Mokujin (木人? ; literally meaning "Wooden person") is a character in the Tekken series of fighting games. He was first introduced in Tekken 3, then reappeared in Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, as well as a few spin off titles.
Biography
Mokujin is a wooden training dummy, constructed from white oak over 2000 years ago for martial artists to practice their abilities upon. A relic from the past, Mokujin was displayed in a museum until, one day, the God of Fighting awoke, bringing an intense evil into the world. This awakening also awoke Mokujin, causing him develop a mind of his own and start moving, and he left the museum in order to aid the martial artists of today in their battle of good over evil by entering the third King of Iron Fist Tournament. When Ogre was vanquished and the evil was defeated, Mokujin returned to sleep and was returned to the museum.
Mokujin's rest was short lived however, as the emergence of a new evil once again awoke Mokujin from his slumber. Mokujin entered the fifth tournament to aid in the fight against Jinpachi Mishima and, once again, returned to his resting place at the museum upon the defeat of Jinpachi. The cycle was repeated a third time when global conflict, initiated by Jin Kazama, caused the awakening of another evil being known as Azazel. When Azazel was defeated, Mokujin returned to his as-yet-uninterrupted slumber.
Personality
As a non-living entity, Mokujin shows little in the way of personality. When he is shown in social situations, Mokujin seems to be a very jovial and kind-hearted being, likely due to his desire to restore peace to the land animating him with a good soul. Mokujin is also something of a comic-relief character, and his appearances in endings and cutscenes often show him in humorous situations.
Appearance
Mokujin is a wooden being with orange glowing eyes, a long cut-off branch forming a nose, a single green shoot bearing two leaves sprouting from his head, stone orbs for hands and chains hanging loosely from his joints. The majority of Mokujins limbs are made of sections of log joined with ball-joints, although his feet are made of two half-rounds, like those of a log split vertically.
Outfits
Main Article: Mokujin/Outfits
As a wooden, non-human entity, Mokujin has no need for clothing, and as such has no outfits; instead, Mokujin's color and appearance alters slightly depending upon the "outfit" selected.
Story
Tekken 3
Mokujin is a training dummy made from a 2,000-year old oak tree.
Mokujin has been kept in a museum for a long time, but when the God of Fighting awoke, it gained self-identity and started to act on its own. Some people say it was motivated by the desire to help martial artists, but only God and Mokujin know for sure.
Tekken 3 Mokujin Ending
Tekken 3 ending.
Ending Description: Mokujin has received an uppercut from an angry female Mokujin and lands on his stomach. The female Mokujin throws a bucket on his back, shaking her fist. Mokujin is then shown filling two buckets up with water from a stream and, as he is hauling them back, he sees two smaller Mokujin near a Tekken 3 arcade machine. One of them is playing the game, while the other watches. Mokujin then starts playing as the two smaller Mokujin watch him play. He uses a male Mokujin, and he fights a female Mokujin, with Lei Wulong's arcade theme playing in the background. The male Mokujin (the one that Mokujin is using) wins the fight. Mokujin claps his hands before the female version of Mokujin, seen at the beginning of this video, appears behind him. Mokujin turns around, notices her, and receives another uppercut.
Tekken 5
Tekken 5 Mokujin Ending
Tekken 5 ending.
Mokujin was a wooden dummy made from white oak that was used to train martial artists.
Two years ago, Mokujin developed a mind of his own and started to move, but ceased moving after Ogre was defeated by Jin Kazama. When returned to the museum, Mokujin's face seemed to be smiling.
Once again, Mokujin has started to move upon the emergence of a powerful entity...
Will Mokujin ever be free?
Ending Description: Mokujin has defeated Jinpachi. With the defeat of the force that awakened him, Mokujin falls to ground, lifeless. A column of light then shoots from the sky onto Mokujin, and a small leaf sprouts on his nose.
Tekken 6
Tekken 6 - Mokujin ending
Tekken 6 ending.
Mokujin is a training dummy made from a 2,000-year-old oak tree. Sensing evil's presence, Mokujin once again sets out to save the world.
