Jin Kazama

Jin Kazama (風間 仁) is a character in the Tekken series, first introduced in Tekken 3 as the lead character. He is the most recognizable character in the series along with his grandfather Heihachi Mishima and his father Kazuya Mishima. He has also been featured on the packaging for the console version of each sequel following his debut. In addition, each game in the series after his introduction has featured the result of Jin's endings as the primary focus of the plot, making him one of the most pivotal characters in the ongoing saga. In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Jin was voted as the staff's thirty-first favorite character. He shared the spot with three other characters, including Street Fighter characters, Charlie, and Yang.

Appearance
Jin is a young Japanese man with black hair which spikes up in a distinctive pattern. On his left arm, he bears a mark that was branded onto his skin by the Devil. His most recurring outfits usually comprise of a karate gi or jumpsuit—both with some sort of flame design (the color of which is varied throughout the series, and has been customizable since Tekken 5). While Jin's gi costume usually consists only of trousers, gauntlets and footpads, in Tekken 4, he also wore the jacket of the gi openly, exposing his torso. Tekken 4 also introduced Jin's hooded jumpsuit, which he kept until Tekken 6. Also, in both Tekken 3, and Tekken Tag Tournament, players can select a Mishima High School uniform for Jin to fight in. In Tekken 6, he wears a long black coat similar to the one that he wore in his ending in Tekken 5.

Character designer Yoshinari Mizushima has stated that Jin is one of his favorite characters due to the amount of time it took to design him.

Personality
Jin's feud with his other Mishima family members and the inner turmoil caused by his "Devil Gene" are consistent topics throughout the series. This struggle has formed somewhat of a "tragic hero" role around the character, punctuated by his very name, Jin, which means "benevolence" in native Japanese.

According to the profile provided by the Tekken 3 instruction booklet, Jin likes his mother's precepts and hates deception. Both values are demonstrated in his ending for Tekken 4: Jin resolves to kill Heihachi Mishima for betraying him, but soon changes his mind and tells Heihachi to "thank Jun Kazama for his life". By the events of Tekken 6, Jin's ambitions have changed from stamping out the Mishima bloodline to global supremacy until the ending, where it is revealed what his true motives are.

Story
Jin's first appearance was within Tekken 3, where he is introduced as a boy "claiming to be Heihachi's grandson". According to official canon, during the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2, Jun Kazama and Kazuya Mishima were intimate, and Jun found herself pregnant afterwards. Jun disappeared into a remote mountain location where she raised Jin and trained him in her Kazama-Style Self-Defense fighting arts. Some time after Jin's 15th birthday, Jun was attacked by Ogre and disappeared. Grieving the loss of his mother, Jin swore revenge. He was then taken in by his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima, who began to train him in Mishima-Based Karate.

Subsequent games follow the events of Jin's ending within Tekken 3. Jin's "Prologue" cinema in Tekken 4 shows that, after Heihachi's betrayal, Jin fell into a pit of self-hatred, despising everything related to the Mishimas. Locating a secluded dojo in Brisbane, Australia, he spent two years unlearning the Mishima style he had used up to that point and mastered "traditional" karate thanks to the help of the dojo master. Eventually, the rumors of a King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 began to surface and Jin set his sights on this new tournament.

Within Jin's Story Mode, before he can make it to the fight with Kazuya in the seventh round, he is surrounded by the Tekken Force, incapacitated, and chained up at Heihachi's private building in Hon-Maru. Later, Heihachi brings Kazuya to Hon-Maru, and, while Jin is chained, Kazuya attempts to awaken the Devil within Jin. As Jin begins transforming, he attacks and defeats his father. Next, Heihachi attempts to kill Jin and take his power for his own.

Again, based on subsequent Tekken games, Jin's ending is made the story's central focus, with Tekken 5's introduction sequence set only seconds afterward. G Corporation (the rival company to Heihachi's Mishima Zaibatsu) sends an army of Jack robots to kill Heihachi and Kazuya. The two cooperate briefly, but Kazuya betrays Heihachi. The Jacks self-detonate, destroying the Hon-Maru and apparently killing Heihachi. However, Hon-Maru was the location where Heihachi had sealed his father, Jinpachi Mishima, approximately three decades earlier. Jinpachi is freed when Hon-Maru was destroyed.

