- This article details King II (TK3 - TK7).
For his predecessor (TK - TK2), see King.
King (キング Kingu?) is a title that two characters have taken in the Tekken series. Even though there have been two characters who have taken the name, each is simply called King in their respective games, though a numerical value is sometimes given to them to separate them as different characters.
Both King I and King II are luchadores from Mexico who support orphans across the world. In the games, they are never seen without their jaguar masks (except on a single occasion). There has been a King in every game in the Tekken series, and this, along with his unique appearance and trademark "point", has made him one of the most recognizable characters not only in the series but also in the fighting game genre.
Biography
The second King was a street urchin who was brought up in the first King's orphanage. Until the age of 24, this person worked hard with King until, one day, news broke of the first King's death at the hands of Ogre. Seeing that the orphanage would crumble into ruin (the money gained from King's wrestling matches was the only funding received), this man donned the mask of King and imitated his style. Unfortunately, he had only seen King's wrestling moves as a child, and he lost every competition he entered. One day, however, another man with a mask visited the new King, introducing himself as an old friend. This man revealed himself to be Armor King, who was interested in finding out if the rumors of a new King were true. For four years, the two of them trained, and the new King learned quickly, maturing into a forceful wrestler with extreme power, known as King II. By this time, the now 28-year-old wrestler was a worthy heir to the throne.
Personality
Appearance
King is a tall muscular mexican with black hair and light brown skin. He has long hair in the fourth game that can be seen on his shoulders coming from beneath his mask and the same outfit/appearance in Namco x Capcom, the first installment of the Project X series.
Outfits
Main Article: King II/Outfits
Story
Tekken 3
After King I was attacked and killed by Ogre, Armor King, out of respect for his friend, trained a new King. This new King was an orphan under King's eye. After hearing news of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, the newly christened King II was entered into the tournament by his mentor, to see how well his training would pay off against the toughest of competitors world-wide. King also sought revenge against the elusive Ogre.
Tekken 3 - King ending - HD 720p
Ending Description: King II faces off against another luchador with his mentor watching the match. King II finishes the match with a win and hoists his belt! But Armor King I is nowhere to be seen. King II drops the belt and rushes to his locker room. Since he had performed admirably in the match, he finds his master, sitting weakened by his heart disease, reminiscing about the first King.
Tekken 4
After the events of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, King discovered that his master Armor King had been killed in a bar brawl. King swore revenge and learned that the perpetrator, Craig Marduk, was serving time in an Arizona State Penitentiary. Upon Marduk's release (thanks to bribes paid by King himself, from his pro wrestling business), King sent a plane ticket and article about The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 to him. King waited for Marduk at the tournament.
Tekken 4 - King ending - HQ
Ending Description: King donated the vast fortune of the Mishima Zaibatsu to help the impoverished children of the world. Meanwhile, Marduk had been hospitalized after his loss to King. King goes to the hospital to seek vengeance. Ready to deliver a final blow after reaching him, he stops after seeing a portrait of Marduk with his elderly parents on a medical tray next to his bed. Thinking about the pain of his own loss, King puts the photo on Marduk's chest and leaves, sparing him having realized that revenge is not the answer.
Tekken 5
After the events of Tekken 4, Marduk donned a black jaguar mask and challenged King to a rematch via television. Enraged by the assault on his master's honor, King resolved to settle the score in The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5.
In his 4th match in the tournament, he fought Julia Chang. Julia told King to stop fighting just because Marduk called him out. King refused to allow such disgrace to his master, and Julia had to stop King by herself. However, King was the victor in the match and was given even more fuel to beat Marduk. 2 wins after this, he had the chance to fight Marduk. Marduk adamantly stated that he would beat King "fair and square". Once again, however, King won. Marduk conceded defeat and King offered his hand in friendship, reconciling the differences between the two.
Tekken 5 King Prologue and Epilogue
Ending Description: King is being beaten by a tag team combo of two wrestlers. He retreats to his corner with his arm outstretched, only for Marduk to slap it and tag himself in. Marduk then makes quick work of the two, giving enough time for King to recuperate. They then finish the duo together with respective aerial finishing moves (King uses the Muscle Buster). King and Marduk hoist their NWN Championship belts, finishing the cinematic.
Tekken 6
At the end of the previous tournament, King caught wind of an attack upon Marduk. He was furious to learn that the assailant looked exactly like his deceased master, Armor King. King was determined to learn the true identity of Craig's attacker, but was unsuccessful in his attempt. With the world engulfed in war, King had all but given up looking for Marduk's attacker when he received an invitation from Marduk to join him in The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6, in the hopes that the culprit would appear again. King accepted, hoping that this would come true.
Tekken 6 - King ending - HD 720p
Ending Description: King is in his room looking at a picture of his deceased master. He carefully tries to put the picture back on the shelf but accidentally bumps it against the sill. The frame drops to the floor, and the glass covering breaks. Looking at the frame, King notices another photo behind his master's; the hidden photo showed two Armor Kings. King looks on, shocked.
