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The reveal of Tekken 8 Raven marks the long-awaited return of one of the more popular characters from recent entries in the series. Missing out on Tekken 7 in favour of his superior, Master Raven, the fan favourite ninjutsu specialist will be gracing us with his presence on the Tekken roster once more.
His reveal came alongside the announcement of a brand-new character, so check out our Tekken 8 Azucena character guide, too. And if you’re wanting to know the complete roster, our Tekken 8 Character List guide has every fighter that has been confirmed for Tekken 8 so far.
Tekken 8 Raven trailer
The trailer for Raven’s return to the Tekken series came before the Tekken 7 Grand Finals at EVO 2023. Here’s the Tekken 8 Raven reveal trailer:
Tekken 8 Raven background and story
Raven was first introduced way back in Tekken 5 as a special agent of the United Nation’s independent forces, typically tasked with preventing conflicts before their inception. In Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, he investigated the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp, allying with Lars Alexandersson in the latter. He was, however, noticeably absent in Tekken 7, having been replaced by Master Raven, his superior.
Following the aftermath of the events of Tekken 6, Raven decided that he needed to become stronger, and takes a leave of absence to train with his ninjutsu master. After being granted only six months leave, he maximises his time by focusing on improving his strongest abilities, mastering the Shadow Clone art during this time. With his training complete, he returns to Tekken 8 to restart his investigations into the conflict between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp.
Tekken 8 Raven gameplay
From his first appearance in Tekken 5, Raven has been a notoriously difficult character to play, and it looks like nothing has changed in Tekken 8. He has a high skill ceiling, and requires high execution to play effectively, but is capable of dealing some heavy damage if played well.
He has a large and varied move list, with a good poke game to heap pressure on his opponents, but with good spacing, is also capable of baiting whiffs from opponents, opening them up to some flashy punishes. He has a variety of flips and parries, letting him avoid attacks quickly, or even turn them back on opponents. Where his strengths give him plenty of options, his fundamentals let him down slightly, with poor frames making him often at risk of big punishes.
One major addition to his kit in Tekken 8 is the Shadow Clone ninjutsu he developed during his training, which is a core part of his playstyle. His clones allow him to very quickly approach opponents with a mixture of low, mid, and high attacks, giving him some tremendous mixup potential. As well as this, some of his shadow clone attacks can be used from a decent range, making them useful for wall carries, combo enders, or simply as a tool to keep opponents away.
Raven embodies a high-risk, high-reward playstyle. Many of his moves require very high execution in order to pull off effectively, and with a lengthy movelist, you’ll spend most of your time in practice mode when you first pick him up. But with such a varied, mixup heavy movelist, this will eventually be one of your greatest weapons, as you will dominate players that aren’t as familiar with the matchup. If you’re looking for a challenge but also want to showcase your creativity, Raven is one of the best choices in Tekken 8.
That’s all you need to know about Tekken 8 Raven. As the release date for Tekken 8 gets nearer and we start finding out a bit more about Raven and the rest of the roster, we’ll be updating our guides, so be sure to check back in the future. While you’re waiting for that, take a look at your piece on how Pakistan became Tekken esports’ unlikeliest powerhouse to see how a nation of underdogs took over one of the biggest fighting games in the world.
