The Tekken franchise has been going strong for over two decades now. Each game has been filled with a cast of unique and memorable characters. With the recent announcement of Tekken 8, fans have been speculating about which characters from previous games will make their return. The trailers have already shown that fan favorites such as Jin, Kazuya, King, Marshall Law, Paul, and Jack will all be returning but who else is set to appear is still a mystery.
With that being said, there are a handful of characters that are unlikely to return in this next installment. It could be because they are guest characters, copycat characters, or just overall forgettable; these few probably won't make it into Tekken 8 later this year.
7 Forest Law
Forest Law is a character who was first introduced in Tekken 3 and is the son of the legendary fighter Marshall Law. Like his father, Forest is a martial artist who specializes in a fighting style similar to Bruce Lee.
Forest was playable in both Tekken Tag Tournament games and offered players a way to fight with two characters of the same style. Since his moveset is basically exactly like Marshall's, and we know Marshall is in Tekken 8, it's unlikely Forest will be a playable character.
6 Gigas
Gigas was introduced as a new character in Tekken 7. He is a hulking monstrosity who was given strength and fighting abilities through scientific experiments performed on him by the G Corporation. Gigas is unable to communicate and acts more like an animalistic beast than a man. Gigas wasn't very well received by the Tekken community when he was introduced in 2017.
His generic character bio, awkward movement, and uninspired appearance made him one of the least-played characters in Tekken 7. He was also consistently considered very low tier, so it's unlikely we'll ever see him again.
5 Dr. Bosconovitch
Dr. Bosconovitch first appeared in Tekken 3 as a playable bonus character and later returned in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as DLC. He is a polite and kind-hearted scientist desperate to revive his daughter Alisa. His combat is unique in that he fights in his very own odd and whimsical style. Since he is a fragile old man, his fighting style uses very unorthodox attacks.
Unfortunately, Dr. Bosconovitch is often considered a joke character which is why he's only been playable in one mainline game. Alisa is most likely going to be featured in Tekken 8, but her father will probably be limited to a cameo at most.
4 Akuma
Akuma is the legendary antagonist of the Street Fighter series who made his Tekken debut in Tekken 7. He was the first guest character to be featured in the game and became one of the most played characters. His style of fighting was taken straight from Street Fighter and brought to the Tekken world.
He was and still is considered one of the best characters in the game. Unfortunately, a lot of fans felt as though his style didn't fit Tekken and gave him too much of an advantage. Considering he's a guest character, it's doubtful they'll bring him back again.
3 Negan
Negan is another guest character that appeared in Tekken 7. He is the infamous and brutal antagonist from the hit television show The Walking Dead. Negan was unique in that he used his iconic bat, Lucille, as a weapon in combat. His fighting style consisted of savage attacks with the bat featuring unique voice lines from actor Jefferey Dean Morgan.
Negan received mixed reactions from fans upon release. Some liked the odd choice of adding a television character, while others thought Negan would fit more in something like Mortal Kombat than Tekken. Considering this reaction and the fact that he was a guest character, it's highly doubtful Tekken 8 will feature him.
2 Tiger Jackson
Tiger Jackson was another bonus character that was introduced in Tekken 3. He was originally just a texture swap for the character Eddy but received his own character slot in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Not much is known of Tiger other than he loves disco and uses the same capoeira fighting style as Eddy.
Tiger was the only character not to have an ending or customization options in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Considering he fights exactly the same as Eddy, has very little lore, and was shown almost no love in previous games, there's no chance he'll be in Tekken 8 other than maybe being a skin for Eddy.
1 Roger
Roger is a character that was introduced in Tekken 2. He is a genetically engineered Kangaroo that was a part of Kazuya's program to create transgenic military animals. His fighting style is boxing mixed with odd kangaroo attacks. He is one of three boxing kangaroos featured in the series.
Kazuya deemed his animal experiments a failure, which is part of the reason why Roger hasn't had a substantial role in any of the games since. Due to the fact that he hasn't been playable since Tekken 2, and there are plenty of other animal fighters to choose from, the chances of Roger making it into Tekken 8 are slim.
Tekken 8 is currently in development for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.