Wednesday, April 11, 2007

KUMA

Kuma is a character in the Tekken fighting game series. "Kuma" means "bear" in Japanese. There are actually two Kumas in the Tekken series with the first being the second's father

History
Kuma
Kuma is Heihachi Mishima's pet. Raised and trained in the Mishima style of fighting arts, Kuma became an avid bodyguard for his master. In the first two tournaments, Kuma enters to defeat Paul Phoenix.
However, he loses to Paul in both tournaments, and shortly after, he dies of old age, leaving behind a young cub, who becomes a bodyguard in his place for Heihachi.
Kuma Jr.
Learning of his father's defeat, Kuma Jr. decides to train with his master and enter the third King of Iron Fist Tournament.He fails however, and realizes that due to his docile upbringing by Heihachi, he could not utilize his animal instincts to his full potential. Leaving Heihachi, Kuma Jr. travels to the mountains of Hokkaido to train himself, both mentally and physically.
Now hearing of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, Kuma enters, more powerful than ever to defeat Paul. He succeeds, and he quickly returns home in triumphNow learning that Jinpachi Mishima has taken over the Mishima Zaibatsu, Kuma once again takes his role of the loyal pet, vowing to return the syndicate to Heihachi.

Endings
Kuma Jr. becomes the head of the Mishima company. He reads a document, and he places his paw impression on it after reading it. Lee Chaolan runs up to Kuma Jr., and he informs him that Heihachi wants to see him. Kuma Jr. says "(Bring him here)". So Lee lets Heihachi enter the room. Heihachi walks up to Kuma Jr. and congratulates him for protecting the Mishima Zaibatsu for him. Kuma Jr. pushes a red button, and Heihachi falls through a trap door in the floor that was in front of Kuma Jr.'s desk. Lee gives Kuma Jr. a "thumbs up" gesture with one of his hands. One of Kuma Jr.'s servants offers him a fish, and Kuma Jr. opens his mouth to eat it. Then, Kuma Jr. meets the same fate as Heihachi when Heihachi climbs back up the trap door and presses another button (This time, it's blue and looks like the Start button from the PlayStation controllers) that sends Kuma Jr.'s fish, Kuma Jr.'s chair, and Kuma Jr. himself falling through another trap door in the floor that was behind Kuma Jr.'s desk and underneath Kuma Jr.'s chair. Heihachi climbs up the trap door that Kuma Jr. just fell through, and he says that as long as he is alive, he won't let Kuma Jr. do as he pleases. Lee gives Heihachi the same gesture that he gave Kuma.

Trivia
Because of his domestication, Kuma likes watching TV. It is thanks to this that he learns of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 and defeats Paul. Kuma Jr. appears to have a crush on Panda. Kuma has the intelligence of an average, perhaps slightly dim human being, although this is obviously amazingly intelligent for a bear. He's pretty easygoing, perhaps even upbeat, although he's quite mocking and arrogant around Paul. He adores Heihachi, however, and even though some of his endings might show Heihachi mistreating him, he's actually completely loyal to his master. It's also interesting to note that Heihachi probably loves Kuma more than he does any member of his actual family. It is interesting to note that any character talking to Kuma during in-game cinemas in Tekken 5 can actually understand what he's saying, even though he merely speaks in growls. In the PS2 version of Soul Calibur II, one of Heihachi's quotes is "Even Kuma is stronger than you!". Kuma and Panda share some of their moves with Jack and Ganryu. However, with the return of Jack (in the form of Jack-5) and Ganryu in Tekken 5, their shared moves were differentiated. Kuma and Panda's attacks were changed in the way that they are executed in a more animal-like way, ie: instead of doing the karate chops Kuma/Panda had in previous games, they now do swinging scratches in Tekken 5. Kuma's Tekken 2 ending is identical to Paul Phoenix's Tekken 1 ending. In Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Kuma is white. This is obvious to note because Kuma is usually brown. This was probably done to make him look different from his appearance in Tekken 5, and it is possibly a reference to his Tekken 1 and Tekken 2 appearances, games where Kuma's alternate costume featured him with white fur instead of brown. Kuma hasn't been featured with white fur ever since Panda was added to the series in Tekken 3. She has served as his alternate costume ever since. However, his white fur costume returned in Tekken Tag Tournament.

STATS
Game series
Tekken series
First game Tekken
Voice actor(s) Bob West
Fighting style Kuma Shinken in Heihachi Style
Home country Japan
Age 10 (20 in Bear years)
Height 7' 11' (2.42 m)
Weight 463 lbs
Occupation Bodyguard to Heihachi