Kazuya Mishima
Kazuya Mishima (三島 一八, Mishima Kazuya) is a character in the Tekken fighting game series. His first name means "eighteen" (lit. "one eight") in English; apparently he shares the second given Kanji with his grandfather and father.
History
Kazuya Mishima is the son of Heihachi Mishima, owner of the worldwide conglomorate Mishima Zaibatsu. When Kazuya was a child, he was thrown off of a cliff by his father, who claimed that his son was weak and if he was to be his successor, he was to not only live through the fall, but climb back up the rocky wall as well. Kazuya's survival was assured through a deal with the Devil -- if he could survive the event, he would kill Heihachi as revenge.
Tekken
Over the years, 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 Tekken tournament was announced, Kazuya took the opportunity for vengeance. The young Mishima overcame all opponents and came to battle Heihachi for the title "King of the Iron Fist", apathetic towards the tournament's proposed one billion dollar prize. Fueled by his hatred for his father, Kazuya won the fight and tossed Heihachi's unconscious body off of the same cliff he had fallen down as a child. This action was (more or less) what Heihachi had wanted to occur all along, as he wanted a ruthless and aggressive heir to take over the Mishima Zaibatsu after his death.
Tekken 2
Two years after the events of the original Tekken, a second King of Iron Fist tournament was announced by Kazuya, who claimed the Mishima Zaibatsu in his father's absence. Under Kazuya's leadership, the Zaibatsu became more corrupt than ever and engaged in many illegal activities such as assassination, extortion, and the smuggling of endangered species. Heihachi entered the tournament, seemingly unphased by the damage subjected to him during the first tournament. He reclaimed the Mishima Zaibatsu by defeating his son and Devil. To make sure that Kazuya would never again disrespect him, Heihachi threw his son into the mouth of a volcano. It would be nearly 20 years before Kazuya would reappear.
Before his defeat at the hands of his father, however, Kazuya ensured his legacy. In the game storyline, Kazuya became intimate with Jun Kazama, who conceived a child. Namco's ambiguity about this encounter has led to many theories in the fan community about what really happened. Some favor rape while others believed a full blown relationship occured. Still others believe the two were possessed by the Devil. An anime based on the Tekken series suggested that a confrontation between Kazuya and Jun Kazama sparked strange feelings in the two combatants, and the resultant exploration of those feelings ended in the conception of their son, Jin Kazama. As a result, many take this to be the truth although Namco hasn't verified it.
Tekken 3
Note: Kazuya does not appear as a playable character in Tekken 3. These events occurred while the tournament was taking place.
G Corporation, a biotech organization making advancements in the field of biogenetics research, ressurected Kazuya shortly after his "death." Kazuya investigated the biomechanics of the Devil Gene that was in him by subjecting himself to various experiments. If he found out the secret to controlling the Gene, he could become Devil once again and defeat Heihachi. Unfortunately, two years after the conclusion of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, a G-Corporation research facility in Nebraska was raided by the Mishima Zaibatsu's Tekken Force secret police squad, and their research was stolen. Kazuya was found moments after the raid and destroyed the Tekken Force. Angry that Heihachi had ruined his plans, he vowed to "take everything back".
Tekken 4
Kazuya entered the fourth tournament in hopes of beating Heihachi, however, he lost to his father in the final round of the tournament. After their battle, Heihachi escorted Kazuya to his Hon-Maru dojo. After subconsciously taunting his son, Kazuya lost to Jin and was knocked unconscious, and Jin Kazama then defeated Heihachi Mishima as well. Jin prepared to kill his predecessors, Heihachi first, until a vision of his mother appeared. Jin then let Kazuya and Heihachi live, using his Devil's wings to fly away. Moments after Jin fled, a squad of Jacks entered and tried to take out Kazuya and Heihachi. The two fought as father and son in an effort to destroy their mechanical assassins, but when Heihachi grew tired, Kazuya threw him to their enemies and escaped, transforming into Devil as Hon-maru was destroyed.
After hearing about the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, he entered the tournament to take out those who betrayed him, and to discover who is holding the tournament.
