Tekken 8: All Major Character Archetypes [Explained With Images]

What Are Character Archetypes

Character archetypes are basically character playstyles in simpler terms. You can choose your main depending upon the play style you like most.

• Playstyles: Some grapplers can chain throws, and then there are the rush-down characters for people who love to play offensively.
• Defense: If you’re a defensive player, you can choose a keep-out character as your main character.

You can try an unpredictable play style using a mixup character even though they are hard to learn. Basically, Tekken 8 has a character for everyone and is also the most accessible and beginner-friendly Tekken in the franchise. 

Similar to this: Best Characters in Tekken 8

1. Grapplers

Grappling is a playstyle that is not really pre-dominant in Tekken 8 since there is only one character in the entire roster who has a pure grappling playstyle, and his name is King. Basically, grapplers have command grabs in their playstyle, which deal a lot of damage. When playing a grappler, most of your damage won’t come from combos but from these command grabs and chaining these grabs.

Command grabs are also really hard to counter since your opponent will have to learn the special inputs that are needed to break such grabs. All normal grabs have almost the same input to break, but for these command grabs, there are special inputs. Other characters that have strong command grabs include Dragunov and Nina.

2. Mixups

Mixup characters have a strong set of high, mid, and low attacks, which they can use to trick their opponent completely. Basically, such characters will rarely let you know their next move. Kazuya Mishima is currently one of the strongest mixup characters in Tekken 8, and that was expected since his mixups were already pretty strong in Tekken 7.

When using a mixup character, you will always have the upper hand in the first round. Paul Phoenix and Reina also have strong mixups in Tekken 8. Jin has a great set of highs and lows as well. However, it would be best to remember that mixup characters are not mostly beginner-friendly, so expect to put some time in the practice mode to master them.

3. Rushdown

Tekken 8’s whole meta is extremely different from Tekken 7 because everything is now more fast-paced, and the game demands an offensive play style from the player. Devil Jin has to be one of the strongest rushdown characters in Tekken 8, as his moveset can consistently allow you to put pressure on your opponent. Dragunov is another great rushdown character and is literally called the frame-eater by the community.

It means that his offense is so strong that even if you block his attacks, there’s a chance he might still get you when you’re trying to counter him. I love playing offensively, so the rushdown archetype is my favorite playstyle. Other good rushdown characters include Azucena, who is also beginner-friendly, and Reina, who requires a lot of practice to master.

4. Keep-Out

With strong counter-attacks comes the keep-out archetype in Tekken 8. Even the rushdown characters can’t really put pressure on the keep-out characters using offense since they have amazing counters. Lee Chaolan is the strongest keep-out character in Tekken 8, with a strong set of punishing moves. It is always fun to play a keep-out character but never fun to play against.

Such characters will always play defensively and wait for an opening to punish the opponent. Leo Kliesen and Bryan Fury are also amazing keep-out characters. Bryan is especially good since he can launch multiple attacks and combos by countering a single mistake. Such characters also have amazing movement most of the time.

My Take On Character Archetypes

I love how there are so many different playstyles for all the characters in Tekken 8. However, I hope the grappler archetype receives some love, and we see more grapplers in future DLCs. Additionally, I love playing characters who have a strong offense and are basically rushdown characters. Tekken 8 is about pressure and offense, so it is my favorite archetype.

This concludes my guide on the character archetypes in Tekken 8. I have explained what archetypes actually mean and what the major archetypes in Tekken 8 are currently. Let me know if you’re enjoying your time with Tekken 8 in the comments below!

NEXT:

• Tekken 8: Ranking System 
• Tekken 8: Feng Wei Combos 
• Tekken 8: Best Beginner Characters
• Tekken 8: Best Ways To Get Fight Money