Now, when you talk about a fighting game, it is natural to think of characters that are good only in terms of mechanical viability.

This, however, is boring and has been done a million times before. It should also be important for the player that the character they use looks good while smashing their opponent’s face in. We are here to talk about characters that are both viable if you want to master them and flashy when their combos and moves are concerned. To add to your viewing pleasure, there will also be an attached link to a pro using your character to whoop the floor. Here are top 15 Tekken 7 characters that, undeniably, wreck hard!

15.Akuma

Starting a Tekken list with a character from another game is a bit odd but this demon fits right in with his devil enemies. Originally a 2d character, Akuma has combos and moves that might feel and look rather weird in a 3d game. This is the only reason he is so low on this list, as his devastating combo damage (possibly the highest of any character in the game) with meter and absurdly fast combo starters make him one of the scariest faces to deal with in Tekken 7. He can 100 to 0 anyone if the player has the appropriate spacing and execution down. His slight drawback in looking a bit odd is compensated for by the strongest combos in the game being in his arsenal.

Here is Super Akouma using his named-after character to it’s full potential:

14.Dragunov

Sergei Dragunov is and always has been, since his first appearance, one of the most intimidating-looking characters in Tekken. A fundamental character to his very core, Dragunov has some great mix-ups and plus-frame moves that allow him to apply extreme pressure on his opponent. He doesn’t rely entirely on combos for his damage as he is quite versatile and the pressure he builds up can cause even the most professional of players to make mistakes, resulting in a considerable amount of damage, even if Dragunov’s preferred punish is simply a single-move that isn’t a launcher.

Nobi plays brilliantly with this tank of a character:

13.Bryan

Bryan is already a spectacle to watch without his iconic Taunt-Jet Upper, possibly the hardest frame-perfect input to master in the entire game. Combine that with his great mix-ups and high combo damage and okizeme and you’ve got yourself a top-tier fundamental character. Horrifying wall-combos, great pressure and also some of the most satisfying animations in Tekken make Bryan a force to be reckoned with. Able to deal great damage and scare opponents into slipping up by mixing in low and medium launchers, deciding to stand or crouch against Bryan is always a conundrum. Add a frame-perfect input combination in the form of Taunt-Jet Upper into the mix and you will have yourself a main character to play with for decades.

Knee the Tekken Legend playing Bryan is always a spectacle to watch:

12.Paul

Another “fundamental” character added to the list and an iconic one too. Paul and his deathfist are, at this point, a staple of culture for the fighting game community. Like it or hate it, deathfist packs a heft punch. Alongside this great tool, Paul doesn’t require hard execution to be devastating. His combos deal great damage and his mix-ups often lead to tense situations. Put all of that together with a junkyard combo and deathfist with high range and Paul is a beast in any situation. Quite beginner-friendly too, which is a bit rare for Tekken as most characters that have great flair require intense mastering to use.

MD-Luffy-19 snatching a win is a case to study:

11.Kazumi

For our eleventh spot, we got the reason there is so many devils around in Tekken, Kazumi herself. Mother of Kazuya and spouse of Heihachi himself, Kazumi is a devil in her own right. She has great range, great damage and even a tiger to help her along if she needs it. She is fast, evasive and excels in catching opponents after they whiff, even if she is miles away. Her moves and inputs aren’t necessarily too hard to execute harder, making her another good choice for beginners. Her combos and punishes are always satisfying to look at, usually because they are accompanied by particle effects reminiscent of the iconic Mishima “electric”. Overall, a fun character to both play and watch. Bonus points for basically enabling the entire story of the Tekken series to come to life.

Arslan Ash using Kazumi to whip some sense into her descendants:

10.King

Here he is, the jaguar-man hellbent on opening an orphanage and helping kids. Among his hobbies, right next to saving infants, is picking up and breaking fighters in half. A “grab character” through and through, King is a bit hard to master. His combos involve difficult to understand inputs and one of his main sources of damage, grabs, is counterable by the opponent in case they press the right button. All of this does not matter too much though, as King has many plus frame moves and a million different grabs to mix-up and open up the defense of their rival. He instills a small guessing game into the fight and always keep his opponents on their toes. He is also a blast to play even if you are not great at his execution with his moderate-damage combos, fun mix-ups and the occasional %70 damage grab.