Jin's Story Mode Prologue states that, immediately after leaving Hon-Maru, Jin's own Devil Gene went berserk. Jin soon found himself awakening inside of an utterly destroyed forest, realizing that he was the cause of the destruction. After returning to Yakushima, he is plagued by recurring nightmares and realizes that it's only a matter of time before the Devil Gene completely takes over. From here, the story shifts to Devil Within.

In the aftermath of the fifth Iron Fist Tournament, Jin has been revealed as the winner and is now the new CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu. However, instead of putting an end to the Zaibatsu, Jin has begun using the company for world conquest and declared war on several nations until the whole world itself is at war. Under his control, the Mishima Zaibatsu defects from any one nation and begins working as a global power, opposing all national militaries. Kazuya, meanwhile, has taken control of G Corporation and risen to become the Mishima Zaibatsu's only opponent, and has put a bounty on Jin's head, dead or alive, to stop him interfering with his own plans for world domination. Jin, having anticipated this, announces The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to rid himself of Kazuya and his enemies once and for all.

Jin's motives are more fully explored in Tekken 6 's "Scenario Campaign" mode, where Jin plays the primary antagonist for much of the story. As leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Jin has been causing chaos and strife across the globe through the grand war he instigated. Lars Alexandersson has stood to challenge Jin's acts of global domination, rallying a faction within the Zaibatsu's Tekken Force military to take down their corrupt leader. Lars and his men try to take over a Zaibatsu-run laboratory but meet resistance in the form of a Jack-6 squadron. The team is overcome with ease and many are left dead while Lars is left without his memory. During the battle, an android named Alisa Bosconovitch is activated and accompanies Lars. In reality, Alisa actually serves Jin, which is revealed late in the story during the first encounter with Jin. Jin orders the android to attack her former companion while he escapes to a temple in the desert. Lars is defeated by Alisa and she follows Jin to the temple. Lars eventually catches up to Jin and subdues Alisa, after which it is revealed what Jin's true motivation is: Jin has been throwing the world into disarray in an effort to awaken the beast known as "Azazel". Azazel's spirit has been resonating within Jin's mind for some time now and to bring forth its physical form, Jin had to fill the world with chaos. Jin's ultimate goal in awakening such a monster is to fight it in a suicidal battle. Only in that way does he believe that he can defeat the creature and cleanse himself of the Devil Gene that haunts him. During the ending of Scenario Campaign, Jin's plan is successful and Azazel awakens. Azazel interrupts the final battle of Scenario Campaign between Jin and Lars and Jin rushes at the monster, plunging both of them into the depths of the temple, which is promptly sealed by the sands of the desert. After the credits, Jin's body is unearthed at the temple site by a crew led by Raven. On his shoulder is the mark of the Devil, suggesting that Jin is not free from its grip.

Game endings
Tekken 3
 * Inside of an ancient temple, Jin defeats True Ogre, who explodes. Suddenly, the Tekken Force guns him down on Heihachi Mishima's orders. As Jin stubbornly clings to life, Heihachi shoots him in the head personally to finish him off. Heihachi walks away, but watches in shock as his soldiers go flying all around him. Heihachi slowly turns around to see Jin, now transformed into Devil Jin. Devil Jin charges into Heihachi, grabs him by the head, and slams him through a stone wall, bursting outside of the temple. As Heihachi falls through the air, Devil Jin sprouts wings and dives after Heihachi and slams him into the ground before taking off again and flying into the distance. Heihachi sits up and watches him fly away.

Tekken Tag Tournament
 * Having defeated his father, Kazuya, Jin prepares to finish him off, but everything flashes white for an instant and Jin stops in his tracks. Jin drops Kazuya to the floor and then falls to his knees, looking in horror as his hands shake uncontrollably.

Tekken 4
 * After defeating both Kazuya and Heihachi, Jin, sprouting wings, prepares to finish Heihachi. As he's about to deliver the final blow, he looks to the side and sees a vision of his mother, Jun. He tosses Heihachi to the side, tells him to thank Jun Kazama for being spared, and then turns away and bursts right through the Hon-Maru ceiling.

