Tekken 8 Character Archetypes Guide

The Tekken series is a franchise that allows players to express themselves by choosing their favorite type of fighters. To better understand the fundamentals of the Tekken 8 playstyle, we made a Tekken 8 character archetypes guide.

Character Archetypes in Tekken 8

Archetypes in fighting games are primarily like classes in role-playing games. Each archetype has a different playstyle, characteristics, and how they work against other archetypes. Since Tekken 8 is not an orthodox fighting game, assigning just one archetype to each of the 32 fighters is challenging. With that said, let's begin with some of the popular archetypes.

Grappling

Grappling archetypes are characters that dish out the most damage when throwing opponents. Tekken 8 has only one pure grappler in its roster: King. Other characters, such as Dragunov, have good grappling options in their arsenal, but they are not focused on grappling as their primary style.

Rushdown

New players usually pick Rushdown characters because they are intuitive to learn. The main trait of Rushdown is that it offers immense pressure with attacks to force the opponents to open themselves. In Tekken 8, the leading representative of the Rushdown archetype is Hwoarang, and there is also the newcomer Azucena, then Law, Lars, Nina Williams, Victor, Dragunov, and Jack-8.

Related: Everything Included in Tekken 8 Ultimate Edition on PS5

Poking

The poking playstyle is based on dealing damaging strikes and then pulling back. Almost every character has some options for poking, but you have to be really careful not to over-commit and eat a counter. In Tekken 8, the poking archetypes are Alisa, Jin Kazama, Jun Kazama, Reina, Zafina, and Shaheen.

Mixups

The Mixup archetype is similar to the Rushdown one, with one crucial distinction. Mixup fighters are playing the guessing game, making their opponents question their next move. Mixup archetype fighters are tough to read but very hard to learn. The examples of Mixup archetypes in Tekken 8 are Devil Jin, Kazuya, Kuma, Panda, Leroy, Xiaoyu, Leo, Paul, and Raven.

Defending

Defending category of archetypes is divided into several subclasses. The common thing for all of them is that they mostly play on the back foot. Turtling and counterbaiting is one type of Defenders' style, as it creates chances for their opponents to miss the attack so they can counter. An excellent example of this style is Bryan Fury. There are also evading defenders. These characters move away from their opponent's attacks, and some even have evasion normals, like Steve Fox. There are also the interceptors who can counter the attack with a counter hit. Feng Wei is an excellent example of this archetype.

For more related content, check out How to turn off Special Style in Tekken 8 on Pro Game Guides.