The 10 Most BROKEN Tekken Characters

Akuma
“Tekken 7” (2017)

Put Akuma into any video game, and he is generally going to be a tough opponent regardless of who is behind the controller. Thing is that in “Tekken 7”, even after several patches and adjustments, Akuma is still busted. Let us put it this way: you can’t plug in “Street Fighter” mechanics and expect it to mesh with every other character that is stuck to “Tekken’s” mechanics. A lot of moves in his toolkit just don’t give the roster many opportunities to counter him. What else would you expect from the Great Demon?

Jun Kazama
“Tekken 8” (2024)

This one is still being debated on in some circles, but a few weeks after “Tekken 8” launched, folks started noticing the larger number of Jun players on display. While some simply think she’s just getting picked on, others are showing super analytical clips of her strengths. Many of her attacks can punish whiffs insanely quickly, some even being way too safe when her attacks miss or are blocked. Folks are quick to point out that many of the examples shown are under very specific circumstances such as Jun gaining Rage or the opponent being backed against a wall. And besides, she’ll get adjusted soon or everyone else will.

Eddy Gordo & Christie Monteiro
Various

Eddy and Christie are super tricky characters to learn and fight against. Hey, the beauty of Capoeira is no easy martial art! But Eddy and Christie have been the point of contention for so many “Tekken” fans as their moves can change their positioning, hitboxes, and the whole nine yards. Suddenly, the game is no longer about inputting combos and stringing them together to maximize damage. Now, it’s trying to predict how to pop Eddy and Christie back up and figure out how to start a good combo with a low attack. In a sense, fighting them is almost no different than struggling with a Rubix cube.

Jin Kazama
“Tekken 4” (2001)

“Tekken 4” was already a frustrating game to deal with. With some stages having inclines, there were some situations where mids became highs and lows became mids. It agitated a lot of folks, but not as badly as Jin did on his own. First off, he was the only character to have an unblockable. Laser Scraper enraged many players. Second, he was the only character to have a parry. And lastly, a simple two, four was guaranteed to hit almost every single time. We get that he’s supposed to be “the hero” of the franchise, but dude, some were starting to hate him here.

Bob
“Tekken 6” (2007)

Normally, your bigger characters are the heavy hitters with a trade-off of being slower than the rest of the cast. Not for Bob. Bob was a heavy hitter with enough speed to be a total powerhouse. Between the basic combos that dealt way too much damage and many of them being safe on block, big Bobby could ram through just about everyone. It got so bad that competitions would be plagued with Bob mains entirely. Never before has the word “youp” struck fear into so many people.

Gon
“Tekken 3” (1998)

If you’re familiar with the complaints regarding Yoda when “Soulcalibur IV” launched, then the story of Gon should bring back haunting memories. As a licensed guest character, Gon was simply put into “Tekken 3” as a joke character. However, playing him in a match that wasn’t Tekken Ball would show how busted he truly was. While most of the cast was now restricted to lows and overheads, Gon could get up in your business, nibble you down to half of your health, and kill you with a fart. It was funny at first, but when you’re trying to actually play the game… it becomes a different feeling. Anger? Maybe.

Leroy
“Tekken 7” (2017)

This old man. He played cheese. He exploited low frames on my knees with a knick-knack paddywhack, counterhit and parry. This old man nearly killed “Tekken 7”. Leroy was warmly welcomed and quickly booted out the second he dropped into the game. Not only was he super easy to use, Leroy had a few of the best qualities of every character in frames, tracking, counterhits, and reversals. The man was basically built around punishing and required no complex inputs of any kind to dish out the damage. Luckily, he was adjusted somewhat quickly, but seeing the number of Leroys at EVO and Tekken World Tour will show you why so many had a problem with him then. It was Bob all over again, but ten times worse.

Steve Fox
“Tekken 5” (2004)

Of all the characters on “Tekken 5’s” roster we’d expect to be broken, Steve was nowhere on the list. Come on, the dude doesn’t have any kicks! How could he be busted? Well, turns out he has an infinite combo in his arsenal. X, then Square, Square. Rinse and repeat. That is all you need to do to deny your rival any chance of attacking. This combo became so notorious within the FGC that using it in tournaments would get you automatically disqualified. Since then, Steve has had a more refined and fair toolkit, but this little outing scarred many “Tekken 5” players… until they started cheesing the AI with it.

King
“Tekken” (1994)

It’s hard to imagine anyone besides Heihachi being truly broken in the first game. You don’t always hit the right balance in the first game, you know? But King has long been known to be a menace here, and the funny thing is that isn’t because of his throws. No, the three words every veteran “Tekken” player fears are “down, forward, one”. This simple punch lets King recover quickly on hit, and when blocked, it still manages to stagger his opponent, leaving them open long enough for a follow-up attack. Just keep spamming this if you don’t want friends anymore.

Kazuya Mishima
"Tekken 2" (1995)

Look, we understand that fighting games were built differently in the 90’s. Bosses were meant to be hard and all. However, locking a crucial mechanic to one character is just… What the hell, man. For those who don’t know, sidestepping wasn’t always a thing in “Tekken”. The mechanic wasn’t fully implemented until the third game. But in “Tekken 2”, Kazuya was the only character who could freely step out of the way. Every other character was stuck fighting on a 2D plane! With this, Kazuya could easily catch you in a cheap combo and possibly off you. Fun. Very fun stuff.

Which “Tekken” character do you think needs to be nerfed more? Let us know down in the comments (in a civil manner), and be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo for more great videos everyday!