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  • This article details Armor King (TK - TTT).
    For his younger brother (TK5:DR - T7), see Armor King II.

Armor King (アーマー・キング Āmā Kingu?) is a title that two characters have taken in the Tekken series. Even though there have been two characters who have taken the name, each is simply called Armor King in their respective games, though a numerical value is sometimes given to them to separate them as different characters, similar to King. Armor King is a professional wrestler and sometime rival, sometime friend to King.

Biography

Armor King is the older brother of Armor King II, both of whom are luchadores who fought together as a tag team.[4] Armor King also traveled in search of worthy opponents to face one-on-one, earning a reputation as a dojo crasher. He at one point encountered Paul Phoenix who was working as a bouncer at one such dojo.[2] During these excursions, Armor King came across another wrestler in a jaguar mask, who went by the similar title of "King". Intrigued, Armor King went head-to-head with King in a fierce battle, which he ultimately lost after sustaining an eye injury. Embittered by his loss and the success King went on to receive in the Mexican wrestling world, a rivalry developed between the two. When Armor King came to notice the King of Iron Fist Tournament, a mixed martial arts contest in which his rival was participating, hoping to raise funds for the orphanage he ran, he too entered, determined to settle the score. While Armor King would go on to lose a second time, the two became friends and sparring partners, and their rivalry became more friendly.

While he was able to defeat his old rival, King did not win the tournament, instead placing third. Despite winning some prize money from the tournament, King's orphanage struggled financially. This, along with the death of a child within King's care, led a despairing King to turn to alcohol. As King's behavior grew more erratic, a worried Armor King convinced his old friend and rival to resume training for a second tournament.[5] They both entered, and once again fought as rivals, although neither was successful in winning the tournament. At this time, Armor King's health became noticeably worse, and he seems to have developed a heart condition, and to cough up blood and have blurred vision.[6] These health conditions persisted over the next fifteen years.[7]

Sixteen years after the second tournament, King was attacked and killed by Ogre, the god of fighting, leading Armor King to sink into a state of depression at the loss of his friend. He learned of a new King, who had been an orphan in King's orphanage, and was now donning King's mask to try and fight for his orphanage, though without much success. Armor King sought him out and helped train him so that he could pay for the orphanage's upkeep. Once King II was strong enough, Armor King tearfully recounted to him the circumstances surrounding the original King's death. He then helped King prepare for the third King of Iron Fist tournament, where King II would fight to honor his predecessor's name and to take revenge against the creature, Ogre, who had killed King.

A year or so after the third tournament, Armor King was at a bar in Arizona, and intervened in a fight started by drunken Vale Tudo fighter, Craig Marduk.[8] In the process, Armor King was killed.

His legacy became the motivation behind first King II's entry into future Iron First Tournaments, until he made peace with Marduk, and thereafter Armor King's brother took up the mantle of seeking vengeance for his brother. Armor King is mentioned extensively after his death, including when Marduk put on a mask to parody him and goad King II into fighting him,[9] when Marduk dug up his grave to check he was still dead,[10] various times when Armor King II is mistaken for him, and in all mentions of Armor King II and Marduk's continued hostility.

Personality

While having a fierce fighting spirit, never backing down from a fight and doggedly pursuing his rivals, Armor King has a warm heart, sharing a close bond with his brother and willing to put aside rivalries in favor of friendship. Armor King is also a sociable person and enjoys liquor, particularly when celebrating victories with his young protege, King II. He is broken by the news of the original King's death and moved to tears as he tells King II of his fate.[11]

Appearance

Armor King is a tall, muscular figure with brown skin who almost always keeps his identity hidden behind his trademark jaguar mask. Armor King wears a black jaguar mask with one green eye and a scarred red eye, mirroring his injury, and has prominent fangs. There is one occasion when Armor King is seen without his mask; this occurs in King II's Tekken 3 ending. While his face is not seen, he is revealed to have shoulder length black hair.

Outfits

Main article: Armor King/Outfits

As his name implies, Armor King is usually seen wearing armor, which consists of a breast plate, pauldrons, gauntlets, and boots, over a top and pants, which are colored either black or blue. On a few occasions, Armor King is seen without his armor, instead fighting topless.

