Paul Phoenix (Tekken)

Paul Phoenix (ポール・フェニックス) is a video game character and one of four Tekken characters (the others being Heihachi Mishima, Nina Williams and Yoshimitsu) to have appeared in every video game for the Tekken series. He is a staple character of the series who wants to become "The Toughest Guy in the Universe". He is prominent for his hi-top fade hairdo.

In video games
In Tekken, Paul's sub-boss was Kuma, a bear supposedly trained by Heihachi Mishima; this was explained by Paul having witnessed as a child that a martial artist named Willie Williams fighting a bear. Willie Williams is a real-life karateka, who can indeed be seen challenging a bear in a sequence filmed as part of a documentary about Karate.

In Tekken 3, Paul went undefeated during The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3, starting a feud with the new Kuma then he even managed to beat Ogre. He left soon afterwards, claiming himself to be the winner. However, Ogre evolved into True Ogre and the tournament continued after his departure. Having realized this only sometime afterwards, Paul became frustrated and angry. Few believed him when he told everyone that he was the true winner of The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3.

In Tekken 4, after a short while, he soon turned to alcohol while Paul then heard an announcement for The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. Paul trained vigorously and entered the tournament to prove himself once more. Rolling through his opponents one-by-one, Paul felt excited at the prospects of facing Kazuya Mishima, whom he never faced in over 20 years.

In Tekken 5, however, he once again found Kuma standing in his way. His mind distracted, Paul did not take Kuma seriously at first, and by the time he realized his mistake, he was quickly overwhelmed by the bear and defeated. His loss to Kuma shamed Paul greatly, and he realized he had strayed from the path of a true martial artist and started his training all over again. When the fifth tournament was announced, Paul entered to prove that he is, literally, "the toughest fighter in the universe". Paul Phoenix's rematch with Kuma was fierce, and though victorious, he was utterly exhausted, leaving him unable to continue the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. Unable to collect any prize money from the last tournament, Paul, who was already burdened by his mountain of debt, learns that a new King of Iron Fist Tournament will be held soon. Believing that if he won the tournament, he could finally say goodbye to his loan troubles, Paul deeply thought about ways to increase his chances of winning—participating on his own was out of the question. If he could assemble a team with someone, his chances of winning the prize money would greatly increase. And so he went over his plan with his best friend Marshall Law - but thinking a three-man team was better than two, renowned boxer Steve Fox caught his attention.

He appears as a playable character in non-canonical Tekken games Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, as well as Tekken Revolution. Paul appears with his official tag partner, Marshall Law in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken (in its ending they are trapped inside the Pandora's box in space) as playable characters, and both unlockable characters in the beat'em-up game Urban Reign. He will also appear in the upcoming Tekken X Street Fighter.

Gameplay
Paul's fighting style is a hybridized form of martial art that are primarily based on Kajukenbo. In common with many Tekken characters, His move set includes flamboyant fictional attacks, mixed with more realistic-looking techniques. His heavy striking moves bear little in common with American Kenpo that was popularized in the United States by Ed Parker during 1960's. It is more closely related to Olympic judo version and the different striking arsenals which are based on other Oriental martial arts.

According to IGN, Paul is considered one of the most devastating characters in Tekken 6, having brutal juggles, one of the best low attacks and a very powerful wall game. Paul is well known for his "Phoenix Smasher" (which also has a more powerful unblockable version called the "Burning Fist"), seen in promotions images of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Street Fighter X Tekken.

In other media and merchandise
Paul makes a cameo appearance in Tekken: The Motion Picture as one of the tournament competitors. He has no spoken lines, and it is unknown how he progresses through the tournament. He is last seen, with his clothes a bit torn, carrying an unconscious Michelle Chang out of the exploding Mishima resort. His rivalries with Kazuya and Kuma are not present in the anime.

Paul's name is mentioned in the film Tekken where he got knocked out by Marshall Law in 28 seconds. His dossier is also briefly seen in the CGI film Tekken: Blood Vengeance when Anna Williams opens a file containing dossiers on various persons of interest. He appear in the short film Tekken Reload portrayed by Scott Sheeley.

In 1998, Epoch Co. released a Paul Phoenix action figure, based on his appearance in Tekken 3. The action figure is 6.75 inches and comes with replaceable gloves.

Reception
Gaming Target ranked Paul as 10th top Tekken character, stating that "he’s a fan favorite for his All-American flavor, USA landmark-rich battle arenas, and high-rise hairdos (taller than Kramer, but not quite as tall as Marge Simpson). Oh, and he also beat up a bear once. It’s hard to top that". 1UP.com listed Paul as one of the characters wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken, "as a fairly straight forward character with solid combos that may not be flashy, but do a ton of damage." GamesRadar listed a matchup between Paul and Guile as one of the ones they wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken, commenting, "Paul and Guile may be little more than organic devices designed to carry around ridiculous hair, but what a gelled, feathered battle it would be". Complex compared him to Guile, predicting Guile would win in a fight. Complex also ranked Paul as the third best Tekken character, commenting "Paul's greatest strength is... well, his strength." FHM listed Paul and Guile as one of the "10 Awesome Fantasy Fights in Street Fighter X Tekken", adding "This is about as evenly-matched as two fighters in this game can get. Their biceps and chest look equally ripped". In the official poll by Namco, Paul is currently the third most requested Tekken character to be added to the roster of Tekken X Street Fighter, at 15.72% of votes.