Lil-Majin beating JDCR the human-machine in one of the most exciting moments of Tekken history:

9.Leroy

During his release, Leroy was a big topic of debate. His moves were way too good and he did everything a Tekken character could do to it’s maximum. Since the nerfs that followed however, Leroy never really stuck up again as an “overpowered” character. Despite this, Leroy has always been and still is the most stylish-looking character in the game.  Every action he takes, every piece of clothing he wears, and every accessory he wears reflects his personality.He has great mix-ups, once-per-match moves, good combo damage and a dog on top of all of this. The way he carries himself and speaks is as classy as his appearance. Overall, a fun-to-play all-around character that looks as good as a Tekken character gets.

A snippet of Leroy’s golden ages’ greatness from Arslan Ash:

8.Feng

At number 8, we have Feng Wei, the user of the “God Fist” style Chinese Martial Arts. Feng is an excellent all-rounder that gets progressively better as the person using him also does. His combos deal high damage, he has exceptional punish moves such as the “Iron Mountain” and through some stances he can be quite evasive and slippery. He is used  by a great deal of pro players including the Tekken legend “Knee” and can be seen in basically any Tekken tournament on the planet. He is quite versatile in that his mix-ups can be adapted to any situation and he can create disastrous amounts of damage from even the slightest of mistakes. His wall pressure is also quite scary with the aforementioned “Iron Mountain” being a fast move that is hard to punish that deals quite a lot of damage and also wall-splats even if it isn’t a counter hit.

The legend himself overcoming Khan’s Geese in EVO 2022 Grand Finals:

7.Zafina

The ancient assassin-witch that stole all of our hearts, Zafina is in spot 7. She has seen a lot of use in the recent tournaments and that isn’t for nothing. Probably the most evasive character in the game, almost all of Zafina’s moves make the opponents whiff. High attacks are most likely to fail against this character and she can use those misses to her advantage. She has a tremendous moveset containing some of the best lows in the game and also a very safe-to-use rage drive. Fighting against her can be frustrating but that doesn’t mean using her requires no skill. Mastering Zafina is also mastering movement which is a crucial part of Tekken.

You can see a masterful display of movement here in Arslan Ash’s match against Super Akouma:

6.Kazuya

Right before the last 5 is the Devil himself, Kazuya Mishima. All Mishima characters are what would be called “fundamental characters” in Tekken and Kazuya is a good representation of that. Armed with the best electric godfist (already one of the best launchers in the game in general) in terms of frames and a horrifying 50/50 mix-up after his wavedash, Kazuya uses the very basic concepts of the game’s mechanics to unleash his potential. His combo damage is phenomenal and his pressure with plus-frame moves is downright terrifying to play against. Put a few good counter hit moves on top of that and Kazuya is always a good choice for Mishima players. The protagonist in the original Tekken, Kazuya has never strayed too far from the spotlight and now, in this entry to the series where he apparently *SPOILER ALERT* finally overcame his father once and for all, he is still standing right in the middle of the story. A beast of a character, both to master and to play against.

The Dark Prince, much like in the game’s campaign, using Kazuya to beat up his old man:

5.Jin

The prodigal son himself kicks off our last 5. Jin uses a mix of Kazama and Mishima style fighting moves akin to real-life karate that can be seen both in-game and story-wise. He lacks the conventional Electric God Fist his father and grandfather utilizes but instead has what is called the “Electric Wind Hook Fist”. Hook fist, while possibly not as good as the usual God fist, is still a great tool in dealing damage and pressuring the opponent. He also takes standing mix-ups to another level, being a huge threat both while the other fighter is standing or crouching. His okizeme isn’t amazing but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the most versatile characters in Tekken. He possesses some of the highest combo damages in Tekken and can also change up to use different moves during his combos depending on the situation. He has exceptional wall-carry capabilities and absurd wall-combo damage. His movement is also not to be underestimated as he is still able to wavedash effectively much like his progenitors. His animations are as satisfying as they come making him probably the most fun character to watch when used to his utmost potential.