Story

Tekken

Version 1: Armor King is a rival from a time when King was but a rookie. King accidentally crushed one of Armor King's eyes during a match some time ago. Since then, King became a star of the Professional Mexican Wrestling World, basking in the spotlight; conversely, Armor King's handicap quickly sped him in the opposite direction. Armor King has joined the tournament to destroy King and to take control of the Professional Wrestling World."[12]

Tekken 2

Official Website Profile (Japanese)
The King of Underground Professional World Wrestling. Armor King and King desperately fought one another in the past, but now they're bound together by a powerful friendship that only a comrade would know. Worried about the dead-end lifestyle his former adversary had drank himself into, Armor King tells King of the tournament Kazuya Mishima is sponsoring, thinking this is King's ticket out of despair. The King of Underground Professional World Wrestling looks forward to his rematch with King."[2]

Version 2: After the events of The King of Iron Fist Tournament, Armor King disappeared from the professional fighting world. However, he would have his limelight in the underground rings. After some time, Armor King heard news from the orphanage that King had gone missing because of financial difficulties and a child's death in his care. Worried about his old friend, he went out in search of him and found him in an alleyway, mentally broken. He gave his rival his jaguar mask and convinced him to get back into the fighting spirit just in time for The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2.[citation needed]

Tekken_2_Armor_King_Ending

Tekken 2 Armor King Ending

Ending Description: "Locker Room"
Chest X-rays and an EKG waveform, accompanied by the beep of a heart monitor, set to the sound of a rapidly ticking clock (hinting that he has a heart condition), appear before the scene cuts to Armor King sitting on a bench in a locker room. Getting ready for his wrestling match, he stands up and heads for the ring, only for his vision to go blurry, causing him to stumble, blood running from his damaged eye. He then stands upright and walks into the ring, much to the excitement of the crowd.

Tekken 3

Armor King has no more playable appearances in the canonical Tekken games. He does however make cameo appearances and is referenced in King II's story and ending.

Four years before the events of Tekken 3, King I was murdered by Ogre, a mysterious creature who was attacking many fighters around the world. One of the orphans from King's orphanage, upon hearing news of his mentor's death, donned King's jaguar mask and imitated his style under the King name in order to continue supporting the orphanage financially.[13]

However, the new King was not on the same level as his mentor, and repeatedly lost every competition he entered. Out of respect for his dead friend, Armor King visited the new King, introducing himself as an old friend. He decided to train this new King and the two became close, so that Armor King was like a foster father to King II. When the time was right, Armor King tearfully recounted to King II the circumstances around the original King's death. King II vowed to take revenge for King, and entered The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 to confront and destroy Ogre.[14]

In King II's ending, Armor King is watching his protege fight against an opponent in the ring. After he gives him the go-sign to finish the fight, he quietly leaves for the locker room before the match concludes. When King chases after his mentor, he is startled to find the unmasked Armor King sitting bent over on his stool.[15]

Tekken 4

Armor King is mentioned in King II and Craig Marduk's prologues.

Before The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, Craig Marduk started a bar brawl in Arizona. Armor King intervened to mediate the fight and was killed by Marduk.[8] King II entered the tournament in the hopes that he would beat Marduk in defense of his now dead master. King II paid for Marduk's release from prison, and waited for Marduk at the tournament.[16] King II was ready to deliver a finishing blow to Marduk, only to realize that revenge is not the answer when he notices a photo of Marduk's family on a table beside him.[17]

Tekken 6

A picture of Armor King with his brother is briefly seen in his brother's ending. King is also seen examining a picture of his old mentor before accidentally dropping the frame, revealing a second copy of both Armor Kings together. In Armor King II's ending and Marduk's ending, his grave and casket are seen, and Marduk briefly peeks into Armor King's casket to confirm that he is dead.[18]

Tekken 7

Armor King is the main source of conflict between Armor King II and Craig Marduk, and is mentioned in both their profiles.[19]

Other Appearances

Tekken Tag Tournament

Armor King I appeared as a playable character in Tekken Tag Tournament. King II is his sub-boss by default and Ancient Ogre is his sub-boss if unlocked.

