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00:00From throwing mad electrics to mastering the Korean backdash, Tekken demands precision,
00:06skill, and an iron will. An iron fist, if you will. You gotta learn about highs,
00:13mids, lows, and how to deal with them and counter them before they end your whole career, bro. If
00:19you do not understand the spacing, you are going to experience a world of pain. But fortunately
00:24for you, today we are stepping away from that aspect of frame data and mixups to simply just
00:29discuss one of the most criminally underrated and underdiscussed aspects of Tekken which never
00:35really gets the light shone on it that it deserves. The fits. The fits in Tekken go hard.
00:45I won't lie to you. I knew I was in for a wild ride the first time I clicked on arcade mode in
00:50this Tekken game and I was forced to fight an actual kangaroo with boxing gloves. This kangaroo
00:56was not a joke character. It was a serious character with a full moveset and a backstory
01:03with its actual motivations. It was called Roger Jr. That was when I realized that the series is
01:09on drugs. But beyond the drugs, Tekken has one of the most stylish aesthetics and iconic wardrobes
01:17and characters in all of gaming history. So let's let's chat about it a bit. So for whatever reason,
01:25the first two characters that pop into this mind of mine the first time I hear the words
01:29Tekken and fashion are Yoshimitsu and Kazuya Mishima. These two encapsulate what makes
01:39this series and its style so unique. Yoshimitsu is this goofy ass cyber ninja who has a fighting
01:45style that you could only find in hell or at a little Uzi Vert concert. And those two things
01:51are not so far apart. Every iteration of him and his swag is a wild fusion of ancient samurai
01:58aesthetics and futuristic sci-fi madness. His shiny armor, his glowing sword and the alien
02:05even insect-esque elements of him make him look like he slipped out of both feudal Japan and a
02:12cyberpunk future at the same time. And he's always draped in these colorful fabrics which scream
02:17unapologetically Japanese. Yoshimitsu embodies this alchemical fusion between the ancient and
02:26the futuristic. Something that we see go along with the rest of Tekken. His metallic limbs,
02:32his armor, his alien-like appearance that makes him feel like a deep sea creature in some iterations
02:38of the game. He never really feels like he belongs to a certain era except for the era of the game
02:45he's in which is Tekken. Yoshimitsu's cyber traditional design philosophy leaks into the
02:51design philosophy of all the other characters. It feels like they use him to come up with the
02:56more experimental looks for the game and they somewhat use him as a style marker to decide the
03:02types of styles and characters that will be in the game as they design the look for everyone else.
03:08Then there's Kazuya Mishima who brings a completely different energy to the forefront. The corporate
03:15overlord of drip. His gothic purple suit from Tekken 2 is straight up legendary. Dripping in
03:23power and villainous presence. His Tekken 8 collab with the actual brand Gentle Monster
03:30is also peak. His aesthetic is not just about looking cool or looking like a boss. It actually
03:35sets the tone for the Mishima Zaibatsu. It's this giant organization or conglomerate that essentially
03:42sets the tone for the world of Tekken. The Zaibatsu reminds me of the huge mafia-like influence that
03:50the Chaebol have in South Korea. In fact beyond just Kazuya, Tekken has this whole informal way
03:57but will still scrap kind of trend going to it. And it kind of gives me this really weird feeling
04:03where just before I had flexed on you and your character for defeating you in a suit, I had to
04:09defeat a bear and a Mokujin. Whatever a Mokujin is. What I'm trying to say is our protagonists
04:16Kazuya and Jin set the tone for the series of Tekken. And their mob boss fits help them do this.
04:23But when it's time to actually scrap and throw hands, they switch to their martial arts gear.
04:31Complete with these flame pattern pants which resonate with every part of my core and my being.
04:38And have basically become a staple of the series. Jin's flame pants take his Mishima legacy and
04:44blend it into something a bit more rebellious and modern. Tying him to both the bloodline and
04:51other traditional artists that he dukes off with in the game. Whereas Kazuya's martial arts look
04:57looks a bit more abstract. A bit more demon glyph like for obvious reasons. Oh and before I leave it
05:05I've got to say that Jin by far has the hardest gloves in the series. I love the spiral pattern
05:12on them as well. Kazama, Jin's biological mother, takes this aesthetic between these two protagonists
05:19even further. Her black and white patterned vest and pants feel edgier, spiritual and effortlessly
05:25stylish. The crow-like pattern makes them stand out even more. They give a certain grace and elegance
05:31to her character overall. Meanwhile we can say that the martial arts aesthetic of Kazuya and Jin
05:37is somewhat a bridge to the other characters hardcore martial arts fits. The raw unfiltered
05:43aesthetics of fighters like Heihachi, Beck and even Lin Chaohu. They go for a more traditional
05:51fighting attire. With Heihachi rocking this dark grey karate gi with his unforgettable red belt.
05:57And we also get Chaohu wearing a kuipao, which is this traditional Chinese dress with a collar
06:03that we see her sporting. Usually in either orange or pink with matching bracelets as well. These
06:10matching bracelets pop off the screen for me and they give a visual enhancement to the stances she
06:16uses to fight. Oh quick sidebar here. It's kind of crazy to me that Chaohu, Wangrang and Jin are kind
06:22of grouped as friends or at least they know each other. But they are all different nationalities. I
06:28had no idea Chaohu wasn't Japanese until quite recently when I looked carefully at her name
06:35and saw that I have never seen that in Japanese before. So I realized that she is actually Chinese.