In conjunction with Marduk's and Armor King's endings, the assailant is sitting in a room staring at the same picture King finds hidden. He then stands up and walks away. The scene shifts to Marduk digging up Armor King's grave, only to find that he is, indeed, dead. Marduk abruptly stands up and asks who the assailant was, and he happens to be standing right behind him. King arrives at the graveyard to join the two, asking the assailant who exactly he is. The attacker asserts that he is Armor King and no one else. Marduk deems this stupid, as he had just seen his body; plus, he had killed him with his own hands. The mysterious person then says that he was the brother of Armor King, thus making himself Armor King II. Armor King then says that he would not forgive Marduk for dealing the finishing blow to his brother, as Armor King I had a cardiac problem as well.
Tekken 7
- King's rival in this game is Jack-7.
King is not only a masked professional wrestler, but also the proud owner of an orphanage. Recently, King's sworn friend and comrade, Craig Marduk, as well as the man King thought to be his still alive master who is later revealed to be his younger brother, both engaged in a bloody fight which left them with critical injuries.
King desperately wanted to come to his friends' rescue, but knew that their operations wouldn't come cheap. At the same time, King's orphanage was in constant danger owing to the war that raged between G Corporation and the Mishima Zaibatsu.
By the time Marduk recovered before the younger Armor King did, just as he was about to finish him, King stopped him from doing so, reminding him the day King redeemed him. The friendship they forged means they can still make peace with Armor King II, Marduk's murderous intent being the same mistake King had done with the formerly injured Vale Tudo fighter back after the end of the fourth tournament. To avoid bloodshed, King suggested Marduk to write Armor King II a letter challenging him to a retirement match, where the loser would have stopped fighting for good, and the latter accepted.
Finding himself caught between a rock and a hard place, King entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7 with his eyes set firmly on the cash prize.
TEKKEN 7 - King Ending & Intro (TEKKEN 7 Character Endings)
Ending Description: Jack-7 is seemingly defeated, but he gets up and tells King that all of his moves have now been analyzed, to which King is shocked. King tries to attack Jack-7, but he is unable to touch the machine. Then, King has an idea on how to defeat the robot: he then proceeds to enter Marduk's "Ready Position", tackle Jack-7 and perform the "Melon Masher". While Jack is able to knock King back, King retaliates with Armor King's "Round Out Elbow", finally defeating Jack-7 and becoming victorious.
Other Appearances
Tekken Tag Tournament
King appeared as a playable character in Tekken Tag Tournament.
Tekken Hybrid Tekken Tag Tournament HD - King ending - HD 1080p
Namco x Capcom
King appeared in Namco x Capcom as a playable character, where he teams up with Felicia from Capcom's Darkstalkers series. Humorously, Felicia seems to think he's a feline being just like herself, despite his numerous attempts to explain he wears a mask.
Street Fighter X Tekken
King is a playable character in Street Fighter X Tekken, where his official tag partner is Craig Marduk.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
King returned in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as a playable character.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - King ending - HD 720p
Tekken Revolution
King is one of the playable characters in Tekken Revolution.
Tekken (Mobile)
King became an unlockable character in Tekken (Mobile) during its updates.
Gameplay
King is a character that has more of a defensive approach rather than a full blown offensive one, despite popular belief. King has to be played carefully since he has a limited range and is very unsafe. King relies on quick strikes, good movement, and a very good view on punishment.
King is also very well known for his chain grabs, that can result in almost half-life amounts of damage if done correctly and unbroken. Many high players usually do not do them in fear of getting broken. However, King still has smaller chains that are tricky to break because they have more than one way of doing the throw, which will result in a different input to break. King rewards players who do not rush into battle, but keeps the opponent at bay with good punishes and a fierce grappling game.
Fighting Style
King uses Lucha Libre and Pro Wrestling along with Armor King. However, he uses the "catch" variation, focusing more on holds and submissions.
Moves
Character Relationships
- King I - His predecessor.
- Armor King I - His mentor.
- Ogre - His enemy, killed his predecessor.
- Craig Marduk - Former enemy in Tekken 4 and first half of Tekken 5. The two soon set aside their differences and became best friends. King also acts as Marduk’s wingman to keep the latter’s public image safe, such as reminding him when King redeemed him back in the end of Tekken 5. In order to avoid blooshed between Marduk and the younger Armor King, he is the one to suggest Marduk to ask for a retirement match in Tekken 7. Marduk is also his partner in Street Fighter X Tekken.
- Armor King II - Armor King II despises King II for forgiving Marduk, the man who murdered the older Armor King. Despite this, King still tries to befriend him and make peace. To avoid any bloodshed between Marduk and Armor King II’s endless grudges, it was King’s suggestion to Marduk to schedule an official retirement match between Armor King II and Marduk.
- Julia Chang - Julia showed concern about King while he was going after Marduk in Tekken 5, and attempted to dissuade him by saying that he's strong enough and shouldn't let Marduk's taunts get to him.
- Jack-7 - His opponent in Tekken 7.
