Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club

ANNA WILLIAMS versus LING XIAOYU & PANDA

Blood Feud Part 1 of 4 (Titan)
Where: Tekken: Blood Feud #1 When: June 2017
Why: Cavan Scott How: Andie Tong

The Story So Far...
Running through the streets of Kyoto -- Ling Xiaoyu and her pet Panda narrowly avoid being run down by a speeding vehicle! They're the target of a professional manhunt, but G-Corporation paramilitary agents aren't the only force with eyes on the young student...

Xiaoyu is caught in the conflict between father & son as Kazuya Mishima pursues the whereabouts of Jin Kazama. Both men have deployed their forces to capture the young girl, but the global chase can only end in the inevitable collision of two generations possessed of the powerful Devil gene!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Panda 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Anna Williams 2 (Average)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Panda 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Ling Xiaoyu 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Ling Xiaoyu 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Anna Williams 2 (Projectile)
Total: Anna Williams 20 (Champion)

Chances are you probably have some awareness of the characters and plotlines from the Tekken video games, but I'm not sure I've ever seen as much storyline engagement as with the upcoming Tekken 8.

The Mishima Family conflict has had the majority of focus in the robust promotional campaign, which included a brief summary by Succession actor Brian Cox. Their inter-generational conflict consumes today's featured characters, even though they aren't originally central to the Mishima blood feud.

Anna Williams is an Irish martial artist trained in various assassin arts, including Aikido, and Koppo bone-breaking style. She was taught by her mother, and neglectful father - a retired IRA assassin, whose murder fueled an intense suspicion and blood feud with her rival & older sister, the assassin Nina Williams.

Sibling rivalry drove Anna to enter the first King of Iron Fist Tournament, and in the second event, she worked to protect tournament organizer Kazuya Mishima to thwart her assassin sister. This led to eventual further employment by Kazuya, and her present involvement leading the G-Corporation's elite soldiers.

Their primary target is Ling Xiaoyu: a Chinese school girl trained in Hakke Sho and Hikka Kan martial arts, with an interest in amusement parks and former fellow high school student Jin Kazama.

Initially she entered the third King of Iron Fist Tournament to raise funds for the construction of a perfect amusement park, but her increasing exposure to the Mishima family spurs her to fight for Jin's redemption, and peace within his family.

Accompanying Ling on this journey is her faithful pet Panda: a powerful but friendly creature committed to the protection and well being of her friend.

The Tape: Anna Williams & G-Corp Ranking: Draw (Not Ranked)

What Went Down...

Ling Xiaoyu and her pet Panda narrowly avoid being run down in the street by diving either side of a speeding vehicle in hot pursuit! It's a close call!

The black car has jumped the sidewalk, making a sharp handbrake turn across the footpath to keep the pair in the beam of its headlights. Xiaoyu hops on Panda's back and makes a run for the nearby alleys.

The car can't possibly make its way down the narrow passage, but it doesn't have to -- Anna Williams and G-Corporation soldiers are there ready and waiting!

Grilled for information - the young student denies knowing the whereabouts of her friend, and short-lived head of the Mishima Zaibatsu -- Jin Kazama.

Anna isn't convinced, but as the pressure of the situation begins to build, a homeless man covered in a dirty red shawl and carrying a wine bottle, staggers down the alley towards the stand-off.

A G-Corporation trooper attempts to move the homeless man along, but he isn't the harmless drunk he might appear to be! Exploding from beneath the red cloak comes Paul Phoenix -- leading with his gloved fist!

Phoenix buries his boot in the gut of another soldier, causing them to drop their gun, while he announces his intention to rescue the young student in distress.

Ling Xiaoyu squints one eye and looks sideways. She doesn't need rescuing!

Xiaoyu launches into a flying kick while Panda barrels through two soldiers!

A hotheaded trooper calls to fire at will, but Anna overrules -- reminding them they need to take Xiaoyu alive (but can do as they please with Paul).

Before Anna can get her hands dirty - she's visited by a descending boot heel!

The kick to the face puts Anna on the ground and announces the arrival of her assassin sister -- Nina Williams!

Far from beaten, Anna turns her predicament into a rising back heel kick that launches her sister off her feet!

Nina tumbles backwards, but rolls with it, narrowly dodging a follow-up punch that leaves Anna's fist crashing into the concrete wall behind her!

Pain ripples through Anna's arm and Nina counters with a hard and fast elbow & forearm to the face. She keeps up the pressure, flowing into a spinning back heel kick!

Elsewhere down the alley -- Ling Xiaoyu dances through a hail of bullets, dodging machine gun fire while squaring off with one a G-Corporation's armored goons.

Phoenix offers his seal of approval for the youngster's efforts, comparing it to his own successful efforts. He manhandles a soldier, gripping the trooper by the ankle and wrist -- turning him into human projectile that bowls over two more!

Not wanting "too much of a good thing", Paul takes the break in action to order a hasty retreat for Ling Xiaoyu and Panda.