Tekken 5
 * Jin defeats Jinpachi Mishima, who then turns into dust while Jin watches him. The scene changes to show Jin wearing a long black trench coat walking into a building billed as the "Mishima Zaibatsu Throne Room", surrounded by thousands of suited underlings, who salute him. Jin then sits down upon the throne, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his fist. A moment later, Jin looks anxiously at the camera, smiles slightly, and prepares to act.

Tekken 6
 * Jin has two consecutive endings in Tekken 6:
 * Ending 1
 * Jin has defeated Azazel and his father Kazuya Mishima and stands in Azazel's temple courtyard as he watches Kazuya lay unconscious on the ground. A moment later, Jin notices one of his helicopters approach the courtyard and sees one of his bodyguards Nina Williams stand at the entrance with a certain figure behind her in darkness. She then falls off motionlessly, revealing the figure to be Jin's grandfather Heihachi Mishima as he steps in front of the entrance. Heihachi jumps off the entrance and lands on the courtyard. He then says, "Now you will give me back the Zaibatsu."
 * Ending 2
 * Jin has defeated his grandfather Heihachi Mishima and watches him lay unconscious on the ground. Suddenly, Azazel's temple starts to crumble and Jin shifts his attention to the crumbling, turning his eyes into the air while listening. One of his helicopters comes for him, lowering to get closer to him. A man dressed in a Tekken force military kit shouts at Jin from the entrance of the helicopter, "Sir, this way! Hurry!" Jin gets into the helicopter as it flies away. As he leaves, Jin watches the temple crumble into ruins with Azazel, Kazuya, Heihachi in the rubble. The clip fades away and fades back revealing the ruins that were Azazel's temple and the clip fades away once more.

Fighting style
In his early appearances, Jin's moves were a blend between both of his parents, Jun Kazama, and Kazuya Mishima—a combination of "Kazama-Style Self Defense" and "Mishima Fighting Karate". He fights in this style in both Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament. In Tekken 4, however, this style was discarded in favor of "traditional" karate. Canonically, the reason for this was to display his hatred for his Mishima kin. However, towards the end of the last stage of the Scenario Campaign mode in Tekken 6, Jin maintains his moves and his human form but is able to fire beams from a crystal ball like in his devil form and move in an unbelievable speed. He also has a stance similar to that of Goku of the Dragon Ball series.

According to Katsuhiro Harada (director of Tekken 5, Dark Resurrection, and Tekken 6), Jin's original fighting style was developed due to his status as Tekken 3's main character. The development team strove to make Jin the most balanced character within the game. Harada stated that Jin was his favorite character in Tekken 3 because of this.

Devil Within (Tekken 5)
The optional minigame Devil Within, released in the console version of Tekken 5, chronicles Jin's actions during the two months between the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 and the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. It is based on Tekken Force, but this game is a Force Mode for Jin.

Devil Within Plot
After the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, Jin searches for a way to rid himself of the Devil Gene, until he hears rumors that his mother is still alive. After traveling to a secret laboratory, he learns that it is not his mother held within, but Ogre. Jin, with great willpower, manages to defeat Ogre without use of his Devil transformation. However, with Ogre defeated, Jin is attacked by hundreds of Jack robots and becomes bathed in a white light. The light protects his mind from the Devil and puts him at peace, allowing him to fly away safely.

Namco × Capcom
Jin is also featured in Namco × Capcom, where he joins forces with Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter and seeks to defeat Devil Kazuya who was his father through the Devil Gene.

Tekken X Street Fighter
Jin appears on a promotional poster for the Namco-produced crossover fighting game Tekken X Street Fighter, along with Street Fighter 's Ryu (as well as their alter egos "Devil Jin" and "Evil Ryu", respectively). The Capcom-equivalent project, Street Fighter X Tekken, has so far not confirmed Jin's presence in the game.

Other appearances
In the 2010 live-action film Tekken, Jin is portrayed by Jon Foo. This version of Jin differs slightly, wherein he was never raised by Heihachi and his mother was killed during a crackdown on insurgents by the Tekken Corporation. In addition, though he is still the illegitimate son of Kazuya, no mention of the Devil Gene is referenced in the film, and he speaks with an English accent (given that Foo is English). He enters the Iron Fist tournament to take revenge on Heihachi for his mother's death, but during the tournament, he learns that it was Kazuya who was responsible for the crackdown. He progresses through the tournament, falling in love with Christie Monteiro and forming alliances with Steve Fox, Raven and even Heihachi himself when Kazuya overthrows him. Eventually, Jin makes it to the final, beating Yoshimitsu and even Bryan Fury, and defeats his father in battle, yet refuses to kill him for the sake of their blood relation.

