User:Subzerosmokerain/Eddy Gordo

The Tekken 3 development team desired a Capoeira practitioner for Tekken 3 and turned to the development artists to create the character. It was desired by one of the developers that the Capoeira character be female but the artist that was tasked with the design deemed the female character too difficult to create and instead created a male character which resulted in Eddy Gordo. Masahiro Kimoto, one of the game designers of Tekken 3, stated that their favorite character was Eddy because of the difficulty involved in Eddy's creation.^[6]

Marcelo Pereira, a Capoeira master from the United States, was the motion-capture artist for Eddy Gordo during Tekken 3.^[6] Pereira stated that Namco had heard of him from his 1995 International Capoeira Seminar held in San Francisco. Pereira felt honored in being chosen by Namco to represent Capoeira in Tekken 3. Marcelo Pereira stated that during the development of Tekken 3 he had been injured, as a result the acrobatic movements he performed were restricted. He also stated that he performed "about 20%" of what he was capable of performing because it was necessary to have "another skillful capoeirista" to do some movements in Capoeira. Additionally, Pereira criticized the name of Eddy Gordo noting that Eddy is not a Brazilian name and that "Gordo" in Portuguese meant "fat" as well as the names of the movements performed by Eddy Gordo as they were not "traditional" like the names he had called the movements during development. ^[2]

Eddy Gordo first appeared in Tekken 3 and reappeared in his second title, Tekken Tag Tournament. In Tekken 4, Eddy Gordo was omitted from the roster and was replaced with Christie Monteiro, another Capoeira practitioner, but appeared as an alternate costume for Christie and serving no purpose in the storyline.^[7] Masahiro Kimoto stated in a GameNow interview over Tekken 4 that Eddy was replaced because they had intended to create a female Capoeira character in Tekken 3 but instead chose Eddy from the designs they had during the development of Tekken 3 but for Tekken 4 were able to successfully create "an attractive female character" who practiced Capoeira.^[8] Eddy Gordo later served as a character costume swap for Christie in Tekken 5,^[9] but became a separate character once again in the Tekken 5 update, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection with his own character customizations but did not have a separate moveset.^[10][11] Eddy Gordo appeared again in Tekken 6, and its update, Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, but had a relatively similar moveset to Christie with the only differences being in move properties.^[12] Additionally in Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, Eddy serves as the boss for the 28th level of the Scenario Campaign Mode, the "Tekken Force 4th Special Forces Operational Group Compound".^[13]

Eddy was born into one of the richest families in Brazil. When Eddy was 19 years old, his father was killed by a drug cartel known as the "Organization". Eddy's father was working to destroy the drug cartel in Brazil. In his last breaths, Eddy's father told him as he died to admit to his murder. Eddy went along with his father's last wish and served eight years in prison. During his life in prison, Eddy met an old man who taught him Capoeira. For his eight years of prison, Eddy practiced until he became a master. Upon his release from prison, Eddy heard about the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 and the Mishima Financial Empire (MFE). He decided to enter the tournament, believing he could persuade the MFE or take the company over so that he could seek his revenge.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

In Tekken 4, it is learned that while Eddy was in prison he learned of his master's grandaughter, Christie Monteiro, and made a promise to his master to teach her Capoeira when Eddy got out of prison. After the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, Eddy found and taught Christie Capoeira who became impressive at the martial art after two years of training. Soon after Christie's training, Eddy left saying, "Those responsible for my father's death will pay." ^[19] Christie Monteiro, entered The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 to find Eddy, as this was the only clue that could lead her to him.^[20]

Prior to Tekken 5, Eddy learns that the master who taught him Capoeira in prison is about to be freed. Eddy goes to his release but discovers that his master has become a weak and frail old man, not the great Capoeira master he had studied under. After he takes his master to a hospital, Eddy learns that he is dying from an incurable disease that will give him less than six months to live. There is hope, however, if the Mishima Zaibatsu's technology and resources could be put to use. Knowing this and hearing the announcement of the fifth King of Iron Fist tournament, Eddy and Christie enter with the hopes of saving Christie's grandfather. ^[21] During the tournament, Eddy encounters Kazuya Mishima and defeats him in battle avenging Eddy's father's death.^[22]

At the conclusion of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, Eddy spoke alone with Jin Kazama. Jin offered to lend him his money and resources to save his master's life in exchange for his allegiance with the Mishima Zaibatsu. Knowing that this could be the opportunity he had been looking for to save his master's life, Eddy complies. As the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 approaches, Eddy himself has become involved in a number of criminal activities in the name of the Mishima Zaibatsu.^[23]

Tekken 3

Outside Eddy's mansion, a shady looking character arrives. Eddy is seen in his room, who shortly leaves. Eddy goes into the headquarters of the Organization at midnight. A few men try to kill Eddy, but he evades all attacks and defeats them. Though he can't be heard, Eddy demands that a man, who was seen outside of Eddy's mansion, reveal the identity of the person who killed his father. The man points to a table. Eddy walks over to it, and he sees three photos of Kazuya Mishima.^[24]

Tekken Tag Tournament

Eddy and Tiger are seen performing capoeira moves.^[25]

