Since Tekken 8 was announced during Sony's State of Play stream in 2022, a bunch of its fighters have been revealed. Fan favorite Jun Kazuma returns, as do Jin Kazama, Nina Williams, and other legacy characters. Like reliable Paul, who has been in every Tekken game since the first—though he's aged along the way and his hair doesn't look like a tube any more.
So it's no big surprise that the latest fighter announced is Hwoarang, the Blood Talon, who Akira-slides his way onto the stage in the latest reveal trailer on a motorbike so you know he thinks he's hot shit. Hwoarang has appeared in every Tekken game since he was introduced in Tekken 3, his rivalry with Jin Kazama playing out across the series. A Taekwondo fighter who wears the traditional Korean dobok in this trailer, Hwoarang is a kick specialist who seems to be incorporating some of his old master Baek Doo San's moves.
The character revealed before Hwoarang was Lili, AKA Emilie De Rochefort, who made her debut in Tekken 5's Dark Resurrection update. A French-speaking heiress from Monaco, Lili street fights as a hobby. Her style is more about reach than speed, and she's got a solid slap as well as a strong sidestep, able to dodge blows as easily as manual labor. Also, I guess she owns a cat now? Of course, it's a Siamese.
Here's the full Tekken 8 character list so far, and while the next King of Iron Fist tournament does seem like it's big on returning characters, perhaps the new blood is being saved for last. Other details that have been made known so far include that Tekken 8 will be the first in the series with crossplay, and has a new battle system that gives everyone a Recoverable Gauge, letting fighters regain health by attacking, and a Heat System that powers them up for a limited duration.
