Jin Kazama

Country of origin	Japan
Fighting style	Traditional Karate (Prior to Tekken 4, Mishima-Ryuu Fighting Karate)
Age	21
Height	5'11"
Weight	165 lbs
Blood type	AB
Occupation	Martial artist
Hobby	Walks in the forest
Likes	His mother's precepts
Dislikes	Deception

Early Childhood
Jin Kazama is the son of Jun Kazama and Kazuya Mishima.
During the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2 (which is the setting of
the game Tekken 2), Jun and Kazuya crossed paths and were intimate.
There is speculation throughout the internet as to whether
or not Jun was raped by Kazuya or if the act was consensual.
Regardless, Jun found herself pregnant with Jin immediately afterwards.
The Devil that possessed Kazuya attempted to enter Jin while
he was still in the womb, but Jun defeated it.
Wishing to raise her son alone, Jun disappeared
into a remote mountain location where she raised
Jin and trained him in her Kazama-Style Self-Defense Fighting Style.
After many years, Jun sensed the approaching of a great evil (Ogre)
and told Jin that if anything happened to her,
that he should seek his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima.
Jun's words proved to be prophetic, and some time after
Jin's 15th birthday, she was attacked by Ogre. Later,
Jin awoke amongst rubble and searched for his mother and
could not find her anywhere. The young man swore revenge.

Tekken 3
Jin was then taken in by his grandfather,
Heihachi Mishima, who began to train him in Mishima-Based Karate.
Heihachi realized that Ogre, whom Heihachi needed in order to create
"the ultimate lifeform", would sense Jin's strength and come for him.
And so he decided to use his own grandson as bait for Ogre.
At the same time, he noticed that Jin possessed the same
"dangerous power" that his father did (the "Devil Gene").
Heihachi decided that it would be best to eliminate Jin once he'd
served his purpose. During the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3,
Jin defeated True Ogre (the creature's second manifestation) and
avenged his mother. However, he was immediately gunned down by
his grandfather Heihachi and several members of the Tekken Force.
Before he could "die", however, Jin's devil power began to manifest
and it resulted in him striking down Heihachi and flying off into
the distance.

Tekken 4

Jin in Tekken 4.
This costume was designed to give Jin a much darker persona.
After Heihachi's betrayal, Jin fell into a pit of self hatred
and loathing, in which he hated everything that was related to
the Mishimas. He hated his grandfather and father, his bloodline,
his fighting style and even the "Devil Gene" in which he inherited
from his father. Locating a secluded dojo in Brisbane, Australia,
Jin unlearned the Mishima style he had used up to that point and
mastered traditional Karate thanks to the help of the Dojo master.
He remained in Brisbane for the next two years, learning and mastering
his new fighting style while also plotting his act of revenge against
his evil and corrupt family. It is believed that during his time away,
he was responsible for sending Ling Xiaoyu an E mail, warning her about
Heihachi and the Mishima Zaibatsu.

As each day passed by, Jin's hatred for his family bloodline intensified
in which fueled his desire to one day destroy the Mishima bloodline.
At this time,
the rumors of a fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament
began to surface. He then set his sights on this new tournament,
looking at it as an opportunity. Jin planned to kill both his father
Kazuya and his grandfather Heihachi during the tournament.
Should he win, he was to then kill himself,
thus putting an end to his evil
bloodline and the curse that comes with it. However,
Jin did not realize that the tournament itself was a
trap set by his grandfather, who was looking for him as well.

Before Jin could make it all the way to the final bout,
he was surrounded by the Tekken Force and knocked unconscious.
He was then taken to Heihachi's private building at Hon-Maru
and chained up. Later, Heihachi brought Kazuya to Hon-Maru.
At this point, the Devil within Kazuya took control,
summarily disposing of Heihachi and attempting
to awaken the Devil within Jin; Jin refused to manifest the
Devil within and instead attacked his father.
Kazuya was unable to hold Jin back; when Heihachi
regained consciousness, the old man attempted to stop Jin from leaving.
As Jin was set to kill Heihachi, he saw an image of his mother
appear before his eyes. Tossing Heihachi aside, he told him
(in Japanese), "You can thank my mother, Jun Kazama for your life"
before spreading his wings and flying straight through
the Hon-Maru ceiling to the night sky.

