It seems reports of Heihachi Mishima's death have been greatly exaggerated, as the fan-favourite fighter is coming to Tekken 8 soon. While 2023 belonged to Mortal Kombat 1, Bandai Namco got 2024 off to a brutal start when Tekken 8 was released in January.

Similarly to Mortal Kombat, Tekken 8 has been slowly expanding its roster through a series of DLCs. We've already seen Eddy Gordo and Lidia Sobieska lace up their gloves as late additions, but now, the moustached menace that is Heihachi Mishima is stepping into the arena.

Tekken 8 trailer confirms the return of Heihachi Mishima

The King of the Iron Fist seemingly met his end all the way back in Tekken 7, but nine years later, he's rising from the grave. Many were disappointed that Heihachi wasn't part of the launch roster, but it seems patience is a virtue. 

Speaking to IGN, Tekken's Katsuhiro Harada and Kohei Ikeda discussed Heihachi's miraculous resurrection and how they pulled it off. "Tekken 7 really focused on the story arc between Heihachi and his son, Kazuya, and so, we really wanted to show that kind of final conclusion, and he seemed to die at that point," Harada said.

"But then, after that happened, Tekken 8 was released, and we put a lot of effort into the story and the fans really seemed to be engaged with that. And as that was happening, we were kind of feeling that the players kind of missed him as well. Obviously, we did, too. So, it was kind of decided later on that we would do that."

The signs Heihachi was coming back were there all along, with Ikeda reminding us that Reina was a link to him, while the 30th-anniversary logo is comprised of Devil's wings: "There are two different styles, but if you take a step back and look at, it actually looks like the silhouette of Heihachi's face. Right? So, we were doing some of the preparations in the background."

Although the pair won't give much away about Heihachi, Ikeda says, "He has a very powerful play style throughout the series, so we tried to recreate that in Tekken 8." There was a tantalising tease that the inclusion of monks in his return trailer could have something to do with his move set. 

Initially, dataminers claimed the new additions for Season 1 would be Eddy, Lidia, Craig Marduk, and Fahkumram. As Heihachi has now been revealed as the third fighter instead of Marduk, it suggests that Fahkumram might also be sitting this one out...for now. 

With a new chapter of The Dark Awakens coming in the fall of 2024, we'll have to wait a little longer until Heihachi Mishima is back and causing trouble in Tekken 8.