They make a break for it -- racing to a nearby van waiting down the alley.

Speeding towards a successful getaway, Xiaoyu wonders about the fate of Nina, but Paul Phoenix knows all too well she can handle herself. A thud on the roof of the van confirms the assassin has joined them in their escape.

The Hammer...

Mortal Kombat tends to get a lot of credit for the supposed unique quality of its story, but as a diehard fan of the fighting game genre, I usually regard it simply as the more conventional series, with less prismatic plotlines and delivery methods than Tekken, Street Fighter, and some of the other Japanese franchises.

There are, of course, many equivalencies, but MK predominantly concerns itself with conventional narrative, hanging its assembled pieces together while routinely, and arbitrarily, redesigning everything from characters to gameplay engines.

The main unifying principle of Mortal Kombat has been simple stimulation, which has always created a certain amount of frustration within the details that appear to be important -- but often aren't -- growing increasingly inconsistent and damaged throughout the most recent entries, and generational shifts.

It may seem unlikely, but I think MK ultimately lives in the mind, while Street Fighter speaks to the soul, and as time marches on - Tekken finds itself living somewhere in between.

In terms of seminal influence, Tekken cribbed pretty directly from the polygon-based gaming of Virtua Fighter -- holding true to principles of character design that followed in the Street Fighter II mould.

Characters themselves become storytelling devices, driven by simple archetypes based on nationality, fighting style, and an interest - the latter often influenced by one of the former. You can therefore tell a lot about these characters just by looking at them and watching them move. If something suddenly seems out of place -- it might be the central focus of a small, but significant human story.

For me, the buffet of a fighting game ensemble cast is a huge part of the appeal, and Tekken, like Street Fighter, has always been good at curating each character so they have their own à la carte motivation, and primary rival. Individual parts that contribute to the pleasing experience of the overall whole.

There was a noticeable shift in style in Tekken 5 that, in some small way, began to remind me of Mortal Kombat. There was the murderous kung fu fighter Feng Wei, and darkly Asian aesthetic of the Hell's Gate stage. Forebears to an escalation of MK-style stakes in Tekken 6 that took the conflict between the Mishima clan away from a simple martial arts tournament - and drafted the majority of the cast into their respective associated corporate entities and an all-out global military war!

Why all these comparisons to Mortal Kombat? In recent years it seems like MK and its linear "Story Mode" presentation has had greater influence on the other major fighting game franchises, and Tekken has continued to go further down those "world war" stakes, making it feel less like Street Fighter (or Virtua Fighter), and more like MK. With all the flirting between Ed Boon and Katsuhiro Harada in recent years - I honestly won't be surprised if a character from either franchise shows up as a crossover guest in Tekken 8 or Mortal Kombat 1.

There are also interesting comparisons between the opening scene in Tekken: Blood Feud #1 and the most recent MK comic book: Both series start with the action already under way - a chase sequence leading quickly to the first fight. In the case of 2015's Mortal Kombat X opening story arc, Blood Ties, it starts with a young Takeda on Kenshi's back, running from Hsu Hao and the Red Dragon clan.

Just like the MK battle - there are allies lying in wait. In MKX, Scorpion shows up to bombastically deliver the first fatality of the series. In Tekken: Blood Feud we had to settle for a more inconclusive intervention from Paul Phoenix and Nina Williams, who help Xiaoyu out of her jam, but cut & run before any real damage is done - which speaks to a major diverging point between the two comic tie-ins.

Mortal Kombat X was ultimately a twelve issue ensemble series, expanding upon new characters like Takeda and Kotal Kahn, while also revisiting classic backstory, creating a completely new story, and filling in hypothetical events between two video games -- even if multimedia tie-ins will rarely live up to canon status.

At only four issues, Tekken: Blood Feud will predominantly continue to be one long chase. More characters will join both sides, but if we continue to explore events and battles from the later issues, we'll see a small cast engaged in a small story.

I'm personally of the opinion that killing characters off, especially in a secondary medium, is a lousy way to go about things, but I think Mortal Kombat went about kicking things off a little better with a short, sharp, conclusive battle that got the blood pumping with its obligatory action. Tekken: Blood Feud is a little vague and loose, lacking a real signature move in the opening going to feel super satisfying.

Fighting video games are a bit of a passion of mine, so I very much hope to look at all the fighting results from the Tekken tie-in comic in the future. If you'd like to make that a priority - consider becoming a supporter on Patreon. You can get my ear by joining the Patron Discord, and sponsor customizable content, including featured fights and Rank & File Top 10 lists.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has documented & discussed over 700 featured fights and more than 1,000 characters. You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index in order of publisher, series, and issue. You'll find Tekken and other series in the Miscellaneous section towards the bottom.

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Winners: Inconclusive (Draw)
#507 (new) Nina Williams
#508 (new) Paul Phoenix
#509 (new) Ling Xiaoyu
#510 (new) Panda
#511 (new) Anna Williams