Ending Description: A woman is narrating what seems to be a fairytale-like rendition of Mokujin's journey to defeating Azazel. It seems light-hearted at first, as it shows Mokujin "crossing mountains, oceans and deserts" all while driving a car. Finally, he meets Azazel (referred to as the "Dark Lord" in this ending) and defeats him. In the end, the light-hearted tone of the ending is twisted: Mokujin is seen sitting on a throne with other Mokujin saluting him, a parody of Jin Kazama's Tekken 5 ending.
Other Appearances
Tekken Tag Tournament
Mokujin appeared in Tekken Tag Tournament as a playable character. A playable metallic clone of Mokujin called Tetsujin was also in the game.
TTT ending.
Ending Description: Mokujin is practicing moves that are near identical to Northern Style Wushu with many other Mokujin as students. The master Mokujin and the Mokujin students perform all of their moves in unison. This ending animation ends with Master Mokujin and the Mokujin students posing. This ending takes place in Forest Law's second Tekken Tag Tournament stage, which is called "Law-B".
Namco X Capcom
Mokujin appears as a playable character in Namco X Capcom.
Tekken: Blood Vengeance
Mokujin, or rather many Mokujin wooden dummies, make an appearance in the Blood Vengeance film. They are summoned together by Heihachi Mishima to create a gigantic monster. It is eventually toppled by the combined efforts of Alisa Bosconovitch and Devil Jin.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Mokujin appears in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as a playable character.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - 'Mokujin Ending' Movie cutscenes
TTT2 ending.
Ending Description: After winning the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Mokujin is invited to the Namco Bandai office to take a tour of their "Future Research Laboratory". When he arrives at the office, he sees a female Mokujin working in the reception, and they fall in love at first sight. They're spending their time together, enjoying various activities at Namco's offices, when the female Mokujin goes to hand Mokujin a letter that says "I Love You!". When she looks up, Mokujin has disappeared - the female Mokujin then sees him dancing to entertain some human female visitors. Outraged, the female Mokujin sees red and strikes Mokujin with a powerful uppercut, sending him through the roof of the building. The scene ends with the female Mokujin bowing to the visitors. The ending clearly references Mokujin's Tekken 3 ending, where he is also seen being uppercutted by a female Mokujin.
Tekken Revolution
Mokujin appears as a non-playable sub-boss in Tekken Revolution.
Tekken (Mobile)
Mokujin appears as a special boss during one of the daily events of the game by getting damage points to get 25 gems.
Gameplay
Mokujin has no fighting style of his own. Instead, he chooses the fighting style of another playable Tekken character that is competing in the current tournament and uses that. Mokujin changes fighting styles after every round, although he will occasionally use the same fighting style two rounds in a row. The chosen fighting style is selected at random.
In addition to this, Mokujin will mimic the pre-fight and win animations of whomever he is mimicking, but he will not make any sounds during them, due to his inability to speak.
Character Relationships
- Ogre - Mokujin was brought to life in Tekken 3 by Ogre's evil.
- Tetsujin - The metal version of Mokujin.
- Unknown - It is implied that her evil brought Mokujin to life in Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (non-canon).
- Jinpachi Mishima - Mokujin was brought to life in Tekken 5 / Dark Resurrection by Jinpachi's evil.
- Azazel - It is implied in Mokujin's Tekken 6 profile that he was brought to life by Azazel's evil.
- Kinjin - His golden counterpart.
- Kazumi Mishima - Though Mokujin does not appear in Tekken 7, it could be thought that Kazumi's Devil Gene brought him to life.
- Akuma - Though Mokujin himself does not appear in Street Fighter X Tekken or Tekken 7, it could be thought that Akuma's Satsui no Hadou brought him to life.
- Feng Wei - Feng heard stories about The Legendary Mokujin from his master in the past.
- Yoshimitsu - Mokujin fears that Yoshimitsu's sword might cut the dummy into pieces.
- Alisa Bosconovitch - Mokujin fears that Alisa's chainsaws might cut him in half, hence his dislike for chainsaws.
Trivia
General:
- Mokujin is based on the movie Shaolin Wooden Men, starring Jackie Chan. This may be why he shares a special win pose with Lei Wulong in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
- Mokujin's fighting style is actually called 木人拳 (Mokujin-ken, "Wooden person fist").
- The kanji 正 is written repeatedly on his back.