Tekken 4

Christie has defeated Heihachi Mishima and won the tournament. Immediately, she is swarmed by excited journalists, but her attitude is very melancholy. Then, in the audience, she sees Eddy Gordo, who has a sling on his arm. Gleefully, she runs up to him and gives him a hug, crying, "Eddy!".^[26]

Tekken 5

Christie and Eddy wait and pray while Christie's grandfather undergoes his operation. Finally, the "Operating" light goes off and both of them stand as the doors open. The scene changes, and Eddy and Christie are outside in the sunlight practicing their Capoeira moves against each other. Suddenly, Christie's grandfather steps in, stopping one of Christie's kicks. It is clear that his operation has gone well, and Eddy steps aside as Christie and her grandfather begin to practice their Capoeira moves against each other.^[27]

Tekken 6

Christie is seen praying at her grandfather's grave. Eddy then appears. When Christie sees Eddy, she slaps him and says, "Where have you been? You're too late." Eddy remains silent as Christie hugs him. Eddy is seen squeezing his hand, then throwing the Mishima Zaibatsu insignia pin on the floor, furious for Jin Kazama for not being able to treat his master. The ending is identical to Christie Monteiro's.^[28]

Tiger Jackson is a palette swap character "unlocked" by selecting Eddy Gordo with the Start button in both Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament. (Tekken 3 requires the player to complete the game with 17 unique characters first). According to the Tekken 6 Art Book, which came with the Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion Bundle, Tiger Jackson was one of the unused names and concepts of Eddy Gordo from during the development of Tekken 3.^[29]

Tiger is also a character in the game Pac-Man Fever. It is not known if Tiger is considered "canon" in the official story. Tiger Jackson appears in the background of the Pool Party stage of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection,^[30] while one of Eddy Gordo's customizations allows him to wear an afro, shades and clothing similar to Tiger's.

Tekken 3 Ending

Tiger is shown dancing at a disco.^[31]

Tekken Tag Tournament

Like his ending on Tekken 3; the only difference is that he is dancing at a carnival, not at a disco.^[32]

In the 2010 live-action film Tekken, Eddy is portrayed by Brazilian capoeira fighter Lateef Crowder. He participates in the Iron Fist tournament and is pitted against Raven and is defeated by Raven. Critics praised the accurate portrayal of Eddy toward the games,^[33][34] but criticized the brevity of Eddy's role in the film.^[35] Unlike the games, he has no relation to Christie Monteiro.^[36]

Dane Cook refers to Eddy Gordo in his CD, Retaliation. Cook jokes about when someone gets struck by a car it "sends you flipping through the air like Eddy Gordo from Tekken when someone doesn't know how to do combos and they're just hitting the buttons randomly."^[37]

In 2003, Epoch Co. released an Eddy Gordo action figure as part of their Tekken Tag Tournament toyline; the toy featured interchangeable hands and a display stand.^[38] With the release of Tekken 6, Eddy received a trailer showcasing his moveset for the game and describing Eddy as "A Brazilian superstar, fighting Capoeira."^[39]

In a SkySports interview, professional wrestler Kofi Kingston stated, "...guys like Eddy Gordo are very unique characters. When he was introduced into the Tekken series he was the guy everybody was talking about. People knew about Capoeira but they didn't really know what it was all about as far as moves and stuff." ^[40] He also stated in an ESPN interview that, "I watch a character like Eddy Gordo in 'Tekken' and his capoeira style, and it's characters like that that I like to take from because of how they stand out." ^[41] Professional wrestler, MVP, attributed one of his moves called "Malicious Intent" to Eddy Gordo, calling it "a variation of one of [Eddy's] spinning kicks." MVP also considers Eddy Gordo as one of his favorite video game characters.^[42][43]

Eddy has been constantly criticized for his easy playability. In one article from MTV.com, they nicknamed him, "Eddy 'Button-Masher's Savior' Gordo." ^[44] BradyGames attributes his "masher" stigma to the character's "...constantly shifting stances and unpredictable nature...", but says that it only applies to casual play. It continues to say that at competitive levels, the random actions of button mashing ..."lead to heavy punishment more often than not."^[12]

In a humor article by GameSpy, Eddy Gordo was regarded as one of The World's Worst Warriors calling him such things as, "...cheating scumbag." and stating that, "Eddy Gordo is the worst thing to happen to fighting gamers since repetitive strain injury." ^[45] Additionally, Eddy was listed by Now Gamer in their "Top 10 most hated gamer characters ever" calling Eddy and Ken (Street Fighter) both "overly-powered and cheap," citing that for Eddy's command list it should only contain "pictures of both kick buttons" because mashing the kick buttons could give automatic wins to the player and ended by calling Eddy, "a skilless-husk of a character."^[46] In contrast, WeDoTech.net rated him the second best fighting video game character of all time, stating that he was the best character in Tekken 3 and noting his break-dance styled moves as one of his best aspects.^[47] Also, Gaming Target rated Eddy second in their "Top 11 Tekken Fighters" in which they cite his moveset as one of his best aspects saying that, "his moves are more alluring to watch than anyone in Tekken."^[48] In the same article, Gaming Target also called Eddy the most stunning character in Tekken 3 for his "break-dancing-like attacks."^[49]

• Christie Monteiro
• Kazuya Mishima