Mythical Jin player Book using his iconic character to win a tournament:

4.Steve

Right after our protagonist is the resident Tekken boxer, Steve Fox. He is strong, he is tough and he likes punching things. Steve possibly has the highest number of plus-frame moves on block in the game, meaning he can throw out these outrageous bomb-like punches and not care too much about being punished after a block. His counter hits lead to at least %50 combos almost every time and he has a surprising amount of range for someone who only uses his fists. Every hit is devastating from this boxer’s gloves and his animations showcase that perfectly. He is supposed to be this way, he is a hard-hitter because that is what he is. Going up against Steve is always a dread as you never know which atomic punch he is going to throw out to get past your defenses. He also has great evasion with his sways and sidesteps. His okizeme is god-like and it is always a dilemma to stand up or lay down when you get knocked on your back. All of this together makes up for some of the most tense moments in the game, generally leading to Steve’s opponents just turtling up and being unable to act. 

Gen uses Steve to pummel faces:

3.Devil Jin

Jin makes his second appearance on the list, this time in his devil form. Now, Devil Jin or “DJ” is probably the best Mishima in the game in terms of “viability”. He has some of the best combos in the game, great damage and most importantly, extreme versatility. He has such a varied toolkit that you can accomplish anything with him. Okizeme, wall-combo damage, block pressure, great lows, frame-traps, laser-eyes, plus-frame moves, scary mix-ups; he’s got them all. His electric is Mishima-style, unlike normal Jin, and can lead to disastrous combos for his rival. Possibly the strongest character in terms of “lore”, DJ displays all signs of being a force of nature. He can fly, shoot lasers out of his eyes and apparently use telekinesis according to one of his victory cinematics and yet he cannot stand up straight. Where DJ loses is his flair. None of his combos look too satisfying and his animations are rather odd, unlike his non-devil counterpart. Despite this, he is such a good character in terms of in-game power that he easily snatches number 3 on the list.

Qudans, another Tekken legend, returning to the tournaments after so many years to eliminate the then-seemingly-unbeatable human machine JDCR:

2.Geese

A character from another game being in one of the last 3 spots of a Tekken top 15 is a testament to just how great Geese Howard is. One of the strongest characters in the game, Geese has some of the highest damage-combos in the game. He has a meter that he can use to a terrifying extent, allowing him to extend combos that normally should’ve ended and gain launchers where he normally wouldn’t have been able to. On top of this, he also excels in the fundamentals of Tekken, having good mix-ups, a lot of plus-frame moves, excellent wall-combo damage and decent movement. Furthermore, he possesses some great lows, very utility-heavy grabs and a few projectiles, which Tekken usually doesn’t employ. It’s no wonder he has seen so much use recently as he is probably the best character in the game currently in terms of viability. Geese has all the tools a Tekken character might need and some more from his 2d origin, making him the “best of both worlds”.

We have seen JDCR get beaten so many times on this list but the excitement and amazement everyone gets when he goes down is only indicative of how great a player he is. So here is Meo-IL using Geese Howard to, once again, eliminate the human-machine:

1.Heihachi

And number 1, of course, is the man himself, Heihachi Mishima. The person who began it all, the fighter that tests all other fighters, father of the devil and grandfather of the savior, none of us would be here without Heihachi. The “most Mishima” of them all, Heihachi has a great toolkit along with his iconic electrics. Every hit he throws out feels like a truck hitting the opponent in the face and everything he does, he does the Mishima way. He is relentless, powerful and merciless. He has great combo damage, amazing block pressure and exceptional mix-up potential after his wavedash. Being punched and kicked in the face by Heihachi feels exactly like, once again, being punched and kicked in the face by Heihachi. He is just so unique that no one else possesses his type of flavor, not even the other Misihimas, which says a lot. Fighting against Heihachi will always feel like an up-hill battle because this guy just refuses to die, both in-game and in the story. His moves are often reckless of his own health because that is just the way he does things. He might not be the “strongest” character in the game but he is definitely the number 1 in all of our hearts. From the way he demolishes people to the way he carries himself, Heihachi is only rivaled by himself. He also seems to have adopted another son after he did so well with his first one.

It can, of course, be none other than the human-machine himself pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in fighting game history with the father of Tekken. This is a one for the ages, here is JDCR defeating Joey Fury and winning the tournament:

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https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/ten-best-2-player-fighting-games

Tekken 7 Tier List 2019: The Worst & Best Tekken 7 Characters:

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