- If the player selects Mokujin then presses and holds 'down' on the d-pad while the game is loading, the traditional sound, heard when getting hit, is switched with the sound of striking a block of wood. This applies for all games, though in Tekken 3, it sounds more like the "clicks" of wooden chimes.
- Mokujin only makes the sounds of wood knocking in his interludes, which is his form of communication.
- When mimicking characters from the Mishima bloodline, instead of their lightning effect on impact, he will show green leaves near his hands on impact.
- This was discontinued starting in Tekken 6, as Mokujin will also mimic the effects of the character he's mimicking, meaning that Mokujin will also have lightning near his hands upon impact.
- It's unknown why Mokujin didn't appear as a playable character in Tekken 4, but presumably it's because the boss of the game (which is Heihachi Mishima) is not a demon, and it is the evil powers demons possess that bring Mokujin to life.
- Since Mokujin didn't appear in Tekken 4, he was replaced by Combot, who also uses mimicry, due to a bug stuck in his systems.
- This makes Mokujin the second character in the series to be replaced by their successor in one game who then replaces their successor in the next game, the first being Marshall Law.
- Mokujin is the only character who does not face Heihachi at the end of Stage 4 (Mishima Fortress) in the Tekken Force side game. Instead, Mokujin will face himself at the end of this stage.
- Mokujin will also not face Jin at the end of Stage 3 (Darkness) in said side game. He will instead face another Mokujin at the end of this stage.
- Mokujin's bosses in the Tekken Force side game are all Mokujins.
- Mokujin is available after beating the game four times.
- His ending is live-action, the only ending in this game in that style.
- Mokujin's rivals are Heihachi Mishima, Ling Xiaoyu and Jin Kazama.
- Mokujin (alongside Jin Kazama in his non-devil form) was the only character not shown in the console opening.
- He also adapts a tail when fighting as Roger Jr., though in Tekken Tag Tournament, Mokujin lacks a tail, but can still use Roger's moves utilizing one.
- In Practice Mode, there is a white dummy used to show combos, who looks like Mokujin.
- Mokujin is available after beating story mode or time attack 8 times.
- Whenever Mokujin is mimicking Yoshimitsu, he will adapt a second shorter sword, due to Yoshimitsu now being able to wield both swords at separate times. Despite this fact, Mokujin does not adapt a scabbard and will instead put his sword behind his back.
- Both of Mokujin's item moves, Butterflies and Exhaust Pipes, are activated during rage mode.
- Whenever Mokujin is mimicking Alisa, he will adapt a pair of chainsaws from his forearms, due to Alisa being able to use chainsaws while performing certain moves.
- Ironically, Mokujin dislikes chainsaws as it can easily cut wood, considering that he is a wooden training dummy awakened by an evil force.
- In Scenario Campaign, Mokujin is a boss at the Subterranean Pavilion.
- Mokujin is the only character who does not have a stable special tag throw, due to him changing styles every round.
- When both the players choose Mokujin's default costume, the second player will get female Mokujin's costume color.
- The song heard at the start of his ending is the Floor Start theme from Tower of Druaga, an older Namco game.
- Mokujin can now mimic everyone, including Jinpachi, both Ogres (Ancient and True), Slim Bob, Miharu, Forest Law, Doctor Bosconovitch, and Angel, but not Unknown.
- Although Mokujin is not part of the initial roster, his silhouette can be seen when the player selects their position.
- Mokujin's pre-fight and moves are from Kazuya Mishima as its win pose reuses one of Kazuya's old win animations.
Other:
- Mokujin makes a cameo appearance in the game, Point Blank 3.
- In the multi-company crossover game Cross Edge, Mokujin appears as a training dummy named "Woodman" (literal meaning of the name).
- In Street Fighter X Tekken, Pac-Man pilots a robot that looks similar to Mokujin, the difference being that it is much larger, has its face on its stomach, and has the maze from the first Pac-Man game on his back.
- A fighting dummy resembling Mokujin is seen in Lollipop Chainsaw's prologue cutscene.
- In Pokkén Tournament (a Pokémon fighting game also developed by Namco Bandai), in the Ferrum Dojo stage there are training dummies in the background that look very similar to Mokujin, if not identical. He does not appear in the game otherwise, though.