Who Is Jin Kazama’s Father in Tekken? Meet Kazuya Mishima

One of the most notable fighting games in history got its adaptation in form of the TV series, Tekken: Bloodline. The show is retelling the story of Namco’s game released in 1997, which was later ported to PlayStation a year later, Tekken 3. The show uses anime-like animation and it already looks really promising. To honor Netflix‘s new animated release, we will talk about one of the main characters of the Tekken gaming franchise, Kazuya Mishima. Let’s see Who is Jin Kazama’s Father in Tekken, and analyze Kazuya Mishima in more depth.

In the games, Kazuya Mishima is Jin’s estranged father who possesses a Devil Gene that he inherited from his mother Kazumi Mishima. The exact specification of this Gene was never specified in the Tekken games, but we know that Kazuya has the ability to turn himself into Devil Kazuya when he wants, which makes him really evil. Jun Kazama escaped from Kazuya when she realized that the Devil Gene wanted to corrupt her son, Jin, but apart from that, we do not know anything else about their relationship.

His son Jin Kazama is the main protagonist of Tekken: Bloodline but has a complicated relationship that we will explain further in the article. We will also mention Kazuya and his relations with Jin’s mother, and his relationship with his father and Jin’s grandfather, the infamous Heihachi Mishima. If you are interested in the origins of Tekken’s notable character, stay with us until the end of the article. We are warning you of potential spoilers of the Tekken games, that are tightly connected to the show.

Who is Kazuya Mishima?

Kazuya Mishima is one of the most important characters. One of the most interesting parts of Tekken games, besides its gameplay, is the story. In the games, the Mishima family was meant to be tragic from the get-go. Heihachi Mishima was a really harsh and sadistic man, who when it comes to business is quite the opposite. From the beginning, he was a cruel father, both to Kazuya and his adopted brother, Lee Chaolan which prompted the kids to despise their father.

He hated his father from the start because Heihachi killed his mother Kazumi, who possessed a Devil Gene, and passed it to her son. Heihachi killed Kazumi because she attacked him, after realizing that the Mishima family will become evil to not just themselves, but to the whole world. Kazuya did not know that, and his father’s behavior towards him did not help in his hatred. Heihachi, being “a father of the year”, throws his son off the volcano, but little Kazuya is saved by his Devil Gene. He vows to kill his father.

Kazuya’s life goal was to kill Heihachi and his tyranny once and for all. Throughout the games, we see Kazuya constantly trying to kill Heihachi, and he seemingly succeeds in the first Iron Fist Tournament, but his detested father survives and returns him the “favor” in the second Iron Fist Tournament. Kazuya is once again, thrown off the mountain, and half of his Devil Gene power is gone.

In the Tekken 3 game, which is the original source material for Tekken: Bloodline, Kazuya is not a playable character, because he is considered dead, and replaced by his son Jin Kazama. He is shown with Jun for the first time in the Tekken franchise and the fans found out about Kazuya’s and Jin’s relations. This is huge for the future of Tekken’s storylines, and Heihachi doing everything to take over the world and kill his devil-possessed son prompts Kazuya to finally act and establish a G-Corporation, a competing firm of Mishima Zaibatsu, and seek revenge against his father once again.

All in all, Kazuya’s story is long, layered, complicated, and really interesting because he is slowly but surely becoming what he never wanted to become – his father. For the sake of this article, we will not stray too much from the Tekken 3/Bloodline storyline, because there are so many more stories that include Kazuya and the whole Mishima family. Now, let’s talk about Kazuya’s relations with his estranged son, Jin, and his former lover Jun.

Jun and Kazuya’s Relationship

Jun is a wildlife surveillance officer of the conservation group W.W.W.C., who uses the Kazama Style of Traditional Martial Arts that she inherited from her family. She loves wildlife, and while in Tokyo for business, she heard of a man called Kazuya Mishima, who was working investigating the smuggling of protected animals.

From the get-go, she feels Kazuya’s mysterious aura and decides to enter the second King of Iron Fist Tournament to put an end to the illegal smuggling of animals and free Kazuya from the mysterious energy. Kazuya and Jun fall in love during the tournament, which leads to her being pregnant with his child. However, Kazuya is defeated by his father Heihachi who throws him from the mountain. Jun escapes with her unborn son to protect him from the devil’s presence.

What we found out in the Tekken games and Bloodline, is that Jun Kazama was the main reason why Devil Gene did not possess her son after his birth. That is why she escaped with Jin to a secluded location and taught her son the defensive martial arts style of her family, the Kazama fighting style. When Jin is fifteen years of age, Jun feels the devil’s presence, Ogre, who traveled across the world to absorb the ki and abilities of world-renowned martial artists.

He seeks Jun, and attacks her, before killing her. What Ogre does not know is that Jun warned Jin that if anything happens to her, he needs to find his grandfather Heihachi, who will teach him how to fight.

All in all, Jun was an amazing mother who, despite not being able to protect Kazuya from the Devil, she did sacrifice her life to save her loving son.

Jin’s and Kazuya’s Relationship

We know that after the second Iron Fist Tournament, Kazuya is seemingly dead and part of his Devil Spirit is gone. In the aftermath of Jun’s alleged death (till this day we do not know for sure if she is dead), young Jin is shown to vow to kill the Ogre and avenge his mother. Unbeknownst to him, part of the Kazuya’s Devil, which sought Jin since his birth, finally returns and brands Jin’s upper arm.

This is all they have in common, Kazuya and Jin, and they do not meet until the fourth Iron Fist Tournament where Devil Kazuya wants to extract part of his Devil from Jin, and he tries to do it forcefully. However, Jin resists, wakes up, and tells his father that he hates him and that he wishes he was dead. Jin actually wins and vows to destroy the Devil Gene and Mishima family.

All in all, they are not your textbook examples of father-son relations, and Jin’s hate for his father can be compared to Kazuya’s hatred for Heihachi. We will not spoil the story anymore, and we will wait for Tekken: Bloodline to adapt this relationship in detail in the future seasons. You can be sure – Kazuya Mishima is an amazing character who will definitely be featured in Netflix’s Bloodline future seasons. Until then, we recommend you to play Tekken games – they are amazing.