- Jin Kazama - Acquaintance and ally in Namco X Capcom. They ally together, along with several other characters, to stop the oncoming threat. King helps Jin defeat his father's Devil form (non-canon).
- Felicia - His partner in Namco X Capcom (non-canon).
Trivia
General:
- King does not speak, but instead growls like a jaguar. These growls are however translated into speech via subtitles, and the people he interacts with seem to clearly understand what he says.
- King was inspired by the legendary Japanese pro wrestler Satoru Sayama (better known as Tiger Mask) and a Mexican wrestler named Fray Tormenta, a Catholic priest who became a masked wrestler in order to support an orphanage.
- Not surprisingly, King also shares moves with other fighting game wrestlers, such as the Giant Swing also used by Wolf Hawkfield (Virtua Fighter), Bass Armstrong (Dead or Alive) Antonio Cesaro (WWE 2K) and R. Mika (Street Fighter V). Also, his Tekken 5 incarnation has a version of the Spinning Pile Driver (often abbreviated as SPD), the trademark command throw of Zangief's (Street Fighter).
- King's grapples and strikes comes from various famous wrestlers: This includes Undertaker's (and Kane's) Tombstone Piledriver, Kinnikuman's Kinniku Buster, Jake the Snake Roberts' DDT, Sting's (and Bret Hart's) Scorpion Deathlock/Sharpshooter, and Iron Sheik's Camel Clutch.
- His Basic pro-wrestling grapples includes the Atomic Drop, Frankensteiner, Wristlock, Knee Cross Lock, Choke Slam, Power Bomb, Suplex, Back Slam, STF, Boston Crab, Russian Leg Sweep, Giant Swing and German Suplex.
- One of King's victory poses shows him side-stepping in a manner displayed by Rey Mysterio. King is also seen in the opening FMV performing a 619 after being thrown across the wrestling ring by Marduk, in order to prevent a collision with the outside of the ring. The 619 is Mysterio's trademark move.
- Furthermore, both King and Rey Mysterio are masked Mexican wrestlers, who carry on the tradition from their predecessors, also named King and Rey Mysterio respectively. For a further similarity, "Rey Mysterio" means "The King of Mystery" in Spanish. Also, the 619 was known throughout Japan as "Tiger Faint Kick", made famous by Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa).
- According to Alisa's journal in the Scenario Campaign, King is not easily classified as human.
- King's Tekken 3 theme can be heard in Sebastian's Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending when he changes the radio channel for the first time.
- King II's customization items in Tekken 5 and Tekken 6 allowed part of his face to be shown, revealing just his mouth. Interestingly, King, despite having his jaguar mask removed and having his mouth exposed, still makes jaguar sounds, rather than human sounds.
- Unlike his predecessor King I who had dark skin, King II's skin color is a lighter shade of brown.
- In the console opening, King II is not seen wearing a jaguar mask, like his predecessor in both Tekken and Tekken 2, while being strenuously trained by Armor King I; his real face, however, is not seen.
- In the console opening, King II has a white fur cape that he removes before a fight. The way he removes the cape is a reference to Zangief's pre-fight animation in the Street Fighter Alpha games series.
- In his ending, he performs Heihachi's Powerbomb to his wrestling opponent before going after his master Armor King I.
- This is the only game that shows King II with long hair and turquoise jaguar design speedos, kneepads, and his former boots. A similarly designed outfit was worn in Namco X Capcom.
- He has the only ending cinematic with no dialogue.
Tekken 5/Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection:
- It is possible to customize King II to have full jaguar attributes, but only in Dark Resurrection.
Tekken 6/Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion:
- King's growls in this game are entirely new and more realistic.
- King has many of Taijiri's moves, including Running Powerbomb, Enzugiri, Rolling Leg Splits, Rolling Armbar, Boston Crab, Surfboard, Standing Moonsault, Powerbomb, Octopus Hold, a Multi-Strike Combo, Giant Swing, Spinning Heel Kick, Suplex, & Brainbuster.
- In a break from tradition, King's wrestling tights now consist of yellow trunks over light blue.
- In his ending, King II utilizes both Marduk's Melon Masher and Armor King II's Round Out Elbow to defeat Jack-7. This is used by him in tribute to both of them.
- In the Playstation 4 version of the game, he can use King I's signature Tekken 2 Player 2 outfit.
- King II is the hardest to be defeated in 1 to 4 stars in every event he appears in, due to his grappling techniques from his Waza Cards being more damaging towards the player.
Other:
- King's rivals in Tekken Card Challenge are Gun Jack, Paul Phoenix and Lei Wulong.
- King's clothing is available as DLC Character Creation parts in Soul Calibur V following the patch update in March 21.
- In Street Fighter X Tekken, Cammy has King's design as her Swap Costume.
- King bears a resemblance to Guin from the anime Guin Saga as well as Jaguar Javier from Guacamelee
- In Tekken: Blood Vengeance, King's dossier is briefly seen when Anna Williams opens a file containing dossiers of various persons of interest.
- King was also one of the characters in the now shut-down freemium browser-based dating sim Namco High.