Paul Phoenix is a character from the Tekken series. He's appeared in every subsequent tournament.
He is voiced by Kanehira Yamamoto in the Japanese version, and by Eric Kelso, Jamieson Price and Mike McFarland in the English version.
Story
Paul is a hot headed biker with experience in Judo and other marital arts, and is known for his famous punch "The Phoenix Smasher." He has been in every Tekken tournament to date, and went undefeated through the entire King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 and was even victorious against Ogre. Swelling with pride, Paul returned home. However, Paul's happy ending was short-lived. Unknown to Paul, Ogre morphed into his second form - True Ogre - and the tournament continued after his departure. Although Paul asserted that he was the true champion of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, few believed him and even those that did eventually grew tired of his attitude. Friends and admirers slowly disappeared, and his dojo eventually went out of business from the lack of students. One day, Paul came across a newspaper flyer announcing The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. Burning with the desire to win this Tournament, he decides to give it his all once again to prove that he is the one true champion, once and for all.
Paul Phoenix's rematch with the bear called Kuma was fierce, and though victorious, he was utterly exhausted, leaving him unable to continue the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. Unable to collect any prize money from the last tournament, Paul, who was already burdened by his mountain of debt, learns that a new King of Iron Fist Tournament will be held soon. Believing he that if he won the tournament, he could finally say goodbye to his loan troubles, Paul deeply though about ways to increase his chances of winning... participating on his own was out of the question. If he could assemble a team with someone, his chances of winning the prize money would greatly increase. And so he went over his plan with his best friend Marshall Law.
Personality
He is a hotheaded, aggressive character, determined more than ever to win the tournament to prove he is the best fighter in the entire universe (he means this literally, according to his ending in Tekken 5). He is very hostile towards the Mishima family and everyone and anything associated with it (most notably the Mishima Zaibatsu and Kazuya Mishima) and never hesitates to show this hatred in matches.
Although he gets close so many times (especially in Tekken 3), Paul has never won a tournament. Yet he managed to defeat the powerful non-human Ogre in a fight. It was always discussed who was the true winner of the 3d tournament (even among the fandom), yet the majority of the people thought Jin Kazama the actual winner, since he destroyed Ogre after Paul left. For Heihachi Mishima, the winner was supposed to be the one who would capture Ogre for him, but neither Paul or Jin succeeded at that as Ogre's body vanished.
Paul always provided comic relief moments for the series, but lately his funny side has become his only point. In fact despite his initial setup in the first game to be a possible rival to Kazuya, as well as his serious standing in previous games, Paul has become something of a joke character (story-wise) more and more. This is quite obviously evidenced by the fact that he is rivals with another joke character, Kuma II. In the oldest Tekken games Kuma I was introduced as a serious smart evil bear who tried to prevent Paul, who was the strongest non-Mishima, winning the first tournaments. Paul also had a comic relief ending in Tekken 5. Nevertheless, he is among the most popular and well-loved Tekken characters.
Other Media
Super Smash Bros.
Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as spirit on the Kazuya's spirit board, they are advanced-ranked primary attack-type one that increases the user's foot attacks. Their spirit battle are a stamina battle against Ken and Fox on the battlefield form of New Donk City Hall.
Gallery
Trivia
- Along with Heihachi Mishima, Nina Williams, and Yoshimitsu, Paul Phoenix has appeared in every single Tekken game to date.
- According to current canon, Kazuya Mishima and Kuma are the only two characters to have ever defeated Paul in a tournament. It is very possible that Paul could be regarded as one of the most powerful or "toughest" fighter in the Tekken universe, somewhat ironic considering Paul has become more of a comedy gag character in recent installments. Obviously Paul is comically oblivious to this feat however.
 Heroes
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