the finals and asks Heihachi: " What have you done to Jin Kazama". Heihachi replies: " I will tell you after the fight." Kazuya was defeated and Heihachi, keeping his word, leads Kazuya to Hon-Maru, a Mishima compound where Jin is being held captive (he was captured by the Tekken Forces on his way to fight Kazuya in the seventh stage). Kazuya, influenced by Devil, knocks Heihachi out of the room with his psychic powers and subconsciously taunts Jin in order to wake him up. However, the plan backfires, and an enraged Jin defeats both Kazuya and Heihachi in battle, but spares their lives after seeing a vision of his mother, after which he takes flight.

Tekken 5
Moments after Jin's departure from Hon-Maru, Kazuya and Heihachi are assaulted by a squadron of Jack-4s sent to assassinate them by G Corporation (no longer needing him, they betrayed Kazuya). Kazuya manages to flee and left his father to die (although Heihachi survives). Vowing to get revenge on G Corporation for their treachery, Kazuya enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, in which he discovers his father's survival and the sponsor of the tournament: Jinpachi Mishima.

Tekken 6
Despite not winning the fifth tournament, Kazuya discovers the division of G Corporation that tried to kill him, and kills them all in revenge, becoming the head of the company and using it as the only powerful opposition to the Mishima Zaibatsu, led by Jin, who has begun world conquest and declared war on several nations. By this time, the world's population sees G Corporation as its only saviour though Kazuya's real purpose is to kill Jin and take over the world himself, and Kazuya uses the company's influence to his advantage: to stop Jin from taking over his plans for world domination, Kazuya places a bounty on Jin's head for whomever could manage to capture him alive and decides to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 (announced by Jin) to settle the score once and for all with his son.

Game endings
Tekken
 * Kazuya defeats Heihachi and picks up his body, throwing him from the same cliff that Kazuya was thrown from as a child. Kazuya then looks at the screen and smiles.

Tekken 2
 * Kazuya has defeated Devil and proceeds to leave the arena. Behind him the Devil stirs, then rises up. He charges his eye lasers to strike Kazuya in the back as he walks away. At the last moment Kazuya turns around and braces himself for the attack but then Heihachi throws himself in front of his son, absorbing the beam. Kazuya appears to reach toward his father's now-motionless body. Kazuya then smirks and charges toward the Devil, using his paralyzed father as a body shield against Devil's beam attacks, and tosses Heihachi aside at the last moment to strike Devil with a powerful uppercut. With Devil defeated, Kazuya shows a sinister grin.

Tekken Tag Tournament
 * Kazuya defeats Jin and prepares to walk away, but then sees Jin transform into Devil Jin, and prepares to fight once more.

Tekken 4
 * Kazuya defeats Heihachi in the tournament. Heihachi leads him to Honmaru. There, he sees Jin chained up. Devil takes over and explains that a part of him is within Jin. He knocks Heihachi out of the room with his devil powers. As he tries to absorb Jin's Devil Gene, Kazuya regains control. He, now, controls the devil. He orders Jin to wake up and fights him. Kazuya defeats Jin and laughs maniacally as he transforms into Devil Kazuya minus the red eyes, signifying Kazuya's control, and now free to take over the world.

Tekken 5
 * Kazuya manages to defeat Jinpachi in the final battle. Looking down at his broken grandfather he kneels down and holds him in his arms. Kazuya calling his name slowly wakes Jinpachi and for a second they reminisce back to the days when they used to train together. After smiling happily together, Kazuya's eye flashes red and a sinister grin appears on his face. He raises his arm and delivers a strike to Jinpachi's throat, killing him.  As the camera pans away, Kazuya laughs in delight.

Tekken 6
 * Kazuya comes out of Azazel's temple, only to see the Tekken Force surrounding it. Kazuya then shows the supposedely dead body of Devil Jin in his hands. The Tekken Force then lay down their weapons, and salute him. Kazuya then smiles and laughs evilly as the clip ends.

Family

 * Heihachi Mishima is Kazuya's father, while Jinpachi Mishima is his grandfather. Lee Chaolan is Kazuya's adopted brother and rival, raised by Heihachi to be Kazuya's "replacement" in family and business practice. In addition, Kazuya had a son, Jin Kazama, whom he conceived through Jun Kazama, making him distantly related to the Kazama family. Lars Alexandersson is also believed to be a half-brother of Kazuya.


 * Angel is supposedly Kazuya's good side, which was in constant conflict with Devil over control of Kazuya's soul during the time of Tekken 2. Angel has not been seen canonically since that game.

Rivals

 * Paul Phoenix considers himself Kazuya's rival, desperately wanting to settle their score once and for all.


 * Kazuya is responsible for the death of Eddy Gordo's father, prompting Eddy to seek revenge for his father by defeating Kazuya in Tekken 5.


 * In Tekken 6, Leo is pursuing Kazuya for revenge for the murder of Leo's mother, a G-Corporation executive.

Associates

 * Anna Williams, Ganryu, and Bruce Irvin were Kazuya's bodyguards. Roger and Alex were Kazuya's "Experimented Military Animals".


 * Jack-2 and Prototype Jack were created by the Mishima Zaibatsu while Kazuya was in control. Jack-6 was created by Kazuya's G Corporation.


 * G Corporation was a business partner for Kazuya before the fourth tournament, but they betrayed and tried to kill him before the events of Tekken 5. As of Tekken 6, he has destroyed the section of G Corporation that betrayed him and has taken over the company.


 * As of Tekken 6, Anna Williams and Bruce Irvin have returned to be Kazuya's bodyguards in the G Corporation.

Other appearances
In the 2010 live-action film Tekken, Kazuya is portrayed by American actor Ian Anthony Dale. The film version deviates heavily from the original game character. He sports a goatee and is Heihachi's right-hand man in Tekken Corporation, wishing to take over his father's company. In addition, rather than being a hand-to-hand combatant, Kazuya relies on melee weapons such as axes and Eskrima sticks. Furthermore, the Devil Gene subplot is not used in the film.

He also appears in Namco X Capcom and is slated to appear in both Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter.