Tekken 8 Azucena character guide, trailer, background, and gameplay

With the reveal of Tekken 8 Azucena we’ve got the first brand-new character coming to the next game in the Tekken franchise, and she’s proving to be a big hit with fans. With a fast-paced and highly evasive playstyle, she already looks like she could be one of the game’s higher-tier characters, especially in the right hands.

If you want to know who has been confirmed for the game so far, our Tekken 8 Character List has the full currently confirmed roster for you to take a look at, with some fan favourites making their returns. For now, though, let’s take a look at the latest addition to the latest character in Tekken’s long history, the queen of coffee, Azucena.

Tekken 8 Azucena trailer

Azucena was first revealed with a trailer shown before the Tekken 7 Grand Finals at EVO 2023 in Las Vegas. You can watch her reveal trailer below.

Tekken 8 Azucena background and story

The “Coffee Queen” Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo hails from Peru and is a former MMA champion. Described as having an “innocent personality and fearless fighting style”, her family own the Oritz  Farm, a coffee plantation located high up in the mountains of Peru. While growing up, she dreamed of becoming the world’s best coffee farmer, cultivating award-winning coffee beans after many years and becoming a rising star in the industry.

From here, she also used her positive thinking and ingenuity to pursue studying business administration at one of Peru’s top universities, as well as succeeding as both a dancer and a model, too. In search of more adventure, she decided to become an MMA fighter to promote her Azucena Blend coffee, using her physical prowess developed from training at high altitude to become a champion in her first year.

Following her domination of the American MMA scene, she has decided that the next step for her is to become the best fighter in the world. To this end, she is entering The King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to cement her place as the best fighter around.

Tekken 8 Azucena gameplay

While we haven’t had any hands-on experience with Azucena so far, we do know a fair amount about her fighting style, and how she plays in Tekken 8. Immediately, it’s clear to see that Azucena is a very evasive fighter. Making use of the 3D space that Tekken offers, Azucena boasts a number of high crushing sidesteps, a backsway, and quick hop kicks. Many of these movement options also appear to transition into unique stances, such as a backturned stance that can quickly punish opponents.

All of these evasive options also give Azucena some formidable mixup potential. In her trailer alone, we see plenty of times where she dodges an opponent’s attack only to punish with a throw or launcher. She also has a fast, low launcher, which can lead into a dodge on block. This could potentially be a great way to bait opponents into committing before delivering a punish yourself.

Azucena is be a fast-paced, mixup heavy character. Her evasive potential, variety of stance, and mixup potential make her reminiscent of the likes of Xiaoyu, Eddie, and Lei, and will surely be popular with mains of these characters. Like those characters, though, we wouldn’t be surprised if her strengths are balanced with less powerful fundamentals, such as a weaker poking game and worse frames. Nevertheless, creative players with the patience to learn her flowcharts will no doubt be rewarded with a fun and inventive character.

That’s everything you need to know about Tekken 8 Azucena. As we get closer to the game’s full release and we find out a bit more about her and the rest of the roster, we’ll be sure to update our guides, so be sure to check back in the future. In the meantime, why not check out our piece on how Pakistan became Tekken esports’ unlikeliest powerhouse for a look at the surprising story of Pakistani Tekken.