Tekken 8 confirms that a long-standing fan favorite character has permanently and definitively died after the events of the previous game. The current cast of characters for this round of the King of Iron Fist Tournament features a number of returning faces; such as Kazuya Mishima, Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, and even a returning Jun Kazama after being gone from the mainline roster for over 10 years.
This article will have SPOILERS for Tekken 7
Heihachi Mishima has been a franchise mainstay ever since the very first Tekken game. Mishima has a habit of throwing his family members from cliffs or high spots, with his son Kazuya Mishima returning the favor more than once. Despite his multiple "deaths" throughout the franchise, he always came back, more ruthless than ever. Kazuya and Heihachi's conflict was brought to an end in Tekken 7, with the latter being thrown into a volcano this time around. Despite rumors of the original big boss coming back and Heihachi returning from death yet again, Tekken 8 producer Katsuhiro Harada confirms his death is permanent.
This was revealed in an interview with TheGamer, where Harada and his translator, Michael Murray, were asked about the fact that Tekken 8 would break the tradition of having Heihachi Mishima featured in the game. Murray very cheekily noted that there's no way that Heihachi could survive after his limp body was thrown into lava, quipping "I don't know how he's not dead, right?" When the interviewer countered with the multiple times Heihachi has cheated death, Harada adds that "he looked pretty dead to me."
Harada then went on to cite points from the franchise's lore, such as how he didn't convert the devil gene, meaning he doesn't have the same revival powers like Jin or Kazuya. Not only that, Harada himself was surprised to see how definitive Heihachi's death was to his staff, to which the development team told him that they'd only do what he asked. Murray regaled the tale of how Harada told his team after Heihachi has died so many times, they will need to make his death look permanent at the end of Tekken 7, and to make sure it was convincing.
Harada stated that the Mishima Zaibatsu leader was his favorite character, so he was shocked to see him end up dying. The producer even expressed regrets that he had his team follow his request so willingly. Murray joked that an AI version of Heihachi could be featured, but for the time being, the ruthless Tekken villain is not returning in this upcoming entry.
Tekken 8 is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.