It’s finally here. Netflix’s newest animation,Tekken: Bloodline, adapts the events ofTekken 3into a 6-episode series for fans of the franchise. The show follows Jin Kazama as he goes from a young teen living with his mom in the woods, to the fearsome fighter people know him as. That said,Tekken 3wasn’t exactly a story-heavy game, and it was released 25 years ago in arcades now.
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The show needed to alter things to fill the runtime and to appeal more to newerTekkenfans. Here are some of the changesTekken: Bloodlinemade across its episodes. There aren’t any big spoilers here, just things to look out for. But if anyone wants the show to be a total surprise, watch it all on Netflix first before reading further.
6The Backstory Gets Beefed Up
On paper, Jin’s backstory inTekken 3andBloodlineis the same. But the show has switched things up or added things for flavor. Like Jin having trouble with the bullies back at home, alongside other locals. It gives his mother Jun a chance to teach him a lesson, verbally and in Kazama-style martial arts, and to reveal she went on safari in Africa!
Then, Heihachi enters the picture, and his training regimen is much more extreme than Jun. He’s much more of a hardass, with a more brutal routine that involves breaking Jin down and rebuilding him from the ground up as a Mishima. Still, it has its upsides, as he makes some familiar friends along the way.
5Storylines Cross Over
It’s through these training scenes that other story elements fromTekken 3come in. Jin went totrain with his grandfather Heihachibecause Ogre, a fighting spirit, challenged his mother. From then on, Jin learns his mom wasn’t his only victim, as characters fromTekken 2are presumed to have fallen to him as well.
He has a connection to a pendant Heihachi picked up, which matches oneTekken 2’s Michelle Chang held in that game’s ending. Needless to say, the show’s creators had an eye for detail. Likewise, the Devil Gene, which didn’t originally turn up in the storyline untilTekken 4, gets introduced and explained in the show.
4New Faces, New Places
Unlikesome earlierTekkenfilms,Bloodlineavoids making new characters for the classic cast to work around. The show largely focuses on Jin, Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, and Heihachi, with a few familiar faces on the sidelines. That said, the show gives Heihachi a secretary in the prim and proper Ms. Miura, who provides exposition and gets characters from A to B.
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The games tended to take place all over the world, be it in a grimy space in the slums, a flashy stadium, or a Mayan temple. Once the tournament gets going,Bloodlinesticks to some ruins in Peru. Which is a little further south than the Mayan lands where Ogre’s basis, Buluc Chabtan, came from. Still, the show spices it up by going to different parts, from within the jungle to an ancient arena among other features.
3Characters From Older Games Return
Some familiar faces from the past return, largely as cameos.Ganryu was absentfromT3, but he comes back here as a lackey for Heihachi. Marshall Law also skipped that game in favor of his son Forest. But since he hasn’t been in a main entry game sinceT3or any game sinceTekken Tag Tournament 2, Marshall steps up for a brief stint in the spotlight.
The most significant return would be Kazuya Mishima, Jin’s deadly daddy. He largely appears in flashbacks, as Jin looks him up online, and presses Heihachi for information on his whereabouts. As brief as his appearances are, they do build him up as a menacing presence, a dark cloud that looms over Jin from the outset.
2Characters From Later Games Appear Early
Speaking of cameos, characters from laterTekkengames jump the gun to surprise the fans. Feng Wei appears in the tournament line-up two games before his canonical debut inTekken 5. Marduk and Steve Fox also pop up, despite beingTekken 4originals.
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The biggest queue jumper comes fromTekken 7’s Leroy Smith. He firstterrorized that game’s rosterin 2019 before patches and updates brought him down a tier or two. Not only do he and his adorable dog Sugar appear four mainline games early inBloodline, but he gets one of the show’s spotlight fights. Should there be aBloodline 2, chances are he’ll be back, and likely with a few more out-of-time characters.
1Altered Roles
Given the show only has six episodes, most of theTekkencast serve as cameos, while the few that get some significance stray a little from theT3canon. Nina Williams isn’t an amnesiac, as she delivers some exposition on the Mishimas. Her role as an assassin is also only hinted at to provide flavor for her fight. Hwoarang is still a rival to Jin, but they’re on friendlier terms, acting more likeTekken’s Ryu and Ken than itsKyo and Iori. King is introduced as a threat, complete with glaring eyes during his key episode’s intro.
The biggest change likely comes from Paul Phoenix, though others may see it as a return to form.Tekkenhas largely treated the flat-topped judo fighter as a joke character, bumbling through sitcom-esque plans with Marshall Law. However, in the earlier games, while there were jokes at his expense, he was also treated as a serious fighter.Bloodlinegoes back to this by reminding fans he fought Kazuya to a draw and served as a mentor to Jin in his journey. So, if there’s anyone who’s had Paul as their main since the 1990s,Bloodlinewill give them vindication.
