We officially have a new original Tekken character coming to Tekken 8! Miary Zo, an entirely new fighter in the Tekken franchise, will be the final DLC character in Tekken 8 Season 2. She was revealed earlier today at Evo 2025, showing up in a short segment after developer and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment showed off Armor King’s Tekken 8 gameplay trailer in between tournament matches.

Tekken newcomer Miary Zo teased at EVO 2025 as final Season 2 DLC Character

Miary Zo hails from the African island country of Madagascar, making her the first ever Malagasy fighter in the series as well. She is scheduled to come out in winter of this year, some time after Armor King is released on October 13th.

What’s Miary Zo’s fighting style?

Miary Zo uses Moraingy, a traditional martial art from Madagascar. Created during the Maroseranana dynasty starting in the 17th century, the martial art itself was seen as ritual combat, particularly between men as a test of their virility. Moraingy was often practiced at celebrations as a performance art as well.

Moraingy focuses on bare-fisted striking from long range. Some kicks are permitted in moraingy fights, though they do take a backseat to punches as only certain types of kicking strikes are permitted in competitions. Moraingy fights must be accompanied by music as well as is tradition, in order to set a “trance-like” mood for both the fighters and any spectators watching on.

That last bit makes it quite similar to capoeira, which is also accompanied by music whenever possible. I’m expecting her and Eddy Gordo to have unique intro and win interactions as a result, and maybe even some story interactions as well.

Will she be any good in Tekken 8?

Well, that remains to be seen, of course, because her time in the spotlight at Evo 2025 was short and didn’t feature any gameplay whatsoever. If Bandai Namco adhere to moraingy’s long range tendencies, though, I think Miary Zo will find a home in Tekken 8. This game, particularly in Season 2, is all about characters that can either smother their opponents with plus-on-block moves, or those that can hit or launch from a distance.

Phantom range has been a big issue in this game since day one, after all, and if Miary Zo has any of those disjointed hitboxes for herself, she could prove to be a menace in Tekken 8. That said, Fahkumram’s current form in this game is proof positive that Bandai Namco can still design fair and interesting characters these days, so hopefully Miary Zo (and by extension, the rest of the absolutely busted cast in Season 2) will be around that power level as well.

Until we see her released this winter, though, all we can do is guess. For now, I’ll just comment on her design, which I personally think is pretty great! She definitely strikes me as an island girl through and through, which is no surprise given that she comes from Madagascar. Her face is a little generic looking, though, which unfortunately is something that Bandai Namco have struggled with for decades now.

Aside from Nina and Anna, I don’t really think that Tekken has too many memorable female characters, and the developers’ tendency to make all the girls have doll-like faces doesn’t help at all.