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CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS (TEKKEN 7)

As of Version 3.21, Tekken 7 has 47 different characters to choose from (48 if you consider Kuma and Panda separate characters rather than palette swaps). Each character is unique not just in how they look but how they fight as well; while the game is well balanced, each character has strengths and weaknesses that dictate their general game plan, which is what we hope to cover in our brief introductions with insight from players in the local community.

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Of the 47 characters, only Heihachi Mishima, Nina Williams, Paul Phoenix and Yoshimitsu have appeared in every canonical instalment of the series to date; King and Kuma have also never missed a game, though the original King's successor and the original Kuma's son (sometimes known as King II and Kuma II) have been featured since Tekken 3.

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The game also welcomes Akuma from Capcom's Street Fighter series, Geese Howard from SNK's Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting and King of Fighters series, and Noctis Lucis Caelum from Square Enix's 2016 release Final Fantasy XV as guest characters, with Negan from The Walking Dead franchise released later for Season 2.

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As with any tier list, ours is based on the utility of the characters' various moves but ultimately subjective, and does not determine how well a character performs in-game; the player, not the character, makes the biggest difference in the end. If you are new to the game, be sure to explore different characters that may have caught your eye and settle on the one(s) that you have the most fun with.

Community tier list

As part of the character introductions, players in the local community rated each character on 7 different aspects on a scale of 1 to 5. The ratings of four of these were then added up and used to create a tier list:

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  • Offense
    How well the character excels on the attack. Components considered for offense include poking, mix-ups, throws, damage output and counter hit tools (as they relate to baiting and rushdown).
     

  • Defense
    How well the character excels at keeping the opponent at bay. Components considered for defense include movement (backdash and sidestep), parries/reversals, evasiveness/crushing and counter hit tools (as they relate to keep-out).
     

  • Range
    The reach of the character's best moves and their ability to threaten/impose themselves on the opponent and/or dictate play from a distance.
     

  • Punishment
    The speed, range, effect (e.g. knockdown, wall splat) and damage output of the character's block punishers and whiff punishers.

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The following three aspects do not count towards the character's overall rating, but are still believed (in the local community) to play a considerable role in their overall design:

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  • Gimmicks
    The effectiveness of a character's most commonly used moves and set-ups in negating a lot of the opponent's options and winning a match at (mostly) lower levels of play, such as Bryan Fury's Snake Edge (d/f+3) or Josie Rizal's Butterfly Edge (u/b_u_u/f+3).
     

  • Execution
    The level of execution required to realise the character's full potential.
     

  • Hurtbox
    The literal size of the character, which plays a part in how nimble their movement is or what moves one can land on them in a combo.
     

Characters are listed below in the order in which they appear in our community tier list (you can download the detailed Season 3 tier list here with all the character's ratings present).​ Click the links below to view a brief introduction to a given character.

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