| Jin Kazama | |
|---|---|
| Tekken character | |
.png) Jin Kazama in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2011) | |
| First appearance | Tekken 3 (1997) |
| Designed by | Yoshinari Mizushima |
| Voiced by |
|
| Portrayed by | Jon Foo (2009 film) Dallas James Liu (2009 film) (young) |
| Motion capture | Ryu Narushima |
| Country | Japan |
| In-universe information | |
| Fighting style | List
|
Jin Kazama (Japanese: 風間 仁, Hepburn: Kazama Jin) is a fictional character and the protagonist of Bandai Namco's Tekken series. Introduced in the 1997 game Tekken 3, he has been the central character of the series from that game onwards. Trained by his grandfather Heihachi Mishima, Jin wishes to avenge the apparent death of his mother, Jun Kazama, at the hands of Ogre. However, Heihachi betrays Jin to awaken a genetic abnormality within the latter's body known as the Devil Gene (Japanese: デビルの血, Hepburn: Debiru no Chi, lit. "Devil's blood"), leading Jin to seek revenge against his grandfather in later installments.
He is also antagonized by his father, Kazuya Mishima, from whom he inherited the devil gene at birth. While dealing with his relatives, Jin loses control of the Devil Gene, which causes his transformation into an alter ego named Devil Jin (Japanese: デビル仁, Hepburn: Debiru Jin), first introduced as a non-playable character in Tekken 3 and playable ever since Tekken 5. Outside of video games, Jin has appeared in animated and live-action films adapted from the games and has also appeared as a playable character in several other game franchises.
Initially conceptualized as an innocent man, Jin was developed as the series' new protagonist and a replacement for Kazuya, who he was based on visually. His constant fights with his family members would eventually lead him to become an antiheroic character, as crafted by Bandai Namco's director Katsuhiro Harada ever since his introduction. Nevertheless, Jin was portrayed as the main character in multiple adaptations of the games. He has been voiced consistently by Isshin Chiba since he debuted in Tekken 3 and has had multiple English actors across other appearances.
Critical reception to the character has been positive, with commentary focused on his moves and his role within the wider Tekken story. Since his introduction to Tekken 3, Jin has proven to be quite popular and has often been described as one of the best Tekken characters due to his fighting style and because of the impact he had on the storyline. His dark characterization was also noted while Devil Jin also remained popular for retaining Jin's classic Mishima-Ryu fighting style which he discarded since Tekken 4, before retaining it in Tekken 8.