06:44It's a very interesting dynamic at least to me between the three characters. Tekken also just
06:50allows their pure fighter character cast to dress in appropriate clothing. For example Steve Fox can
06:55dress like a boxer. Nina Williams actually dresses in a jumpsuit like an assassin. And you get
07:01characters like Bruce Irvin who show up as pure kickboxers. There is traditional sportswear and
07:07fighting attire in Tekken. Wangrang is also a great example of this as well. Usually wearing a badass
07:15martial arts outfit which has the South Korea flag at the back of it. In fact Wangrang is a
07:22Tekken fashion GOAT. His K-pop before K-pop even existed inspired looks come off as effortlessly
07:30cool and have a rebellious energy to them. But nothing and I mean nothing tops that bright
07:37orange cropped leather zip up from Tekken 5. Throw in the gloves, the jeans, the goggles, the punked
07:43out cowboy boots and also the belt that looks like it came straight from a Chrome Hearts commercial.
07:50And you have one of the best fits in gaming period. I also like his Tekken 3 biker look a lot.
07:57That one also goes pretty hard. The K-pop music video aesthetic that Wangrang embodies also trickles
08:03down into characters like Steve Fox who rocks this jean patterned white shirt which also happens to
08:09rep Britain while he wears these distinct skinny red pants that help his silhouette stand out. Even
08:16characters like Leo and Lee rep the somewhat androgynous brand of fashion really well. I really
08:24like this aesthetic. Leo sports a cropped white jacket and fingerless gloves and Lee can go from
08:30wearing battle suits to actual suits to a similar type of jacket that Wangrang sports to begin with.
08:39And of course I cannot forget my Brazilian brother my boy Eddie Gordo as well. He is super fly when
08:46he rocks up. Whether it's in his iconic yellow and green Copoeira, I'm going to kick your ass by
08:52spamming Circle and X Gear or the Leopard Prince coats that he's rocked in the years after. His
08:59wardrobe oozes charisma and style and if you haven't noticed I definitely like the way the boy
09:06does his hair. Speaking about charisma we can also talk about the more raw aggressive and heavy
09:12metal parts of fashion. Devil Jin and Armor King literally bring heavy metal like the actual metal
09:21to their aesthetic. It's all chains spikes and menacing auras when these two pull up and I like
09:29how they pull up. Speaking of King he also has this Tekken 3 look which is not to be looked over.
09:37It is straight up iconic. The Leopard Prince stripes on the track pants, the white sneakers
09:43and the blue shirts. It's all very simple yet so real. This one is a straight up hood classic and I
09:51see a lot of Instagram curators praise this King Tekken 3 aesthetic for what it does. Another
09:59character's fits who I hold in high regard are Safina and it's pretty much for doing the opposite
10:04of what everyone else's fits do. She gives this interesting mystic vibe to her and her character.
10:11Something that a character like Angel also embodies. The gold armbands, the flowing silks
10:18and the ancient nature to her. It all feels very Oracle like. Then we get Katarina Alves who is
10:25basically playing the role of the 2019 version of Christy Montero. They look so similar in terms
10:32of their design philosophy with the major exception of course being the coats. Do I feel that Katarina's
10:39development was a natural step with the existence of Christy? Not so much but I do suppose that game
10:45journalists would prefer the way Katarina looks as opposed to Christy Montero. I think Christy
10:51represents an era of gaming that might be dead and gone. It's very rare that developers find a
10:57good reason to show that much skin on particularly female characters these days. But with that said,
11:06I really hope that these developers are paying attention to how Marvel Rivals is selling skins
11:12out and I will leave that conversation right there. If I had to crown one female queen of Tekken
11:20fashion, it wouldn't be Alice's predictable goth vamp looks. It wouldn't be Nina's sleek assassin
11:28designs, her girl boss vibes and the wedding dresses that she wears for whatever reasons.
11:33And it wouldn't even be Asuka Kazama's Y2K futuristic sporty style. For me the hardest fit
11:42in this entire universe in terms of the females goes to Lily's Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection outfit.
11:49The color palette for the fit is directly ripped from these hard boots that Julia Chang wears.
11:55Julia Chang also has a bunch of great fits when she decides to wear jeans. But in terms of Lily,
12:01the rose-like design of the pants of this fit, the corset, the fingerless gloves, the web patterned
12:07boots. It's all so simple but it is absolute fire. It's one of those outfits that could drop in any
12:15era of fashion post 2000s and still be fashionable. And the same thing goes for this look of Enna's
12:22with the black and white tiger print. I think this looks so special and is so well designed.
12:29You can really see the love and the care that was put into this. Harada and his team clearly knew
12:35what they were doing around the fashion of Tekken. It's a big part of what makes these characters
12:41stand out, distinct and who they are. What I find so dope about all of this is that these pre-customization
12:50base designs of all of these characters look so great the way they are. Before we even as
12:56gamers get a chance to jump into the customization mode which opens up a world of traditionalism,
13:03sci-fi, fantasy, military, y2k, stealth, god, punk, sportswear, streetwear. Before we even add that
13:12layer of customization to what the outfits in Tekken are doing, we get well-designed fashionable
13:18characters or Rift. Tight shirts for the bros. I haven't even mentioned yet that Tekken has
13:23the hardest coats in gaming period. Eccentric, royal or even casual looking dresses and whatever
13:31the hell Raven is rocking. It's like a fusion between Ninja Gear and Wesley Snipes Blade
13:39character. Bro even a character like Bob ends up getting an upgrade to this ridiculous red shirt he
13:45was wearing and he ends up donning a nice floral patterned shirt with a white vest underneath. It's
13:53all well thought out and there's so much care and love put into it. I can ramble about this forever
13:59but I won't. Which Tekken fit is your favorite? Let me know in the comments. This is Loisa.