Eleonor Kliesen (エレオノール・クリーゼン Ereonōru Kurīzen?) commonly known as Leo (レオ Reo?) is a character in the Tekken fighting game series. Leo is one of the four characters first introduced in Tekken 6, which was released to arcades in Japan on November 26th 2007. Leo is from Germany who fights with Baji Quan.
Games
Tekken 6
Prologue Text: Leo was part of a very talented family. Leo's father was a world-famous spelunker, while Leo's mother served as a G Corporation executive. Although Leo's father disappeared during an expedition when Leo was a child, Leo still wanted to follow in the family tradition and become a spelunker. Leo possessed a strong sense of character, thanks to a proper upbringing. Life was pleasant and relatively uneventful until one fateful day, when Leo's mother was killed by an unknown assailant. Depressed and filled with grief, Leo became incensed when the police called-off their investigation quickly and without explanation. Leo vowed to find the truth. During Leo’s own investigation, the G Corporation's Kazuya Mishima materialized as a person of interest. The G Corporation was popularized at the time as a world hero, making it difficult to get close to Kazuya, and it looked as though Leo’s quest had reached an insurmountable impasse. It was at this time that news of the Mishima Zaibatsu-sponsored The King of Iron Fist Tournament began to spread. Leo learned that Kazuya Mishima was scheduled to appear in person at the event. Realizing that this may be the only chance to take revenge against Kazuya, Leo decided to enter the contest.
Ending Description: Leo pays a visit to Emma Kliesen's grave and finds a letter reading "Dear Leo." She reads it and then turns around suddenly to find no one standing behind her. The camera pans over Leo's face then points up.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Ending Description: Leo is seen on a train that seems to belong to G Corporation. Leo sneaks in and reads from a computer that her mother was once a supervisor for the Mishima Zaibatsu's devil gene program. The cells of the devil gene merge together with a normal person's cells, so the Mishima Zaibatsu created a synthetic strand to use. The program was cancelled after various fatalities of the test subjects. Emma had also reported the "death" of NT01. Suddenly while Leo is saving the information onto a USB, the computer's owner arms himself and goes back into his cabin. Leo manages to get back on the train's roof only to be surrounded by three armed men. Swearing to find the murderers of her mother, Leo jumps out of the train and fires a hook that lands on the ledge.
- Jaycee
- Michelle Chang
- Ling Xiaoyu
- Feng Wei
- Lei Wulong
- Lili de Rochefort
- Marshall Law
- Forest Law
- Wang Jinrei
- Kazuya Mishima
Tekken Revolution
Leo appears as a unlockable character in Tekken Revolution.
Tekken 7
Leo entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament in the hope of uncovering more about her deceased mother, who had been a researcher for the Mishima Zaibatsu. When Leo learned that her battle arena was to be a Zaibatsu-owned dojo, she couldn't believe her luck.
However, when she got there, the dojo was in ruins. The moonlight poured in through holes in the walls and roof, illuminating the floor with an eerie beauty. A short while later, a strange, floating silhouette appeared, and slowly glided toward Leo.
The silhouette held a sword in its left hand that rotated at a mind-bending speed. What the hell was this thing? It looked like some kind of a flying squid or octopus! Was it a demon...?
Then it finally dawned on Leo: This bizarre creature was her opponent. Cautiously, she prepared to fight.
Character Relationships
- Mr. Kliesen - Leo's father.
- Emma Kliesen - Leo's deceased mother.
- Kazuya Mishima - Kazuya was witnessed to be Leo's mother's killer.
- Asuka Kazama - Leo's friend in the Online Tekken Comic (non-canon).
- Lili de Rochefort - Leo is Lili's bodyguard in the Online Tekken Comic (non-canon).
Gameplay
Leo is defined by a balanced gameplay. While excelling in little, Leo is good at just about everything: Leo has lots of fast, strong combos and multi-hits, stunning blows that strike high and low. Leo is also very safe, because Leo's moves have little lag or recovery in between. Many of Leo's attacks, however, are pretty straightforward and predictable, so Leo is prone to be sidestepped.
Fighting Style
Leo practices Baji Quan, a Chinese martial art famous for its powerful elbow strikes, arm/fist strikes, hip checks and strikes with the shoulder, delivered with explosive, short-range power.
This style, mixed with other Chinese martial arts, is also practiced by Julia Chang and Michelle Chang. Leo, however, is the first Tekken character to practice this style alone, in its purest form.
System Ghosts
Tekken 6
| Name | Rank |
|---|---|
| Sumo momo | 7th kyu |
| -_- shadow -_- | 1st kyu |
| Friday Wing | 3rd dan |
| Amechan | Master |
| (^^) Reiko (^^) | Berserker |
| Victory! | Avenger |
| Fireb0y | Conqueror |
| Sakura Chiru <JP> | Legend |
| My Queenie | Yaksa |
| Zantetsu@JP | Tekken Lord |
Trivia
General:
There were rumors before the game was officially released that Leo was a girl, and shortly after the game was released in Europe, there were complaints about the character most likely because Leo was thought of as a transgender character; in game, Leo is referred to only by name or gender-neutral terms, and Leo has no costumes that reveal any portion of the torso, which would normally make the character's gender clear. The Bandai-Namco development team had stated that they wanted to create a character that would be loved by fans regardless of gender so they made the gender of Leo ambiguous on purpose.
- Leo can equip both male and female accessories.
- Leo can equip a sledgehammer which is a male item, but Leo also can have pigtail hair bases which is usually for female fighters only. Also, Leo's continue and next round animations are those of male characters.
- In the Scenario Campaign, however, both Heihachi and Anna refer to Leo as a "boy", most likely due to Leo's main appearance.
- Leo cannot be attacked by Anna's Slap Happy (b+2), which is usable against females; but by Heihachi's Headbutt Carnival (f,F+1+4), which is usable against males.
- In the Tekken 6 Limited Edition Art Book's Designers' Sketches, Leo is under the Male Characters section.
- In the non-canonical Online Tekken Comic, Leo is portrayed or viewed as as a male.
- Leo resembles Rock Howard from Garou: Mark of the Wolves and King from The Art of Fighting series.
- In Tekken 6, Leo can be customized as Ash Ketchum, the main hero from the Pokémon anime. Not surprisingly, Veronica Taylor provides Leo's voice.
- It is unknown how Leo's father died, or if he did for certain.
- Leo is ranked #22 in ugo.com's The 25 Most Androgynous Video Game Characters.
- Leo has the largest hitbox of all human female characters, being Class 3 in Tekken Tag 2. Ling Xiaoyu, Jaycee and Alisa Bosconovitch are Class 1, every other female in Class 2.
- Leo now speaks their native language, German.
- In Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Leo can be customized to look like Sora & Roxas from the Kingdom Hearts series, Tenten from the Naruto series, Eliot from Dead or Alive 4, & Indiana Jones.
- Even though Leo's gender has been revealed, Leo has got two swimsuits: a bikini revealing their cleavage giving them a more feminine look and the surfer swimsuit that gives them a masculine look (the chest become flat like there are pectorals, however this may also imply that Leo binds their chest flat in order to assume a masculine identity while wearing a swimsuit)
Tekken 7
- Due to Leo's androgynous appearance, her bio page on the official www.tekken.com page erroneously calls her a male.