Tekken 7 might not have been as great as Tekken 5 which was the last incredible Tekken game – but it was certainly a huge improvement of Tekken 6. The game has the most characters on the roster, and you can pick your favorite as your designated fighter.

RELATED: The Best Fighting Games From The Last 5 Years

What you should know is that these fighters have been equipped with certain moves and combos that make them better than certain others; we’re here to inform you which ones are the best. For this list, we’ve also considered the storylines of these characters to rank them as that makes them more interesting to play through. So, here are the Tekken characters ranked in terms of both story and their fighting potential.

Updated February 17, 2022, by Charlene Maria Teressa: Ever since the launch of Tekken 7 in 2015, new—and classic—characters have been added to its already extensive roster. Some of these characters stand out with their powerful moves as well as adding a new light to the origins of the Mishima Family Feud. So without further ado, here are additional characters from Tekken 7 that are worthy of mention.

20 Kazumi Mishima

Tekken 7 Kazumi Mishima and her Devil form

One of the main bosses of Tekken 7, Kazumi Mishima was wife to Heihachi and Kazuya's mother. Playing the story mode of the game shows how Kazumi is the progenitor of the Devil Gene, and the reason why the Mishimas are fighting now.

Seeing as she used to study under Jinpachi Mishima, Kazumi mixes the Mishima-style karate with her own Hachijo family-style karate. With her loyal pet tiger and her fearsome Devil Gene form, her Impaling Kick and the ability to sweep opponents off their feet by literally flying shows how deadly she is.

19 Yoshimitsu

Tekken 7 Yoshimitsu

One of the most uniquely designed characters in the Tekken franchise, the ninja and head of the Maiji clan Yoshimitsu is both quick with his katana and deals successive damage.

Yoshimitsu blends Ninjutsu, as well as Kenjutsu and Battoujutsu for his katana attacks. He is able to heal himself using the move 'Meditation', as well as unleash a death blow called 'Harakiri'. Yoshimitsu pulls out his katana before stabbing himself with it, which nearly halves his opponent's health. Crikey.

18 Eliza

Tekken 7 Eliza

Eliza is a fighting character that has never been seen before in previous Tekken games, in that she is a vampire. Supposedly Lili's older sister, Eliza is nearly 1000 years old and seeking to replenish her vampire powers by sucking the blood of one with powerful, spiritual energy.

RELATED: Best Martial Arts Games

Like Lili, Eliza truly embodies sex appeal and grace when fighting. Of course, as a vampire, Eliza can drain the life bar of her opponents by sucking their blood. Also, she can launch fireballs at her enemies, exemplifying both long-range and short-range attacks.

17 Asuka Kazama

Tekken 7 Asuka Kazama

As cousin to Jin Kazama and a member of the Kazama clan dojo, Asuka is a lethal combination of powerful kicks and sweeping uppercuts.

Using the Kazama-style martial arts, which emphasises counter-attacks over outright attacking your opponents head-on. Like Jun Kazama in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Asuka waits for her opponent to attack first before using their momentum against them. Whether it's a kick or a punch, Asuka can easily turn the tables against stronger enemies.

16 Master Raven

Tekken 7 Master Raven

A United Nations Intelligence agent, Master Raven supposedly replaced the previous Raven during the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7.

Although her fighting style is somewhat similar to Raven, Master Raven has a fuller utilization of the Ninjutsu fighting style since she's clearly a master. Armed with her blade, Master Raven can deal attacks with a longer range as well as teleport to different ends of the arena. Truly, Master Raven uses elements of surprise to have the upper hand over her enemies.

15 Leo Kliesen

Leo Kliesen from Tekken 7

Leo made his first appearance in Tekken 6 and has gone on to become one of the series' best fighters. Despite what his outward appearance might suggest, he can pack quite the punch and can be absolutely devastating when in the right hands.

He fights using the Bajiquan style of martial arts, which was first popularized in video games by Virtua Fighter's Akira Yuki. Although there are other fighters in the series who utilize this style, Leo is the only one who doesn't mix it with other fighting styles — making him somewhat unique.