Tekken 5 Story
Only seconds after Jin left,
the G Corporation (the rival company to Heihachi's Mishima Zaibatsu)
sent an army of Jack robots to kill Heihachi. The Jacks self-detonated,
destroying the Hon-Maru and apparently killing Heihachi. What no one knew,
however, was that Hon-Maru was the location where Heihachi had sealed his
father, Jinpachi Mishima, several decades earlier. According to dialogue
within Tekken 5, during his time sealed in Hon Maru, Jinpachi
had been fully taken over by his own Devil Gene and was released
when Hon-Maru was destroyed, releasing his evil throughout the world.

No one felt the effects of this more than Jin. Almost immediately
after Jinpachi's release, Jin's own Devil Gene went berserk.
Jin soon found himself awakening inside of an utterly destroyed forest,
realizing that he was the cause of the destruction. From here,
it seems that the Devil Gene may have been too powerful
for Jin to control, even with his Kazama blood,
as the profile of Devil Jin
(an unlockable character within the game,
as well as the game's main sub-boss) states that
"two months later, Jin has been completely taken over
by the Devil Gene".

As Jin has two versions of himself within Tekken 5
(Jin Kazama and Devil Jin, respectively),
the character was given two endings in Story Mode.
In "normal" Jin's ending, he is seen walking through a dark,
gothic building while thousands of tuxedo-clad men
(presumably underlings) all stand at attention and salute him.
He then proceeds to walk to a large throne and sits, crossing his legs,
apparently having taken over the Zaibatsu. In Devil Jin's ending,
he lifts up the fallen Jinpachi and then siphons power from him.
When the siphoning is complete, he drops Jinpachi to the ground and
undergoes a massive transformation (detailed in the Devil Gene entry)
and erupts with power as he screams an inhuman howl.

These endings both bring up many questions amongst fans.
In both of his previous canonical appearances (Tekken 3 and Tekken 4),
Jin's endings were made the central focus of the sequels. However,
his endings always left his direct fate in the air,
since Jin would simply leave without resolving lingering
issues with his family. Both of Jin's endings in Tekken 5,
however, progresses those issues as well as the sub-plot
about his Devil possession, completely changing the Tekken
storyline's status quo (and key protagonist) as we know it.
In Devil Jin's story mode, he even remarks that
"I am in control of the Devil", giving the impression that
Jin has become hopelessly corrupted.

Because of this, there are three major theories:
One is that both of these endings are true. For this theory to work,
Devil Jin's ending would have to occur first and,
after the Devil within him achieves ultimate power,
it uses Jin in order to take over the Mishima Zaibatsu
and turn it into a sinister empire. The second theory is
that both of these endings will break previous trends and
neither one will be canon. This is partially supported by
a pre-rendered video of Tekken shown at the 2005 E3,
in which Jin Kazama is shown fully human.

The final theory is that just one of the two endings
is an actual ending. If Namco wishes to retain at least
part of the status quo, then the most likely candidate
is Jin's ending itself, since Devil Jin's ending entails
Jin becoming fully corrupted by the Devil. This would
also be plausable if Asuka Kazama were to touch him,
as she does in her epilogue, and his transformation reversed.

Romantic possibilities
The most prominent fan speculation involves
Jin's friendship/potential romance with Ling Xiaoyu,
a Chinese girl raised by the Mishima Zaibatsu and attending
the same high school as Jin. In Tekken Tag Tournament,
Ling Xiaoyu's secret ending indicates that she has somewhat
of a crush on Jin, and this is complemented in her Tekken 4
intro (in which she hopes to be "reunited" with Jin)
and in her Tekken 4 ending. Tekken 5, however,
seems to have taken a step backward in this regard,
as Ling's part in the overall plot is minimal.

Although Ling is clearly smitten with Jin,
he apparently doesn't feel the same for her.
Assuming the alternate costume ending for Ling
in Tekken Tag Tournament is canon, Jin appeared
to have little interest in the girl when they
attended the same high school. However,
it is possible that he warned her about
Heihachi's intentions prior to the
King of Iron Fist Tournament 4,
given his rabid hatred of the Mishima Zaibatsu,
out of concern for her well-being,
since Jin is unlikely to have had many,
if any, friends other than Ling herself.
At the same time, it is also possible that
he did so merely to spite Heihachi. Furthermore,
although he has been present with Ling
at three Tournaments (3, 4, 5), and knows how to contact her,
he has done so only once. It can be argued, however,
that he had good reasons--as he had been in hiding
for two years and then began losing his struggle against
his internal Devil shortly after that.

