Tekken 8 full roster leak seemingly confirmed by EVO character announcements
Two more entrants to the Tekken 8 roster were shown off over the weekend, but their appearance has shown off more than a typical character reveal would.
What looks like Tekken 7's final year at EVO came to a fitting conclusion as Pakistan's Arslan Ash took home his fourth EVO championship in the game in his sixth EVO appearance for Tekken 7. He took home the title by comfortably taking down Japan's Akihiro "Ao" Abe 3-0 in a Kunimitsu mirror match to cap off the Grand Finals – continuing the running trend of EVO 2023 finals being mirror matches as Mortal Kombat 11, King of Fighters 15, Melty Blood, Dragon Ball FighterZ and Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 all ended with the same characters facing off.
As we've come to expect from EVO finals, Katsuhiro Harada made an appearance before Top 6 to make an announcement. First to the bat was the announcement of the Tekken World Tour 2023 finals in New Orleans. But he knew people were here to see new Fighters for Tekken 8. First to the plate was everyone's favourite Wesley Snipes rip-off Raven, making his return after being absent in Tekken 7.
This was followed up by the announcement of Tekken 8's first newcomer – the 'Peruvian coffee queen' Azucena. In what's possibly the most relatable Tekken character, she's all about the coffee, with remarks about it being all over the trailer (even leading to the classic Coffee Vs Tea debate with Lili) and even a comical coffee ad seemingly being a part of her Rage Art. Azucena looks to be Miguel's replacement, sharing some moves with the Spanish fighter while holding a far more pleasant demeanour like Tekken 7's Josie. Her moveset revolves around split-second dodges – presumably thanks to her heightened senses due to excess caffeine consumption (like Fry in that one episode of Futurama). Basically, I've got a new main.
Get ready for the next battle
By confirming Azucena and Raven, Bandai Namco has inadvertently confirmed the Tekken 8 full roster leak that cropped up last week. An image of the character select screen appeared online (via Reddit) showing off the remaining fighters, including yet-to-be-revealed returning fighters like Alisa, Leo, Shaheen, the bears and Raven. As well as three new faces, including a woman placed next to the Mishima's on the screen and a guy who looks suspiciously like WWE's Cody Rhodes.
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Following the reveals of Azucena and Raven, Tekken fans noticed that the characters official renders matched those on the Tekken 8 full roster leak, pointing to the legitimacy of the leaked image. Not only that, but the name Azucena matches up with a leak from three months ago (via Reddit) that named the three newcomers. The post pegged Azucena as a Peruvian mixed martial artist whose "entire personality" is coffee which tracks with the reveal. It also named the two unknown members, the Cody Rhodes lookalike is Victor a "French UN agent that fights using spy CQC" and the final contender is Reina who is allegedly the secret daughter of Heihachi Mishima – which is backed up by her character select placement with the rest of the Mishima's.
The Tekken 8 full roster leak also confirms that a number of fan-favourite fighters are sitting out of the eighth King of the Iron Fist tournament. Series staples like Bob, Eddy Gordo, and Miguel, as well as Tekken 7 favourites like Lidia, and Josie are nowhere to be seen. This also marks the first Tekken entry without Heihachi Mishima as a playable character – which was expected due to his death at the end of Tekken 7 – but it's still a shock to see they never found a way to bring him back considering the series' history with characters presumed to be dead. Although, there's no doubt Reina will adopt some of his move set, so the Robo-Heihachi dream is dead.
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