Tekken 8 ending explained: Story recap & post-credits

Aryan Singh
Devil Jin fighting Devil Kazuya in Tekken 8

Tekken 8 brings with it another installment in the Mishima-saga, a decade-old conflict involving the members of a cursed bloodline. The game’s story is action-packed from start to finish and it also drops some hints for the future of its characters. On that note, here is Tekken 8’s ending explained.



Tekken 8 is the latest feature-rich offering from Bandai Namco. The game comes with all the features you can expect from Tekken, along with new gameplay mechanics, the debuting Arcade Quest mode, new characters, and even a brand-new story campaign.

The game adds another chapter in the story, leading straight on from Kazuya’s victory against Heihachi in Tekken 7, which sees Jin go into hiding.

Titled ‘The Dark Awakens’, Tekken 8’s story finally provides an ending to the father-son grudge between Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama, as the latter returns after recovering from T7’s events in the Middle East. It also offers a glimpse at the Tekken universe after the dust has settled.

On that note, here is Tekken 8’s ending explained.

Do note, there are end-game story spoilers below.

How does Tekken 8 end?

Tekken 8 has two endings to its main story. The ending you get depends on the result of the final showdown between Jin and Kazuya. There’s one ‘good’ ending and one ‘bad’ ending.

Now, let’s take a look at both of Tekken 8‘s endings:

Tekken 8: ‘Hope’ ending explained

Jin in Tekken 8
The ‘Hope’ ending in Tekken 8 sees Jin defeat Kazuya.

The ‘Hope’ ending in Tekken 8 is basically the ‘good’ ending to the game’s story. After a fight between Devil Jin and the all-powerful True Devil form of Kazuya, the former is visited by a vision of his mother, Jun, who helps him conquer the Devil gene and turn into an Angel.

He uses his newfound power to stop a world-ending ball of energy launched by Kazuya and hurls it into an ocean. The result is a massive explosion, which launches both men into space. A huge chunk of rock acts as a makeshift stage, as both characters exchange blows once again. This battle culminates in both Jin and Kazuya losing their supernatural forms and returning to their human selves.

With the playing field now level, the final battle commences and ends with Jin emerging victorious. The final cutscene displays Jin standing on a cliff and overlooking the sea. He then spots a white bird flying toward him and he moves on to pick up a flower from the ground. Jin quickly realizes that this is a sign of his mother, and he thanks her for helping vanquish the Devil.

The cutscene ends with a shot of Jin meeting Xiaoyu on a deserted road, implying that the two rode off into the sunset together. As for Kazuya, the character is seen lying face down at the site of the battle before being visited by Jun.

But that’s not the end of it, as the game also has a post-credits scene that sees Reina confirm that she is Heihachi’s daughter before triggering her own Devil form.

Tekken 8: ‘Despair’ ending explained

Kazuya in Tekken 8
Kazuya continues his hunt for power in Tekken 8’s ‘Despair’ ending.

The ‘Despair’ ending can be seen as the ‘bad’ ending to Tekken 8. It occurs after Jin loses the final battle to Kazuya, which triggers an alternate final cutscene. It begins with Kazuya tossing Jin off a cliff with a smirk on his face before cutting a shot of him proclaiming his unrelenting pursuit of power once again.

The final credits also change with this ending and even the music is more sinister. In this case, the credits display a manic Bryan Fury causing chaos with the G Corporation, an army of Jack-8’s taking over the streets, and Nina Williams cruising off somewhere. All of it confirms Kazuya’s reign over the world.

The post-credits scene for this ending is the same as the previous one, implying that Reina will be the latest obstacle in Kazuya’s path.

That was Tekken 8’s ending explained. For more on the game, check out our other guides:

Will Tekken 8 be on Xbox Game Pass? | Will Tekken 8 have crossplay? PC, PlayStation & Xbox cross-progression details | Tekken 8 pre-order bonuses: All editions & prices | Will Tekken 8 be on PS4 & Xbox One? | Will Tekken 8 be on Nintendo Switch?

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About The Author

Aryan is a Games Writer at CharlieIntel who specializes in sports and racing games, including EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, and Forza. He's also a big fan of massive RPGs such as Starfield, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk. Aryan has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and previously wrote for sports websites Pride of London, Sportsmanor, LWOF, and Thick Accent. You can contact him at [email protected].