More rumors surround Jin's relationship with his newly-introduced
relative, Asuka Kazama. Neither seems to be aware of their relation,
but in Asuka's ending, Jin clumsily falls onto her breasts
before finally regaining his wits. A momentary look of red-faced
embarrassment on Asuka's face before her mood shifts to pure anger
also raises eyebrows. The meeting results in nothing more than
Asuka yelling "You pervert!' while punching Jin into the side
of a rock wall and stomping off angrily, leaving Jin naively
wondering what happened.

Other fan-motivated partnerships include various partners such as
Xiaoyu's best friend and classmate Miharu Hirano, college student
Julia Chang and his Korean rival Hwoarang. Despite all of this,
Jin has yet to show any romantic interest in anyone,
which might have to do with his ambition to destroy
his own lineage (see below).

Jin defeats True Ogre and it explodes.
Jin is hopeful that Heihachi will reward him for defeating Ogre.
Instead the Tekken Force guns Jin down on Heihachi's orders.
As Jin stubbornly clings to life, his grandfather
Heihachi shoots him in the head personally to finish him off.
Heihachi walks away, satisfied at having gotten rid of Jin,
but watches in shock as his soldiers go flying all around him.
Heihachi slowly turns around to see Jin, now transformed
into Devil Jin, who charges into Heihachi, grabs him by the head,
and slams him through a stone wall, where he lands outside of the temple.
As Heihachi prepares to get up,
Devil Jin sprouts wings and powerdives into Heihachi
again before taking off again and flying into the distance.
Heihachi sits up and watches him go.

Having defeated his father,
Jin prepares to finish him off,
but everything flashes white for an instant and
Jin stops in his tracks. Jin drops Kazuya to the
floor and then falls to his knees, looking in horror
as his hands course with lightning and shake uncontrollably.

Jin, sprouting wings but not quite transformed into Devil Jin,
defeats Heihachi and prepares to finish him
(almost an echo of his TTT ending). As he's about to deliver
the final blow, he looks to the side and sees a vision
(hallucination?) of his mother. He tosses Heihachi to the side,
tells him to thank Jun Kazama for being spared,
and then turns away and bursts right through the Hon-Maru ceiling.

Jin walks into a building billed as the "Mishima Zaibatsu Throne Room",
surrounded by thousands of suited underlings, who salute him.
Jin then sits down upon the throne, crossing his legs and
resting his chin on his fist. A moment later,
Jin looks anxiously at the camera and prepares to act . . .

Analysis of Jin
Jin's actions and surroundings fit the mold of a
quintessential "tragic hero". His tragic flaws:
The devil that slowly consumes his mind and body
and his naïvete; both of which caused him trauma and pain.
As with many tragedies, all of the major traumatic events
that occur within the hero's life are wholly beyond his control.
First and foremost, there's the fact that his grandfather
and father are two of the most ruthless individuals who've ever lived.
Secondly, his mother was cruelly and abruptly taken from him while
he was still a helpless teen. Third, he was betrayed by his grandfather,
whom he trusted deeply. Finally, the return of his great-grandfather
has caused him to begin losing his internal struggle with the
Devil within. Each of these occur to a helpless and unassuming Jin,
who is simply doing what he can to set things right at every turn.

Jin's personality ranges from calm to angry at various moments,
and his words and actions hint toward the bitterness within.
He also has one personality trait which is common with many
Japanese action heroes. Once Jin's mind is focused in any
particular direction, it's very difficult to get him to
change or even notice the events and people around him.
People close to him, including Ling Xiaoyu and Hwoarang,
are always going to extremes to gain Jin's attention, a
nd yet he rarely seems to notice. It is known, however,
that he will help them if they need it, as Ling Xiaoyu's
Tekken 4 profile and Hwoarang's non-canonical Tekken 4 ending have shown.

Jin's disinterest in close relations probably has one unique motivation.
As a result of his family's Devil Gene, Jin knows that people
close to him will likely suffer--or worse--if he ever completely
loses control. In addition, Jin may not show any interest in women
because he plans to wipe out his lineage entirely. In short, during T4,
Jin planned to kill his father and grandfather and then himself,
dying without children to put an end to the Mishima curse once and
for all. However, Jin could not go through with the deed
after defeating his two predecessors, so it's unknown if he has
given up on this plan completely.