| “ | Heihachi Mishima is dead. | „ |
| ~ Raven reporting of Heihachi's status in Tekken 5 and Tekken 8. |
Raven (also known as The Dark Talon of Death) is a supporting character in the Tekken series, having been introduced in Tekken 5 and returning for Tekken 6. He is a secret intelligence agent, whose ninjutsu fighting style is highlighted with his teleportation moves and extremely quick maneuvers.
Apart from a scar in the shape of an "X" on his face, his aspects, including age and nationality, are unknown. Raven entered the fifth tournament to find out who or what was behind the event.
He was voiced by Kenichiro Matsuda in Street Fighter X Tekken in Japanese and Jack Merluzzi in Tekken 5 and D. C. Douglas in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection in English.
Personality[]
Raven is an enigmatic figure about whom little is known. He is distant and taciturn in all his associations. Even after allying with Lars Alexandersson in Tekken 6, he explains to him afterwards that it was an alliance of convenience that extends no further than the business he has now concluded. He is described as 'ruthless' and rarely lets his emotions cloud his judgment. Raven is also reserved and level-headed, as shown when calls in for back-up and additional orders if confronted with unexpected situations.
Appearance[]
Raven is a muscular man with brown skin, brown eyes, and blonde hair, styled in a very short crew cut and with streaks shaved out of it, revealing strips of his bare scalp. He has a large X-shaped scar across his face, with the lines crossing between his eyes. He also bears a black tattoo resembling a stylized kanji for death on his left shoulder. He typically wears close-fitting combat gear in a monochrome palette, thematically linked to popular depictions of ninja.
Abilities[]
Raven uses his ninjitsu to evade attacks from his supervisor before swiftly besting him in Tekken 8.
As an international intelligence agent, Raven is intelligent and skilled in the art of ninjutsu and investigation. In 6, he is shown to have superhuman strength, as he is strong enough to block a punch from NANCY-MI847J and flip it over without much effort. Likewise, Raven was able to occasionally summon a shadow clone to attack once, but in 8, he is shown to routinely uses clones to attack, extend his combos or switch places to counter an attack. His Rage Art even has Raven summon nine clones to attack his foe in quick succession.
Background[]
Tekken 5[]
An international intelligence agent considered highly skilled and iron-hearted, codename Raven. Apart from a scar in the shape of an "X" on his face, his details, including age and nationality, are unknown. Raven entered the fifth tournament to find out who or what was behind the event.
Raven makes his first appearance in the opening movie for Tekken 5, as he witnesses the attack on Hon-Maru by the Jack-4s while on a mission to look into the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation, as well as the subsequent explosion. It seems that he is the first one to report of Heihachi Mishima's supposed death.
Tekken 6[]
During the fifth King of Iron Fist Tournament, Raven encounters Heihachi Mishima, who was presumed to be dead. They began to fight, but before a victor could be decided, Raven received orders to return to headquarters, forcing him to withdraw from his battle with Heihachi. After their encounter, the battle between both the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation intensified, with the Mishima Zaibatsu declaring itself an independent nation (declaring war on the world in the process). With the announcement of the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament, Raven is sent to investigate the Mishima Zaibatsu once again.
Raven defeats NANCY-MI847J with little effort in Tekken 6.
Raven also appears a co-star in the Scenario Campaign mode of Tekken 6. Raven follows Lars throughout the missions and appears as an enemy boss and is defeated by Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch. Later on, he returns to help Alisa and Lars escape from a rampaging NANCY robot and ends up defeating it. Once Alisa turns on Lars at the order of Jin Kazama, he becomes Lars' partner in Alisa's place for the final two stages of the mode. He joins Lars to chase down Jin in the desert. Lars and Raven go to a village, which is under attack by the Tekken Force. They eliminate all the soldiers with the help of assassin and astrologist Zafina, who later leads them to the Temple of Azazel.
With his help, Lars is able to defeat Kazuya, Azazel, Alisa, and Jin. After Jin defeats Azazel for good, he accompanies Lars with Alisa's body back to Lee Chaolan's robotics company. Lars attempts to thank Raven for his help but he declines, offering the ominous warning "Tomorrow, we may be enemies," before leaving Lars. Following the credits, Raven returns to the site where Azazel's temple once was to find Jin Kazama's half-buried body lying in the sand.
Tekken 8[]
Raven has engaged in missions all over the world, utilizing his ninjutsu to put a stop to conflicts before they even begin. However, the brutal power struggle between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp threatens to bring the entire globe to its knees, and Raven only sees more chaos on the horizon. To face the challenges that lie ahead, he must continue to push past his limits. With this in mind, Raven sets out to train with his ninjutsu master once more. While the top brass admires Raven's resolve and accepts his request to go train, their approval comes with a condition: they will only cover his absence for half a year. Aiming to maximize his results in a limited time frame, Raven decides to focus on honing the arts he already excels at.
Months pass, and he masters a new art, "Shadow Clone," just as he receives orders to return. Thus, Raven leaves the training grounds behind, anticipating the new battle that awaits him.
Following Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima's clash in New York, Kazuya announces an eighth tournament. Raven informs Victor Chevalier of this, and Victor instructs Raven to evacuate civilians rather than attempting a counterattack.
Upon seeing Kazuya's Devil form, Victor surmises that Heihachi's intention had always been to stop forces such as Kazuya from bringing destruction to the world. Raven tells Victor that Heihachi Mishima is dead, but there is still one man who carry his bloodline and ambition is currently resisting against Kazuya, as a human, referring to Lars Alexandersson. This allows Victor to form a joint operation with Yggdrasil and aid Jin.
Raven joins in with UN soldiers, Yggdrasil, and those allied with Yggdrasil in order to fight on the Yakushima battlefield.
Raven appears alongside Victor during the finals of Kazuya's tournament in Italy, where the UN and Yggdrasil launch a joint assault on the tournament to evacuate the spectators and attempt to stop Kazuya. After this confrontation, Kazuya retreats to instead launch an attack on Yakushima, where Jin fled in order to regain control of his Devil power. Raven joins in with UN soldiers, Yggdrasil, and those allied with Yggdrasil in order to fight on the Yakushima battlefield.
In the good ending, Raven can be seen along with Victor leading lines of UN soldiers.
Gallery[]
Renders[]
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Trivia[]
- Raven has a tattoo on his upper left shoulder that resembles a stylized kanji for death (死 shi?). This symbol is also found on his superior, Master Raven's shoulder in the same place, and on the armor of Raven's troops at the end of Tekken 6. The symbol thus likely represents the raven class of secret agents working for the United Nations, and their associated assigned forces.
- Originally, Raven's biographies kept secret what organization he worked for. It was hinted at in various places in Tekken 6 however, and confirmed outright in Tekken 7 that he and his superior, Master Raven, are both secret intelligence operatives for the United Nations.
- It was stated on the European Tekken 6 site for a time that Raven is from Canada. However, in later versions of the site, his nationality is stated as unknown.
- The hand signs that Raven performs are part of the Kuji-in, a Japanese Buddhist Tantric technique said to be also practiced by ninjas.
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