Tekken's story is, well... enduring. While many other fighting games undergo numerous reboots and convoluted timelines, multiverses, and whatnot, Tekken has, at least, stuck to its narrative from the beginning, no matter how silly it may be. The blood feud of the Mishima family has unfolded over seven and now eight games.
In Tekken 8, it's possible to revisit all the events from previous titles in the Gallery mode and a new piece of the main story can be found in "The Dark Awakens" story mode. If you've just finished it and want Tekken 8 ending explained, then read on!
Tekken 8 ending explained
WARNING: Major spoilers for Tekken 8 ahead!
After 15 chapters following Jin's redemption story, the finale of Tekken 8 comes as a long epic fight between the revitalised Jin and his power-hungry world-domination-seeking devilish father, Kazuya.
In this cinematic epic battle that seems to last for about ten rounds, you will fight in space as Angel Jin vs Devil Kazuya until you find yourself back on Earth without your superpowers for the real final battle.
So, in the end, empowered by his friends and recently resurrected mother Jun, with a newly found will to live Jin somehow manages to defeat Kazuya in the most over-the-top final moment that even Dragon Ball Z would envy.
As Azazel, the original source of Devil power, was defeated earlier in the story, and now with Kazuya's seemingly final defeat, it seems that the world is freed from Devil’s influence once and for all.
Then follows a couple of scenes that serve as a nice closure for many very long Tekken storylines. We see Jin looking at the ocean and thanking his mother, and there's a scene where he goes on a motorcycle road trip with Xiaoyu. Cute! As a kind of closure, we also see Jun Kazama coming to visit the fallen Kazuya, who is now seemingly dead, while she is brought back to life - strange how tables have turned. Lastly, during the credits, we see what other characters are up to, and everything seems fine and dandy in this good ending aptly named "Hope".
However, at the very end, as a post-credits scene, we see a new character, Reina, who we find out is the secret illegitimate daughter of the previously deceased /missing Heihachi Mishima, transforming into her devil form.
What does this mean for the future of the Tekken story? Well, Kazuya seems to be dead for good this time, but of course, never say never. Heihachi is also supposedly killed in Tekken 7 and doesn't appear anywhere in the sequel, but many still doubt that he's gone for good. In any case, the new Heihachi successor, Reina, is now here, seemingly with completely new devil powers. Will she be the main antagonist in Tekken from now on, or perhaps in some strange twist, a new protagonist? - remains to be seen. Also, how will the current Tekken hero and main character, Jin, manage to confront her now that he no longer has his Devil or Angel powers?
We will get answers to these questions in Tekken 9 or perhaps in some story DLC if Bandai Namco decides to go that route. Interestingly, the story mode in the main menu is listed as "Story: The Dark Awakens," possibly leaving room for additional stories that may be added in the future.
And, what about the bad ending? The alternative ending in Tekken 8 is more like a secret Easter egg than canon. If you intentionally choose to lose the final battle against Kazuya, a different set of final animations will mark the "Despair" ending. Here, we see Kazuya, continuing the generational trauma of the Mishima family, throwing Jin into the abyss, mirroring the scene when Heihachi threw him in a similar manner.
Then we see Kazuya in his office, looking at his hand, realising that he no longer has Devil powers but still claiming that he will continue his reign of terror over the world, with or without them. After that, the credits follow, with different, more ominous music and images of war, only to end again with the same post-credits scene, showing Reina becoming the new devil and vowing to avenge her father.