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Tekken 8 director Harada 'didn't mean to lie' when he said awful dad Heihachi Mishima was really, truly dead

Tekken 8 resurrected Heihachi Mishima despite being declared dead in Tekken 7; Harada denies lying, citing fan demand and the series' 30th anniversary.

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Tekken creative director Katsuhiro Harada says he "didn't mean to lie" when claiming Heihachi Mishima was dead before Tekken 8 resurrected the big bad dad yet again.

Back when Tekken 8 was first announced last year, Harada said even he couldn't believe how dead Heihachi was. Harada recalled how he told Tekken 7's development team to make sure Heihachi's death was "convincing this time," hence why Heihachi was punched so hard his heart stopped and was then dropped into a volcano at the conclusion of the game. 

Fast forward to last week, and surprise: Heihachi is alive once again, and returning to the Tekken series as a Tekken 8 DLC character later this year. In a new interview with IGN, Harada was asked point-blank why he lied about Heihachi being dead for good going into Tekken 8 which, to be fair, he did say.

"[I] didn't mean to lie or anything about that. Tekken 7 really focused on the story arc between Heihachi and his son, Kazuya, and so, we really wanted to show that kind of final conclusion, and he seemed to die at that point. Right?" Harada recalled of the previous Tekken entry.

"But then, after that happened, Tekken 8 was released, and we put a lot of effort into the story and the fans really seemed to be engaged with that. And as that was happening, we were kind of feeling that the players kind of missed him as well. Obviously, we did, too. So, it was kind of decided later on that we would do that," the Tekken series creative director continues.

"So, it wasn't a lie," Harada concludes, adding that Tekken needs its three Mishimas on its big 30-year birthday celebration this year. I think we might need players to weigh in on whether Harada truly was lying when he said Heihachi was dead, but it genuinely does sound like the plan, at the conclusion of Tekken 7, was to finally leave Heihachi dead for good.

Take a look at our best fighting games guide to see where Tekken games rank above our picks of the best to ever step into the ring.