All dressed in purple right down to the ends of her hair, Reina studies at Mishima Polytechnic High School, like the protagonist Jin Kazama and her classmate Xiaoyu. Possessing a “charismatic sense of evil“, this fighter”two-faced” is as charming as it is cruel. Bandai Namco prefers to keep her true identity quiet for the moment. But it seems, according to an old leak, that Reina is Heihachi’s illegitimate daughter; said leak had also described Victor with remarkable precision, which seems to ensure the validity of the information.
Lightning that struck twice
Anyway, an article on the PlayStation Blog tells us that Reina has “a crucial role” to play in the plot of Tekken 8, which will focus on the deadly fight between Jin Kazama and his father Kazuya Mishima. Director Kohei Ikeda confides that the mysterious despot-in-the-making was conceived from the beginnings of Tekken 7, more than ten years ago, initiating his story arrival behind the scenes. It is with this kind of preparations that Bandai’s series obtained the Guinness World Record for the longest linear video game history in 2017.
Reina steals some of her attacks from Heihachi, including the Electric Wind God Fist, an instantly recognizable uppercut, and her iconic headbutt. However, the young lady’s flexibility allows her to practice a more acrobatic martial art than her progenitor: Taidō. Founded in 1965 by the late Seiken Shukumine, this style derives from Okinawan karate, and aims to combine discipline and fluidity. Taidō trades the static positions of karate for dynamic footwork – Unsoku – and gymnastic movements to move in three dimensions – Unshin. This is perfectly seen in Reina’s gameplay, which rolls, spins and flips without stopping.
Tekken 8 will be released on January 26, 2024 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The opportunity to discover even other little-known martial arts.