Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Sub-Boss

 
This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed.

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE SUB-BOSS

The Sub-Boss is the last challenge to face before the final villain of the game. This character may be a major threat and are very dangerous to face off against, possibly with their own sinister plans they wish to set into motion, but they are clearly not the biggest threat to face within this roster. The Final Boss just edges them out in threat level. To go with that, their move-set is often one of the most difficult to counter in the game, second only to the final boss themselves.

Our choice for the Sub-Boss is…

Heihachi Mishima from Tekken.

One of the most iconic characters of the Tekken franchise, Heihachi was the final boss character in early games in the series, known for fast and hard-hitting combos. Later games however saw him demoted to sub-boss status in favor of more powerful, inhuman characters, like Ogre, Azazel, and Kazumi. Even then however, Heihachi has managed to maintain the spotlight, still being a driving force of the plot for many characters, including the anti-hero protagonist Jin Kazama, and his time in control of the Mishima Zaibatsu set into motion a lot of the events of the series' overall story.

For continuing to be a credible threat to the other fighters, despite being eclipsed by stronger forces, we now add Heihachi to the roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

Thanks for coming!