14 Ling Xiaoyu

Ling Xiaoyu from Tekken 7

Tekken 7 marked Xiaoyu's fifth appearance in a mainline Tekken game, but it was perhaps the first where she felt like a truly viable option. As she has aged and matured as a character, so too has her fighting style to the point where it has never felt more clearly defined.

She has some nice combos at her disposal and a few different launchers with which to tee them up. Fighters with good range and mid-pokes can make life tough for her, but she still has more than enough in her locker to hold her own. The fluidity of her movement can at times be a joy to behold and her story arc is fairly interesting as well.

13 Sergei Dragunov

Sergei Dragunov from Tekken 7

Dragunov made his first appearance in the Dark Evolution update of Tekken 5 and has appeared in every mainline Tekken game since. He's been one of the standout fighters in each of the games he's appeared in, thanks largely to his incredibly offensive fighting style and raw power.

RELATED: Tekken: Weirdest Characters In The Series, Ranked

His iWR2 move is one of the best in the game and can make him an incredibly frustrating fighter to come up against. He also has some great lows and pokes and is just as useful in the hands of a cautious player than in those of an offensive one. This versatility makes him incredibly popular amongst the player base.

12 King

King from Tekken 7

King probably has one of the coolest backstories in the whole of the Tekken franchise, which, considering the bizarreness that is the Mishima family, is really saying something. His mentor was an alcoholic priest who dressed like a Mexican wrestler to raise money to fulfill his dream of building an orphanage and he himself is doing the same in order to keep that dream alive.

Motives aside, he also happens to be one of the best fighters in Tekken. He has some strong basic punishes and a nice variety of combos that provide plenty of options. He can be pretty average in the hands of a beginner, but surprisingly effective in those of somebody who knows what they're doing.

11 Paul Phoenix

Paul Phoenix from Tekken 7

Paul is one of only a handful of fighters to have appeared in every single mainline Tekken game and there's a very good reason for that. He's a classic brawler type with an easy to use move set which makes him perfect for beginners. Many see him as a cheap fighter for this reason, but everybody's gotta start somewhere, right?

It might not take a lot of skill to get results with Paul, but that's not to say that there's a lack of depth to his fighting style. Simple execution may make stomping noobs a trivial task, but getting the very best out of him will require great timing and a good understanding of where his strengths and weaknesses really lie.

10 Lei Wulong

Lei Wulong
via youtube.com

A late addition to the game, Lei Wulong brought his usual offense to the table, despite looking like a divorced dad forced to pay alimony in Tekken 7. Lei’s greatest advantage is his ability to sweep the opponent off their feet.

This allows the player to capitalize on a grounded opponent and begin Lei’s combo set, most of which involves flinging the fighter in mid-air repeatedly. On the story front, Lei didn’t have anything to shine in Tekken 7 and his new voice actor wasn’t that great. But choosing him as your fighter does give you sweeping offense, which can never be taken lightly.

9 Bryan Fury

Bryan Fury
via pinterest.com

Bryan’s scenario mode remains as uninteresting as ever, but this time he comes back with a genuinely cool new look. To go with this no holds barred appearance, Bryan’s offense has been greatly amplified to the point where you can win battles if you learn how to spam his punches.

RELATED:Fighting Games That Are Better With A Joystick (And A Few That Are Better With A Controller)

Once Bryan’s punches start rolling, you can almost guarantee victory since it’s an all-out barrage. It can be countered if one can sweep Bryan off his feet, but your move should be to focus on the punching barrage, which will make you the winner. Unfortunately, the game just doesn’t make his storyline interesting enough.

8 Hwoarang

Hwoarang
via youtube.com

Hwoarang is the kicking counterpart to Bryan in Tekken 7. As with previous games, you can use Hwoarang to unleash a rain of kicks toward your opponent. What he does better than Bryan is his ability to launch his opponents in the air.

Hwoarang’s offense allows you to jump in mid-air and continue attacking your opponent, without letting them fall back to the ground for a good chunk of time. You can even spam his kicks if you can’t master the combos. Hwoarang was made slightly more interesting in this game’s story as he did something other than chase Jin around solely for once, but it still wasn’t canonical.

