- This article details Armor King II (TK5:DR - T7).
For his older brother (TK - TTT), see Armor King.
Armor King (アーマー・キング Āmā Kingu?) is a title that two characters have taken in the Tekken series. A numerical value is sometimes given to them to separate them as different characters, though each is simply called Armor King in their respective games. The two characters are siblings, with Armor King II being the younger brother of Armor King, who is now deceased. Armor King II first appeared as a playable character in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, and returned for Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. While he does appear in Tekken 7, both he and Craig Marduk are mentioned in King's Character Episode, since then he has become a playable character, introduced in Season 2 as DLC.
Biography
Armor King II's past is shrouded in mystery. What is known is that he and his older brother were a wrestling tag team, both using the same outfit and name. Why his brother decided to keep this a secret from King II while he was training him to be the successor of the original King is unknown. After the third King of Iron Fist Tournament, the original Armor King was attacked and killed by Craig Marduk in a bar brawl in Arizona, leading Armor King to develop an intense hatred for Marduk. King II enters a fourth tournament to avenge his mentor, but when he chooses to forgive and befriend the killer, an enraged Armor King II enters the fifth tournament to seek revenge himself; he faces Marduk in the tournament and is successful in defeating him.
Defeating Marduk in the fifth tournament, however, was not enough to satisfy Armor King II; after the tournaments conclusion, he attacks Marduk again before disappearing. This led the duo of King II and Marduk to enter the sixth tournament in the hopes of confronting the mysterious fighter and finding his true identity, while King II also hopes to end the feud and make peace. They do make contact, but while it is revealed to King II and Marduk by Armor King II that he is the brother of the original Armor King, he reveals no further details and vows that he will never forgive Marduk.
King II remained determined to put the issue to rest, but when Armor King II and Marduk next meet, another fight erupts. Armor King II refuses to forgive, and Marduk loses his patience, believing Armor King II will never be willing to listen to any explanations of Armor King's death. The confrontation is a violent one, and both Armor King II and Marduk are seriously injured and confined to hospital, leaving King II to enter the seventh King of Iron Fist Tournament alone. At the present time, both Armor King II and Marduk are recovered from their wounds and preparing themselves for a rematch.
Personality
Armor King II is an enigmatic figure, revealing little of his personality. It is clear though, that he was very close to his brother and that he harbors an unrelenting thirst for revenge after his murder. He also shows a cold and uncompromising attitude toward others, and shows no fear when faced with danger.
Appearance
Armor King II is always seen wearing his trademark gray jaguar mask, which has one red eye and one green eye and completely covers his face, leaving his real eye and hair color unknown. While his face has never been revealed, some of his body can be seen through his outfits, revealing him to be dark-skinned.
Outfits
Main Article: Armor King II/Outfits
As his name implies, Armor King II is usually seen wearing armor, made up of spiked gauntlets and pauldrons, boots, and plates on his chest and thighs, worn over black pants. His secondary outfits usually see him fight bare-chested while wearing sweatpants, gloves and sneakers.
Story
Tekken 4
Before The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, Craig Marduk started a bar brawl in Arizona, and Armor King was killed. This led Armor King II to develop an intense hatred of Marduk, while King II entered the tournament in the hopes that he would beat Marduk in defense of his now dead master. King II payed for Marduk's release from prison, and waited for Marduk at the tournament.
In King II's ending, King II was ready to deliver a finishing blow to Marduk, only to realize revenge is not the answer when King II witness a photo of his family besides him. Upon realizing this, Armor King II loses all respect for King II, and decides to target Marduk himself.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection Armor King Interludes
Even though Armor King I had been killed, a new fighter entered The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 donning the black jaguar mask.
During the 4th match of the tournament, he fought Craig Marduk. Marduk had no idea who the fighter was but fought anyway. This fighter (now dubbed Armor King for the sake of fighting) won the match. When Marduk asked who he was, "Armor King" responded with a kick to the head.
Tekken 5 DR Armor King Ending
Ending Description: "Armor King" walks away after defeating Jinpachi Mishima, only to cross paths with King II. When King II asks him who he is, "Armor King" responds with a jumping Tombstone Piledriver, before walking into the sunset. When King II recovers from the attack, he mentions that he knows the move from somewhere.
Tekken 6
After The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, "Armor King" attacked Craig Marduk and then vanished. Marduk and King II entered The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 in the hopes that the assailant would show himself.
Ending Description: "Armor King" is holding a photograph of the two Armor Kings. He stands up and starts to walk away.
In conjunction with King II's and Marduk's endings, King II was seen holding a photograph of his dead mentor. When trying to place it back, it slipped and the frame cracked. Behind the photo was another one, shockingly revealing two Armor Kings (the exact same photo the assailant was holding). King II stared at it in shock.
The scene shifts to Marduk digging up the first Armor King's grave. He sees the dead body and abruptly stands up, turns around and asks who the fighter was, who stands silently behind him. King II arrives at the graveyard last, asking who exactly the fighter is. The man donning the black jaguar mask asserts that he is Armor King and no one else. Marduk deems this foolish, as he killed him with his own hands, plus the fact that he had just seen the body. The mysterious person then reveals that Armor King is not just one person, and that he is the younger brother of Armor King I, thus making him Armor King II. (a flashback shows the first Armor King walking down a hallway and then stumbling while clutching his chest, confirming that he had a heart condition) Armor King II then says that he will never forgive Marduk for killing his brother 2 years ago. The fight between Marduk and Armor King occurs in the later game.
