Steve Fox (Tekken)

Steve Fox (スティーブ・フォックス) is a fictional character from the Tekken fighting game series released by Namco Bandai Games. Steve was introduced in Tekken 4, and he has returned for every subsequent game in the Tekken series. Steve is a level-headed middleweight boxing champion that was conceived in a lab in England. He is the son of Nina Williams, who unknowingly had Steve while she was taking part in Doctor Bosconovitch's cold sleep project. His father's identity remains a mystery. He is also the nephew of Anna Williams.

In video games
After Nina failed to assassinate Kazuya Mishima in The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2, Heihachi Mishima captured her and used her as a test subject for cryogenic sleep studies. She gave birth to Steve during this time through in-vitro fertilization. As a young British boxer enjoying his run as the world middleweight champ, Steve Fox was at the top of his game. He had everything he wanted, except for one thing - his past. Adopted in his infancy, Steve never knew the identity of his biological parents or the origin of the scar on his arm. One day, Steve is ordered to throw a fight by a Mafia betting high stakes on the fight. Steve refused to cooperate and won the fight regardless of the threats made against him. Unfortunately, the Mafia made good on their threats and put a price on Steve's head. With the Mafia in hot pursuit, Steve fled England for the United States to lead the life of a marked man. But no matter where he hid, he could not completely shake the Mafia henchmen. Steve realized that no matter what he did, the Mafia would eventually catch up and kill him. No one would ever know that he was killed, nor would he ever learn the truth about his past. With this realization, Steve decides to put himself in the limelight again and enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. Despite failing to win the tournament, he learned that Nina Williams is his mother. Along the way, he also cooperated with Lei Wulong, who was also trying to break up the same crime syndicate. Steve found out about the Mishima Zaibatsu's evil designs and the Zaibatsu's hand in his conception. He decided that he would personally see to it that the Mishima Zaibatsu never makes such a mistake again. Shortly thereafter, The King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 was announced and Steve decided to enter, full of confidence as he set off to win the tournament and destroy the Mishima Zaibatsu. Despite not winning the fifth tournament, Steve found and destroyed the research institute of the Mishima Zaibatsu, and finally settled a long-time feeling of resentment. Steve was intent on returning to the world of boxing again, but the majority of major boxing meets are cancelled by the war that broke out all over the world. Steve, who knew no other trade than the boxing ring, had effectively lost his job and his passion, and went into depression. Soon after, he received an invitation to train together with Marshall Law and Paul Phoenix. Steve, who liked the idea of training in a martial art other than boxing, accepted. The three head to enter The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 together. Steve will appear in the upcoming Tekken 7, being one of the eighteen characters available in the first location tests of the game.

Steve also appears in Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken Revolution. Steve appears in Capcom-made crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken, with Hwoarang as his official tag partner. His Swap Costume is modeled after Charlie Nash. According to the download blurb, after a bout a few years ago, Steve received a present from a friend of Guile's who was deeply impressed with his boxing style.

In other media
Steve appears in Tekken Online Comics (2009). Steve Fox appears in the Tekken movie, portrayed by British singer/actor, Luke Goss. In the film, he is an older, retired fighter who sponsors Jin Kazama in the tournament after the latter defeated Marshall Law. He has no blood ties to Nina Williams apparently, knew Jun Kazama before her death, and becomes Jin's friend and mentor. He is killed by Jackhammers while breaking Jin and the other imprisoned participants out of their holding cells. A dossier on Steve is briefly seen in the CGI film Tekken: Blood Vengeance when Anna Williams opens a file containing dossiers on various persons of interest.

Character design
Steve is a young, British boxer with blonde slicked-back styled hair and pale blue eyes. He speaks with a British accent, and has a large scar on his left arm. Most of his outfits feature Britain's color scheme (red, white and blue), especially his boxing trunks. His Player 1 costume consists of British flag colored boxing trunks, yellow boxing gloves with red spiked wristbands andblue sneakers, while in latter games, he wears British colored boxing boots. His Player 2 costume consists of an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, red jeans, brown shoes, and white hand wraps. In latter games, he wears white button shirt with British colored shield symbols on the chest, shoulders and back, blue fingerless gloves with spikes on the knuckles and silver shoes with blue laces. Steve's character was originally given the name Dean Earwicker. This was changed after a substantial amount of negative feedback from the Tekken community. The name has been referenced four times in the Tekken series: first time in Tekken 4's Tekken Force side game, second time in Tekken 5's Arcade Battle mode, third time in Tekken 6's Arcade Battle and Ghost Battle modes and fourth time in Tekken Tag Tournament 2's Ghost Battle.

Gameplay and fighting style
Steve uses Boxing as his fighting style. With a unique fighting style based on bobs, sways and punches, and almost no kicks, Steve is one of the most unorthodox characters in the series. He has incredibly fast and effective punches and combos, very strong low attacks, and can lay the pressure on his opponent like few others in the roster. Perhaps one of the most dangerous fighters in the roster, Steve can turn around a fight with his hard-hitting blows and high-low combos in a flash, and his counter-hits are among the most effective around. Because he is a boxer, Steve Fox does not have normal kick attacks. However, there are a few instances where Steve uses his legs to attack, such as his get-up kicks, jumping kicks, and a single attack where he stomps on the opponent's foot. Another move of Steve's, his Endless Roll, is a variation of the Dempsey Roll, which was created and first used by the Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the 1920s, Jack Dempsey. Steve's unblockable move, Hellfire, is the only unblockable attack where damage can be reduced by blocking it. When blocked, its properties also change.

Reception
In 2010, in a GamesRadar article by Michael Grimm, a fight between Steve and Dudley was written as one of the ones players wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken, adding "Bully British brawlers in big bad boxing bash-up!" FHM listed Steve and Balrog as one of the "10 Awesome Fantasy Fights in Street Fighter X Tekken", adding "Balrog’s the aggressive, in-your-face, no-nonsense Mike Tyson type. Steve, on the other hand, is a pretty boy British boxer who likes to weave around and counter at the ideal moment." In 2013, Complex ranked Steve as the "19th best Tekken character", commenting "A top Steve player knows how to bob, weave, and combo his way to the top." In 2014, GamesRader ranked Steve as the "4th baddest boxer in video games", adding "Decked out in Union Jack shorts and a tasty pair of golden gloves, Steve favours punishing body strikes to the precision jab, a high stakes style that metes out as just much pain as it invites." 4thletter placed Steve's and Hwoarang's Street Fighter X Tekken ending at 85th place in their list "The Top 200 Fighting Game Endings".