King (Tekken)

King (キング) is a title used by two characters in Bandai Namco's Tekken fighting game series.

Throughout his appearances in the virtual realm, the face beneath his jaguar mask remains a mystery, shrouded in secrecy.

Interestingly, the physical portrayal of King's movements was done by the Japanese professional wrestler Minoru Suzuki, who lent his expertise to the character's motion capture sessions.

[8] Fray Tormenta, a Mexican Catholic priest, served as an initial influence on King's character and backstory.

[14] In Tekken 8, King gained some additional moves inspired by famous pro-wrestlers, such as Triple H's Pedigree and Randy Orton's RKO.

He then became a masked wrestler, entered the tournament, and with the intention of preventing them from turning into the type of person he once was, he thought of building an orphanage.

[21] By this time, the now 28-year-old wrestler was a worthy heir to the throne, however, he longed to punish the one responsible for the original King's death.

King II then followed him to the hospital to finish him, but decided to spare Marduk after feeling cruel for killing him because of his desire for revenge.

[27] King II returns as a playable character in Tekken 7, with an alternate costume based on New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestler "Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada being available for him in 2017.

[30] In his Tekken 8 ending, King II battles a British boxer named Steve Fox in the quarterfinals.

[48] King's Player 2 t-shirts and pants were part of the initial wave of Esther Ng's PRIX line of Tekken 3-inspired merchandise.

[50] A 17 centimeters King action figure was produced by Game Dimensions with a few additional items, such as a stand to carry a "FIGHT" sign, an extra pair of hands, and a white energy buildup.

[51] In 2023, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America revealed two action figures, King and Jin Kazama, each in their Tekken 8 outfit, available later in 2024.

Watch as King smoothly transitions through accurate recreations of power bombs, surfboards, spinning toe holds, and muscle busters with ease, all leading up to the ultimate move, the Rolling Death Cradle.

King is like a walking Wikipedia of moves, all lovingly recreated by developers who clearly care about wrasslin' as much as any fan.

[57] In his examination of Digital Narratives and Linguistic Articulations of Mexican Identities in Emergent Media: Race, Lucha Libre Masks and Mock Spanish, author Daniel Calleros Villarreal discussed the manner in which King and Armor King are being portrayed.

Through his analysis, Villarreal pointed out that the depictions of Mexican subjects in Tekken appear dehumanized due to the absence of speech and the strange facial expressions.

Villarreal drew attention to the use of realistic feline wrestling masks as a symbol of the characters' inability to communicate verbally, comparing this depiction to similar sub-human anthropomorphic figures.

Tekken 4 featured King with more detailed body features, such as longer hair, a darker skin tone, and a more exposed body
King was given the "Rainmaker" outfit in Tekken 7 that is inspired by Japanese professional wrestler Kazuchika Okada in order to promote the collaboration with New Japan Pro Wrestling . [ 28 ]