Devil Jin
Devil Jin, who represents Jin Kazama as he would appear after succumbing to the effects of Devil Gene, was made a separate playable character in Tekken 5. He is the sub-boss for every character in Tekken 5 and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection except for himself, Jin Kazama, Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, Asuka Kazama, Hwoarang, Raven, and Wang Jinrei. He is unlocked as a playable character in Tekken 5 by either playing 200 matches in any mode or completing the Devil Within minigame. He also appears in Tekken 6.

Story
Devil Jin's story is identical to Jin's, up until Tekken 5 where he has a separate path in "Story Mode". This story deals with Devil Jin's attempts to defeat Jinpachi Mishima and absorb the Devil power from him.

Ending
Tekken 5
 * Devil Jin has defeated Jinpachi Mishima. Picking up Jinpachi's body, Devil Jin absorbs his power through his arm. Dropping Jinpachi to the ground, Devil Jin's muscles expand suddenly, bursting through both of his gauntlets. Devil Jin's horns grow longer, and he is covered with long fur. His power becomes so massive that it triggers a violent explosion, and Devil Jin stands in the center of it, howling.

Tekken 6 Devil Jin has defeated Azazel and then grabs Azazel's crystel but the devil power is released and he turns back to Jin.

Appearance
Devil Jin is nearly identical to Jin Kazama, except for his inhuman transformations and a change in clothing. In Tekken 3, Devil Jin simply bore tattoos over his face, sported altered glowing red eyes with changed pupils, and grew black wings used for flight. In subsequent games, however, the transformation has been expanded upon. In Tekken 4, there is a noticeable sequence to Jin's changes. As the transformation began, his body was surrounded by a purple haze, then the familiar tattoos formed on his chest and arms, and, finally, he grew two black wings from his back. This is as far as the sequence goes within that game, however, as Jin was stopped before his transformation was complete.

According to Tekken 5's story, Jin's transformation within that game recurred as a reaction to Jinpachi Mishima's return. Because of this, there is no visible transformation, and Devil Jin simply appears in his most advanced state to date. His new look includes horns, chains on his right arm, waist, and legs, and warped, talon-like fingers and a paır of gauntlets wıth spikes growing out of them. Like his father's Devil form, Jin also has a third eye upon his head used to fire a beam of energy at his opponents. However, like all characters within Tekken 5 and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Devil Jin can be customized with an assortment of physical changes. In Tekken 6, Devil Jin's appearance remains roughly unchanged. However, in actual gameplay, the chain on his waist must be purchased before it appears.

Fighting Style/Powers
Devil Jin is something of an amalgamation of several Tekken characters. His fighting style style incorporates moves from Jin's and Devil's Tekken Tag Tournament movesets. According to the canonical storyline, Jin unlearned the Mishima Fighting Karate style as one of the many ways to display his total hatred and disdain for his bloodline. Devil Jin, however, uses this fighting style with no such qualms. His fighting style also incorporates a portion of the Kazama-style Defense, these moves being similar to some of those of Jin's mother Jun Kazama and cousin Asuka Kazama.

In addition, Devil Jin can use his wings for flight, and fire energy beams. In Hwoarang's epilogue, Devil Jin seems to wield the power of telekinesis to some degree to blow up Hwoarang's motorcycle (this is also shown in Devil Jin's extra win animation in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Tekken 6 and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, which shows him using telekinesis to lift his opponent into the air while choking them).

However, despite his vast power, it seems that Jin's cousin Asuka can return Devil Jin to his human state simply by touching him, which can be seen in Asuka's Tekken 5 and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection ending.

While some fans consider Jin to be somewhat "one dimensional," he still has an incredible fan following, and many have noted that he bears similarities to Ryu from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. His tattoo is also somewhat popular, and remains recognizable even by people who are not familiar with the series.