02 November 2023 , 18:00
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Tekken 8 has announced the second series newcomer arriving in the game when it launches on January 26, 2024.
Tekken has one of the most vast and multicultural casts of any fighting game, with a large amount of countries being represented in the series. Despite this, the series has shockingly never had a French fighter (although Lili – hailing from Monaco – does speak French). That is, until now, as Bandai Namco has revealed Tekken 8's second newcomer following Azucena's reveal back in August, French agent Victor Chevalier.
Victor is described as a "living legend" who has descended from a lineage of distinguished knights on the official Tekken 8 website. What's also notable for those who love the Tekken lore is that he is the founder of the Raven Force, which should give you a good idea of how the character is going to play, with a number of teleports and tricky techniques.
The other major factor about Victor is that he's voiced by none other than French cinema legend Vincent Cassel. a Cesar Award-winning actor best known to English audiences for his roles in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's films and HBO's Westworld.
This role marks the first video game appearance of Cassel, who describes himself as a fan of Tekken, saying "I discovered Tekken in the 1990s and I really started picking it up when Eddy Gordo was introduced. He was doing capoeira and back then, so did I, so I was only playing with him."
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Victor is modelled after Cassel's likeness, with the actor saying “What I like about Victor Chevalier is the fact that it’s a French character in such an internationally known game. In addition to that he is very sophisticated and promotes, through how he is and how he dresses, a certain idea of the French elegance. This, and the fact that I had been called to voice Victor lead me to be interested in the character.”
Time for a reunion
This news follows some brand new info from last month during IGN's exclusive IGN First coverage of Tekken 8 in October. The final bit of the news from the publication is the reveal of five returning fighters for Tekken 8. Those are Devil Jin, Zafina, Alisa Bosconovich, Panda, and the marvellous Lee Chaolan.
This was followed by confirmation that the final two fighters would be revealed on November 2 (that's today with Victor) and Sunday, November 12. As for who that last fighter will be, it's very likely to be a newcomer known as Reina who is allegedly the secret daughter of the recently departed Heihachi Mishima.
Considering the info in a huge roster leak was confirmed by Azucena's reveal, and that all of the info has lined up since then, the info about Reina seems to be right on the money. If there's anything the Tekken series needed more of, it's members of the giant Mishima family.