After the great reception our Street Fighter 6 poll had, we recently started up a poll for Tekken 8’s third season.
Well, the votes are in, to the tune of more than 23,000 votes cast in total. Of course, since this isn’t an official Bandai Namco poll it doesn’t mean that it’ll reflect what’ll happen in Tekken 8’s future, but given the statistical focus of Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada, it’s not out of the question for him to perhaps consider it for one of the team’s data points along with their internal popularity checks.
Before we unveil the full results, let’s recap exactly how the poll was conducted.
Generally we divided up all the previous Tekken series characters which included previous guest characters such as Gon, Akuma and Noctis.
There was also specific options for brand new characters to the Tekken series such as the upcoming Miary Zo or to include characters who exist in Tekken lore but haven’t been playable (though admittedly, these are fairly scarce since most characters who show up end up being selectable).
Besides this, there were also options to get new characters from non-Tekken franchises that have already been represented in the games (for example Final Fantasy and Street Fighter) as well as guest characters from a series Tekken has never represented before.
Also, much like the Street Fighter 6 poll before it, since we’re dealing with a structure of an upcoming season, anyone who voted was required to vote for a full roster — that is to say 4 characters, no more and no less, to compose a full DLC season for their picks.
So, without further ado, let’s break down the results.
1. A new guest character from a franchise not seen in Tekken yet — 1,502 votes (6.42%)
2. Lei Wulong — 1,476 votes (6.31%)
3. Julia Chang/Jaycee — 1,427 votes (6.1%)
4. A brand new Tekken character — 1,423 votes (6.08%)
5. Kunimitsu I/II — 1,382 votes (5.9%)
6. Eliza — 1,360 votes (5.81%)
7. Miguel Caballero Rojo — 1,337 votes (5.71%)
8. Bob Richards — 876 votes (3.74%)
9. Katarina Alves — 849 votes (3.63%)
10. Bruce Irvin — 739 votes (3.16%)
Although I am surprised to see the guest character option top the poll, it does track with what we often hear about. In particular, Kiryu Kazuma from the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series tends to be asked for, which is why I made a special icon for him to include in the list above.
Besides that, it feels about in line with the characters you most often see requested by fans, with Lei Wulong and Julia Chang topping it who are two big fan favorites currently still missing in Tekken 8.
Funnily enough, both of them were part of the same season as Anna Williams and Armor King in Tekken 7 who both just joined Tekken 8’s roster, so history suggests they probably aren’t too far off.
11. Josie Rizal — 686 votes (2.93%)
12. Lucky Chloe — 650 votes (2.78%)
13. Craig Marduk — 623 votes (2.66%)
14. Christie Monteiro — 600 votes (2.56%)
15. A new guest character from an already included guest franchise — 586 votes (2.5%)
16. Ancient Ogre — 585 votes (2.5%)
17. Mokujin — 578 votes (2.47%)
18. Jinpachi Mishima — 574 votes (2.45%)
19. Kazumi Mishima — 551 votes (2.35%)
20. Roger/Roger Jr. — 415 votes (1.77%)
For the 11th to 20th place, we see a bit more variety
The final placings below, we’ll just list the placements without their vote totals and percentage so you can get a full picture of the rankings.
21. Akuma (Street Fighter)
22. Baek Doo San
23. Unknown
24. Michelle Chang
25. Master Raven
26. Angel
27. A Tekken character who is in the story but hasn’t been playable yet
28. Forest Law
29. Wang Jinrei
30. Ganryu
31. True Ogre
32. Geese Howard (Fatal Fury)
33. Dr. Bosconovich
34. Slim Bob
35. Negan Smith (The Walking Dead)
36. Alex
37. Gon
38. Gigas
39. Noctis Lucis Caelum (Final Fantasy)
40. Miharu Hirano
41. Violet
42. Combot
43. Tiger Jackson
44. Sebastian
45. Tetsujin
If you want to check out the original poll story and its comments discussion, you can do so here.
How are you feeling about the poll results? Do they seem indicative to you of who’s missing from Tekken 8 currently, or do you disagree with the placements? Let us know in the comments.