7 Steve Fox

Steve Fox
via youtube.com

Steve’s scenario was done justice as this time it focused on him finding out the identity of his mother, Nina. Apart from that, Steve is once again the silent weapon seasoned players can use to blindside their opponents.

You might get turned off as he doesn’t have kicks, but that’s your mistake since his ability to dodge attacks is crucial in many instances. People who like to spam attacks won’t have an answer to Steve’s dodging as his moves are equipped with counter-attacks as well. Still, casual players might not want to choose Steve since he takes quite a bit of getting used to.

6 Nina Williams

Nina Williams

Nina has always been the more interesting Williams sister, and in Tekken 7 she furthers this by having an interesting plot line. While she doesn’t develop the way you wanted her to, Nina still offers some diversity in her story compared to others.

RELATED: Tekken: Every Game In The Series, Ranked

On the fighting front, Nina’s main attack should be where she can use her combo to repel her opponent to the edge of the screen; this allows you to run straight for them while they’re down and incorporate Nina’s flexibility to continue bamboozling your opponent. Nina’s moves don’t really spell out a pattern, which is great if you want to be unpredictable.

5 Marshall Law

Marshall Law

Law doesn’t offer much variety in his move sets, but it is the power he brings in these moves that will be the deciding factor in your battles. Law’s story once again is more of a joke than serious business, but his chemistry with Paul Phoenix means you’ll still be entertained.

Law’s go-to offense is by tossing his opponent in the air and repeating this move to your heart’s content. While this can be blocked, you use Law’s downward pounding punch to break this defense and then resume attacking your opponent with Law’s highly powerful set of kicks.

4 Akuma

Akuma

Capcom clearly wanted Akuma to stand out compared to Tekken characters and made him arguably purely the strongest character. His ability to take powerful attacks with minimal damage is what contributes to his own powerful offense.

While he’s not very fast, he certainly can dodge attacks very well. Once you get Akuma on a roll, the opponent just can’t recover to counter those heavy damages Akuma delivers. Akuma is also one of the handfuls of characters who are relevant in Tekken 7’s story; this makes him a character you want to select to understand the plot further. He’s definitely one of your top choices if you’re not too experienced and wants a shot at victory through power.

3 Heihachi Mishima

Heihachi Mishima

After overlooking Heihachi’s importance, and making him a comedy act, in Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, Tekken 7 finally made him relevant again by placing Heihachi as the main character. He’ll be the one you pick to play the scenario campaign and unlock the secrets of the Mishima clan; so ultimately, he’s the one with the most development.

RELATED: Tekken: 10 Craziest Things The Mishima Family Ever Did

As far as fighting ability is considered, Heihachi isn’t the most versatile, but he also packs a wallop due to his enhanced abilities. The best way for you to get the first shot in is by employing either Heihachi’s headbutt, or by blasting your opponent afar through Heihachi’s fist combo.

2 Kazuya Mishima

Kazuya Mishima

The other main character of Tekken 7. Kazuya always offered more variety compared to Heihachi. His greatest move has to be his cycle kicks, which not only knocks the opponent down, but then flings them up in the air as well.

Kazuya’s moves are just as powerful as Heihachi and Akuma’s, making his punches just as deadly. Kazuya is the antagonist in the story mode, so you’ll be keeping close to him throughout. This also makes Kazuya another one of the few characters who offers something of substance in the story. Kazuya’s an old favorite of Tekken gamers, so his moves will feel right at home for most.

1 Jin Kazama

Jin Kazama

Jin Kazama was the hero of the games from Tekken 3 to Tekken 5, before turning into the villain and eventual anti-hero in Tekken 6 and Tekken 7, respectively. While Tekken 7 makes him a supporting character, you’ll be most invested when he’s in the story.

Jin’s offense is the most developed; the creators clearly wanted his moves to feel as if they belonged to the main character. Jin is the complete package as you can use his combos to unload a severe beating through Jin’s fists or use his vast array of kicks to knock around your opponent. Making it even sweeter is that you can use both fists and kicks to unleash a complete flawless victory.

NEXT: Tekken 7: Reasons It's The WORST In The Series (And A Few Ways It's Amazing!)