Tekken 7
When King tried to stop Marduk and Armor King II from fighting each other in an attempt to make peace and explain everything to Armor King, both Marduk and Armor King ignored King's treaty, as Armor King II did not trust Marduk, and Marduk felt Armor King would not listen to any explanations, instead wanting revenge, causing both fighters to injure each other and end up in hospital. Marduk and Armor King II's reckless actions lead King II to keep fighting for the fight money, not only for their hospital bills, but also for the orphanage he manages.
When Marduk recovers before Armor King II does, Marduk attempts to finish him, but was stopped by King II when the masked wrestler has a deja vu upon seeing Marduk did a same mistake as King had when he was brutally injured back in the end of fourth tournament. Armor King II is soon awaken and found a challenge letter for retirement match by Marduk, who was suggested by King II under his word to avoid bloodshed. The letter says if Armor King wins, Marduk must retire from fighting once and for all, and if Marduk wins, Armor King II must surrender the title of Armor King for the rest of his life, as well as removing his mask in disgrace. Thus, Armor King II accepts.[1]
Other Appearances
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Armor King II appears as a playable character in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Armor King Arcade Ending
Ending Description: Armor King is fighting Marduk and King II alongside his partner, Jaycee. Marduk attempts to wear Armor King down by head butting him. He also reverses Armor King's German Suplex. When Marduk is about to do a high five with King, Armor King manages to attack Marduk and knock King out as well. King attempts to attack Armor King, but is knocked down by Jaycee's hurricanrana. Marduk attempts to attack Armor King once again with a cross body drop, but Armor King and Jaycee reverse this into a double neck breaker, knocking out Marduk.
Tekken Revolution
Armor King II appears as an unlockable playable character in Tekken Revolution. He was included along with Jun Kazama as part of the Winter Campaign event.
Gameplay
Unlike Armor King I, who acted as a "clone character" of King, Armor King II has his own distinctive moveset. Armor King is a pressure heavy character with an emphasis on inflicting "scare tactics". He has a very solid moveset, with quick mids, good lows, and an above average throwing game. The main charm about Armor King is his crouch dash, using the same inputs as the Mishimas. This allows Armor King to close the distance fairly quickly, and he has a good arsenal of moves out of his dash that includes a special chain throw, an unblockable, and a launcher.
In order to be successful with Armor King, players needs to have a great understanding of Tekken fundamentals, such as spacing, punishing, and movement. Armor King has all the tools to punish almost every mistake, meaning he has to be played in a very particular way depending on the opponent. He is not a beginner friendly character, and rewards those who not only know how to play Armor King, but how to play Tekken in general.
His Rage Art is a contrast to King II's which has him kicking his opponent's gut while he lift and throw his opponent skyward. Armor King II goes for an uppercut on his airborne opponent followed by a Spinning Piledriver.
His Rage Drive has him shoot a mist that acts as an unblockable high. If it hits, it leaves the opponent in a special state where grabs are unbreakable.
Fighting Style
Armor King uses Pro Wrestling. Unlike King, his fighting style is more oriented towards the "shoot" style, which has more of an emphasis on strikes as opposed to holds.
Moves
Character Relationships
- Armor King I - His beloved older brother.
- Craig Marduk - His sworn enemy ever since Craig killed Armor King I.
- King II - Unlike Armor King I, Armor King II is not allies or friends with King II, mainly because of his disgust towards the fact that King II spared Marduk's life, despite his good relationship with Armor King I. No matter how Armor King II behaves towards King II, King II wants to save Armor King II's life and redeem Marduk.
- Leo Kliesen - As a fellow enemy of G Corporation, Leo wants to recruit him as an ally against the Corporation, but he refuses.
- Kazuya Mishima - His enemy.
- Jaycee - His tag partner in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. His rival in CR Tekken 2.
- Bruce Irvin - His tag partner in CR Tekken 2.
Trivia
General:
- The Armor King's are mostly based on the masked wrestler, Black Tiger. The first Armor King was based on British wrestler Mark Rocco's depiction of Black Tiger, and the second was based on the late Mexican wrestler Eddie Guerrero's depiction of Black Tiger. However, their depiction, wearing spiked shoulder pads and spiked wristcuffs, make Armor King I and II look like a combination of Demolition and the Road Warriors.
- Both King and Armor King resemble Tiger Mask & Tiger the Dark in Tiger Mask W.
- Like King, he growls like a jaguar instead of talking.
- Armor King's throws and holds, along with many of his basic attacks, are adapted from pro wrestling moves.
- The backround theme for his character trailer is from the City Lights stage from Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection.
- His new pre fight and his Rage Drive has him blowing some green mist on his opponent referencing both Tajiri and Asuka's taunt where he blows green mist on his opponent's face.
- Armor King's chained mini jacket nearly resembles Chris Jericho's infamous black leather christening light-up jacket that he wore on his second return to WWE in 2012 until it was destroyed at the hands of Jon Moxley (formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE) during their feud in 2016.
- Armor King's main outfit bears a minor resemblance to Jon Moxley's main wrestling outfit in AEW on his debut appearance in the pay-per-view, AEW: Double or Nothing where he ambushes both Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho after their championship match.
- His Rage Art has a near resemblance to Seth's own version of Zangief's Spinning Piledriver in the Street Fighter IV series.
- One of his customizations make him resemble Marvel comics' character Black Panther but having white highlights on the costume with black pauldrons and a matching cape. King is the second character to resemble a character from Marvel comics, as Raven is the first character to resemble Blade.