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Heihachi Mishima is the man who started it all with Tekken 1, running a fighting tournament to reveal the devil and take it down entirely. However, the one with the devil gene is his son Kazuya, and they’ve been throwing each other off the cliffs for 20 damn years. For once, we saw Heihachi Mishima die in Tekken 7 in 2015, which is now under a huge red line of question with the latest Tekken 8 DLC update announcement.
Is Heihachi Mishima Dead?
No. Heihachi Mishima is alive, and he is set to return to the Tekken series in the upcoming Tekken 8 DLC update planned for Fall 2024. Now this is while the previous voice actor for Heihachi Mishima, Unshō Ishizuka passed away at the age of 67 in 2018, and the new voice actor is not yet announced.
Heihachi Mishima was beaten to death, and thrown into lava by Kazuya in Tekken 7, setting a path for his daughter Reina to gain the Mishima Zaibatsu in the future. But as it seems, that story is currently shelved as we have no idea how in the DORYAAA Heihachi is coming back from absolute death in Tekken 8.
What Does Heihachi’s Return Mean For Tekken 8?
That’s the main thing here; why is Heihachi back? A memorable death was way better than an unknown return. This would undo everything in the Tekken 7, and this guy looks even younger in the latest Tekken 8 Resurrection trailer than how he did in 2015!
So if Heihachi is back for another tournament, seeking revenge on Kazuya, he’s too late for that. We’ve already humbled the man with Jin Kazama, dripping all the devil power in both Jin and Kazuya engaging in an ultimate battle outside the Earth itself. So the best bet here on Tekken 8‘s story DLC is that Heihachi wants to put up a fight so that the winner can take the Zaibatsu; just like every other Tekken narrative over and over again.