Tekken_Tag_Tournament_Armor_King_Ending

Tekken Tag Tournament Armor King Ending

Ending Description
Armor King is seen sparring with King. Armor King effortlessly blocks and counters all of King's attacks, landing some powerful strikes and grapples. King then admits defeat, dropping to the floor and pounding the ground in frustration as Armor King stands watching, his arms folded. This ending takes place in King's stage.

Namco x Capcom

Armor King appeared in Namco x Capcom as both an enemy unit and playable character. This was Armor King's last playable appearance in a game.

Gameplay

Armor King was something of a King "clone character", although he differed by having some slightly different button inputs and gaining some Mishima-style moves in his moveset, most noticeably the Dragon Uppercut and the Wind God Fist. These moves replaced some of King's more complex chain-throws and 10 Hit Combos, giving Armor King a more offensive fighting style compared to King's, which favored more defensive play. These changes make Armor King a more accessible and beginner friendly character than King, and arguably a better character choice for players who prefer to apply pressure to their opponents.

Fighting Style

Armor King uses Pro Wrestling. Unlike King, his fighting style is more oriented towards the "shoot" style, which has more of an emphasis on strikes as opposed to holds.

Moves

Character Relationships

  • Armor King II - His younger brother.
  • King I - His former enemy, rival and close friend.
  • King II - His disciple and foster son.
  • Paul Phoenix - Armor King had an encounter with him some time before Tekken 2 when he had come to crash a dojo where Paul was working as a guard at the time.
  • Ogre/True Ogre - Ever since Ogre killed King I, Armor King I has seen Ogre as his enemy.
  • Craig Marduk - Armor King was killed by him in a bar brawl that he started due to him being angry and bitter towards the world.

Trivia

General:

  • The Armor Kings are possibly based on the real-world masked wrestler(s) known as Black Tiger.
  • Like King, he growls like a jaguar instead of talking.
  • Armor King was originally called Black King prior to production of the first Tekken.[citation needed]
  • While he has cameo appearances and mentions in later games, Armor King is only playable in Tekken, Tekken 2, and Tekken Tag Tournament.
  • Armor King is one of the five playable characters from the two first games who are non-playable, but have cameo appearances in movies or endings in Tekken 3. The others are Kazuya Mishima, Jun Kazama, Marshall Law, and Michelle Chang.

Tekken 2

  • Armor King is the only unlockable character in Tekken 2 who appears in the opening movie. In the opening movie, he throws King's mask to him when King is stumbling drunk and broken in an alleyway, and also appears briefly in a montage of characters towards the end of the movie.

Tekken Tag Tournament

Other:

Gallery

Main article: Armor King/Gallery

References

  1. ^ http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/tekkentag/profile.php?id=armorking
  2. ^ a b c d Tekken 2 Official Japanese Website Profile. English Translation: Tekken Zaibatsu "Tekken & Tekken 2 Character Profiles".
  3. ^ See King's Tekken 4 Official Strategy Guide profile
  4. ^ As implied by the photograph of the two together in matching outfits depicted in Tekken 6 in Armor King II and King II's endings.
  5. ^ Armor King aiding King out of his drunken despair is mentioned in both Armor King and King's profiles, and is depicted in the Tekken 2 opening movie.
  6. ^ As shown in Armor King's Tekken 2 ending.
  7. ^ In King II's Tekken 3 ending, which takes place nineteen years later, Armor King is implied to still be suffering from health problems.
  8. ^ a b Craig Marduk Tekken 7 Official English Website Profile.
  9. ^ See Craig Marduk and King II 's Tekken 5 profiles.
  10. ^ See Marduk's Tekken 6 ending.
  11. ^ See King II's Tekken 3 Official Strategy Guide profile.
  12. ^ Tekken Zaibatsu "Tekken & Tekken 2 Character Profiles".
  13. ^ Tekken 3 Manual, p.25.
  14. ^ Tekken 3 Official Strategy Guide, Prima (1998), p.80.
  15. ^ See King II's Tekken 3 ending.
  16. ^ See King II's Tekken 4 profiles.
  17. ^ King II's Tekken 4 ending and Tekken 5 profiles.
  18. ^ See the three joint Tekken 6 endings told between Armor King II, King II, and Craig Marduk.
  19. ^ See Armor King II and Craig Marduk's Tekken 7 profiles.

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