Fighting Game Rival Histories
Episode 8: Jin Kazama Vs The World
Jin Kazama had been the main protagonist of Tekken since Tekken 3, as the prodigal son of Kazuya and grandson of Heihachi. Born from Jun Kazama, the young prodigy fought off the Devil Gene within Kazuya. Jun raised Jin and trained him of the Kazama style self defense.
Several years later, Jun sensed great danger and warned Jin. Should anything have happened to her, he would find Heihachi Mishima. The premonition Jun made came true when she was attacked by Ogre several days before Jin turned 15. I;m snot sure how but he was unconscious. He awoke amongst the rubble, seeking revenge. He was taken in by Heihachi Mishima and trained him in the Mishima-style martial arts. (Goju Ryu in real life)
To me, Jin was deemed a tragic hero, until Tekken 6 when he took the seat of the Mishima Zaibatsu and began a global warfare against the world, taking over oil companies, military powers and more. Before this, his Tekken 3 ending, I was sure that died from automatic weapons, as well as a shot to the by Heihachi, only for Jin to return as Devil Jin, taking Heihachi down before flying away.
In Tekken 4, in Brisbane, Australia, he unlearned the Mishima-style Karate and trained in the traditional art of Karate. Since Heihachi's betrayal, Jin loathed everything about him, including the Devil Gene in his blood. The 4th King of Iron Fist tournament began and Jin competed, testing his new style until he encountered Hwoarang, a Tae Kwon Do ace from Korea. Hwoarang was a street punk, picking fights for money. One day, Jin defeated him. Hwoarang had a good streak until his defeat, and since then, he wanted payback. In Tekken 4, Hwoarang was in the military, but the yearning for revenge couldn't be quelled, so he snuck out entered the tournament to seek out Jin. They met inside a parking garage.
"You're finally here," said Hwoarang
"So, what do you want?" Jin asked.
"I never got to fight you at the last tournament. I'll take you on right here, right now."
"There's no reason to fight."
"You ain't got one? Well I do!"
After the battle, the Korean military finally caught up with Hwoarang.
"Sergeant! Desertion is an offense punishable by court martial. Give yourself up, soldier!"
Rather than surrender, Hwoarang and Jin took cover behind a car as the soldiers opened fire. One of them launched a grenade from his rifle to destroy the car. However, Hwoarang and Jin both disappeared. They would meet again. However, Jin was captured. He found himself in the nightmare with Kazuya mocking him.
"Give in to the hate. Hate me. Curse me!"
"RISE, JIN KAZAMA!"
When he came to, he found himself in Honmaru, where his father, Kazuya Mishima met him for the first time. Jin was released and struggled for air. Purple aura escaping him.
"You! If only you were dead... Once I kill you, it'll all be over!"
Jin combatted his father for the first time. Kazuya had returned after 20 years since he was thrown into a volcano by Heihachi. Jin gave him everything he had and defeated him.
"What a pathetic wretch... worthless coward," Heihachi mocked his defeated son. He turned his attention to Jin. I will make your power mine. Time to die, boy."
The fight began. This was Jin's chance of ridding himself of the Mishima bloodline forever. His Traditional Karate saw him through the fight and survived. Jin was about to finish him when pitch black wings sprawled from his back. Before the finishing move, an image of his mother, Jun, flashed before him, as if it was a sign. And with that, he released Heihachi.
"Thank my mother... Jun Kazama." Jin took flight, unknown to him that G Corporation was arrived to assault Honmaru with a series of Jack units.
Meanwhile, Jin lost his internal struggle with the Devil Gene with the reawakening of Jinpachi Mishima, who would host the 5th King of Iron Fist tournament. He remembered that he had avenged his mother after defeating Ogre two years prior. Regardless, he entered the tournament. He fought Hwoarang again as promised, but the Devil Gene took over, which allowed Hwoarang, despite his arrogance, defeated Jin, but for some reason, he felt dissatisfied. Jin went on and managed to defeat Jinpachi, freeing him of the curse that plagued him by his son, Heihachi, within the last 40 years. Afterward, he took the seat as CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
Amongst the tragic family history, other than Hwoarang, there was a young Chinese girl, Ling Xiaoyu, who also debuted in Tekken 3. The way I see it, Ling developed an interest in Jin as they went to school together. Even though Jin could be described as a friendly fellow, the Devil Gene would not allow him to attain friendship with anyone, not even Ling.