Tekken 5
Kazuya having been beaten by both Heihachi Mishima and Jin Kazama in the King Of Iron Fist Tournament 4, Kazuya fled Honmaru during and invasion by a battalion of JACKs. Leaving his father (Heihachi Mishima) at the mercy of the brutal robots. Kazuya took flight as Devil Kazuya just as Honmaru exploded. When the announcement that the King Of Iron Fist Tounament 5 was to be held, revenge filled Kazuya's veins and his decision to enter the competiton was swift.
Connections
Kazuya is the son of Heihachi Mishima and grandson of Jinpachi Mishima. He has a son, Jin Kazama, with Jun Kazama. Lee Chaolan is Kazuya's adopted brother, raised by Heihachi to be the young Mishima's "replacement" in family and business practice.
It also appears that when Kazuya was a child, he had a special bond with his grandfather. He respected Jinpachi more than his father. It is also assumed that Jinpachi could have been responsible for the original form of the Devil Gene. It appears that only this Gene is passed down through Grandsons, in this case Kazuya Mishima, and Jin Kazama, Jinpachi's great grandson. Heihachi cannot attain the Devil Gene if this is true, but overall he is supposedly as strong as Devil, which is quite possible considering the amount of punishment he has survived in the past. Due to genetics it could be assumed that Heihachi is a 'black sheep' of sorts, in that the gene for devil control skipped a generation, such as the genetics for black coloured sheep do.
Moves List
Analysis of Kazuya
In the original entry to the Tekken franchise, Kazuya was considered to be the primary protagonist. And for all intents and purposes, there was no reason to believe differently. According to differing sources (such as the animated movie and a brief scene in Ling Xiaoyu's Tekken 5 ending), Kazuya was actually quite frail and timid as a boy and was the victim of years of abuse at the hands of Heihachi. Indeed, Kazuya originally entered the first Rave War/King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to face off against his father, who was played up to be a corrupt corporate tyrant. Kazuya's clothing of choice--simple white pants) and red gloves and footpads--even helped to draw parallels to another "mysterious loner" hero--Street Fighter's Ryu. So most people (both within the game and in real life), simply wrote Kazuya off as the cliché fighting game hero.
There was only one clue as to Kazuya's true intents and nature: His secret PS One palette swap, which turned out to be Devil.
Tekken 2 saw Kazuya's true nature revealed in full. After killing his father (or so he thought), instead of bringing justice to the Mishima Zaibatsu and righting the wrongs of his father, Kazuya repeated the corrupt practices of his father and turned it into an even more ruthless organization. While Heihachi was merely ruthless, Kazuya was absolutely without conscience. He hired assassins to eliminate any of his critics or rivals (such as the father of Eddy Gordo), he attempted to extort money from several businesses and organizations, and he even smuggled endangered species and conducted genetic experiments on them (Alex and Roger). Of course, the reason for his evil deeds was because he had sold his soul to Devil all those years ago, and had allowed his hatred for Heihachi to consume him. Kazuya still had good within him (as represented by Angel), which constantly battled his evil side, and this would turn out to be his downfall. Heihachi managed to take advantage of his son's confusion caused by this internal war and defeated him in the second King of Iron First Torunament. Kazuya was then thrown into a volcano and killed, while the Devil in his body escaped and eventually made contact with Kazuya's son, who succeeded his father as the series' new protagonist.
Of course, G-Corporation eventually located Kazuya's remains and confiscated them. At this point, they either cloned or regenerated Kazuya's body (it's never made clear which) and then Kazuya made a deal to remain hidden within G-Corporation's labs and be tested on. Kazuya had learned from his mistakes. The next time he faced Heihachi, he wanted to be in full control of his Devil powers. Of course, this plan did not go as Kazuya intended; Heihachi ruined it by invading G-Corporation and stealing their research.
Since his original appearance, Kazuya's character has gone through many transformations: From hero, to villain, to anti-hero and back again. Kazuya is an undeniably sinister character. Whatever was left of his good side appears to be totally suppressed by his Devil persona. Kazuya no longer fights against his darker side, and the two seem to have come to mutual terms, as Kazuya can call upon Devil whenever he likes now (such as in his Tekken 5 introduction). This makes him one of the more unique protagonists in fighting games and makes him quite popular amongst Tekken fans. (Ironically, it was his popularity that made Namco decide to bring him back to the series in the first place.)
Trivia
- Since Tekken 4, Kazuya has been voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa
The name Kazuya is an anagram of the word Yakuza which is the name of the Japanese Mafia.