Tekken 8’s Miary Zo gets facial redesign after fan feedback

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Within just a few days following the unveiling of Tekken 8 at EVO 2025, character Miiya Zo underwent a facelift in design to align with fan expectations and better reflect her original concept artwork.

As a devoted admirer, I’m thrilled to share that just a few days after her spectacular debut, Maira Zo is now preparing for corrective surgery to refine her facial model.

At this year’s EVO 2025, there was a hint dropped about the new DLC character joining our gaming universe. However, some discrepancies between her face in the promotional artwork compared to her in-game appearance have sparked a bit of debate among the player community, with many expressing their thoughts on social media.

Miary Zo is a fresh face in the Tekken 8 series, hailing from Madagascar. The announcement of an African character joining Tekken 8 was met with much enthusiasm due to the relative scarcity of characters from the region within the game’s roster. Currently, the only canonically African character in Tekken 8 is Zafina, who is Egyptian.

Fan reaction & concept art comparison

At the EVO 2025 event, Miara Zo faced teasing, prompting Bandai Namco to publicly display preliminary designs for both Miara Zo and Armor King on stage. Speedy Tekken 8 enthusiasts soon pointed out a significant change in Miara Zo’s appearance, with many expressing disappointment that her in-game facial features appeared less distinctively African than the initial concept art suggested.

Furthermore, due to limited understanding about the multi-ethnic makeup of Madagascar’s population, there was often confusion about whether Miary Zo’s physical appearance accurately reflected her heritage.

Developer response

Katsuhiro Harada, the Game Director for Tekken 8, later hopped on Twitter following a lively debate about his appearance, to clarify the depth of the team’s investigations they undertook.

Katsuhiro Harada, the Game Director of Tekken 8, shared on August 4th that they delved deeply into the local culture and history by exploring not only big cities but also rural towns in Madagascar, collaborated with the gaming community there to create characters, had these designs validated and improved by the local community, and even recruited voice actors from Madagascar themselves. This means that some aspects of the game are unique to those who have personally visited or researched beyond what’s available online.

Miary Zo – Changes made to the model

Following the feedback received, it appears that the development team at Bandai Namco has made some adjustments. On August 8, just five days after her initial unveiling, Harada posted images showcasing a revised appearance for Miary Zo.

In the updated version of Tekken 8, as shown on Twitter by Harada, the character Miary Zo has a more unique look that departs from the typical anime girl style that some fans initially found disappointing. The new design features a slimmer nose bridge, a refined nose tip, a softer facial structure, and a slightly darker skin tone. Her hair is also more distinctly defined, resembling the original concept art more closely.

Miary Zo’s appearance could still undergo further changes before her release.

In simple terms, the 18-year-old warrior from Madagascar is slated to be the last addition in the roster of new characters for Season 2 of Tekken 8. This young combatant will join the previously introduced characters – Reina, Victor, and Azucena – as they all make their first appearances in Tekken 8 together.

So far, there hasn’t been a combat trailer released for Mary Zo. But given the buzz among fans suggesting a potential link to Ogre, it’s quite possible that she will take us by surprise in some way.

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2025-08-09 15:42