When Jin took over Mishima Zaibatsu, he used his new military power to wage war against the world. Rumor has it that a evil beast known as Azazel prompted him to do so just for the chance to combat the beast and sacrifice himself to destroy it. He did this in hopes of a cure, even though his benevolent actions destroyed countries, cost thousands of lives and even made a lot more enemies along the way, including G Corporation, now run by Kazuya from behind the scenes. The G Corporation responded to the 6th King of Iron Fist tournament announced by the Zaibatsu, and Kazuya placed a hefty bounty on Jin's head, for anyone who can capture him, though I find it unclear if kazuya would have kept his word, especially with Jin's capture, dead or alive. This shows that no matter painful it was to Jin, despite everything that had happened to him, he's still a protagonist doing what he can to set thing right at every turn. There was, however, one man hell bent on revenge: Miguel Caballero Rojo from Spain. Miguel witnessed a tragedy on the day of his sister's wedding, who he oversaw from the outside looking in as the black sheep of his family. Two jets were flying overhead, as if it was part of the festivities, but it never appeared so as it was actually an air raid orchestrated by the Mishima Zaibatsu. As a result, Miguel's eyes burned with murderous rage against Jin, holding his dead sister in his arms, and entered the 6th tournament to make him suffer the consequences. Whether he was successful or not is unknown.
Nina Williams also worked with Jin behind the scenes as a right-hand, bodyguard and good friend, though I'm not entirely sure how they became friends. Her sister Anna worked with Kazuya. Sibling rivalry at its finest I must say, though I understood the reason for their war against each other. If I recall, Nina was drugged when she was young by an underground force to create a perfect assassin, in much the same way as Amelie LaCroix of Overwatch when she became Widowmaker, though I don't know if the drugs were involved. Anyway, Nina developed bitter hatred towards men as a result of defilation in Tekken 2. Her father was the only exception, until he was murdered after the 2nd tournament. Though her personal agenda is unclear during those events. In Tekken 3, she failed to assassinate Kazuya. She was forced to become a test subject for cryogenic research alongside Anna, and both were used as guinea pigs Bosconovitch's Cold Sleep No' 2 experiment. After 15 or so years, Nina was awakened by Orge's spirit and was in its control to assassinate Jin, but Jin saved her somehow. In Tekken 4, she was assigned by a syndicate group to assassinate Steve Fox, a boxing champion from the Great Britain. Steve was forced to throw a high stakes fight, but won the fight instead, and lived a life on the run. Nina encountered him. Steve suddenly remembered her...
"Mother...?"
Nina ran away with Hong Kong detective Lei Wulong in hot pursuit of her. I think the sibling rivalry between Nina and Anna began in Tekken 2 when Anna interrupted Nina's assassination attempt at Kazuya, or it could be when Nina visited her father's graveyard. She groaned in pain. Anna wanted to know what was wrong but Nina slapped her so hard and left angrily. Anna smiled. Either way, I think that's how rivalry started.
Back to Jin, during his takeover of the Zaibatsu, a young Swedish man named Lars, who would take Jin's position as a protagonist along with new partner, Alisa Bosconovitch, who secretly served Jin as his bodyguard. Jin was last seen in a desert before being taken in by Raven and Lars. Nina tried to capture him as she was working with Heihachi, but with the help of Lee Chaolan, Jin was in the hands of Lars again. News of the grueling war between Kazuya and Heihachi reached Jin's ears. After learning of Heihachi's demise at Kazuya's hands, Jin would take the opportunity to Destroy Kazuya once and for all. He will not rest until he is finally free of the Devil Gene. Only time will tell if he can achieve success after so long.
