is a
video game character from the ''
Tekken
is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations.
The ...
'' series by
Namco Bandai Games
is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
. The character is a Brazilian
capoeira
Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...
fighter. Introduced in ''
Tekken 3
is a fighting game, the third entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released to the arcades in 1997, before being ported for the PlayStation in 1998. The arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of ''Tekke ...
'' in 1997, Eddy has since appeared in every game thereafter (albeit he is not a participant in the
King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 story-wise), although he shares the same character slot as
Christie Monteiro
is a fictional character in the '' Tekken'' video game series of 3D fighting games. A fighter of Afro-Brazilian nationality, Christie uses the Brazilian fighting style of capoeira.
She is the granddaughter of a legendary capoeira master who tau ...
in ''
Tekken 4
is a fighting video game developed and published by Namco as the fourth main and fifth installment in the ''Tekken'' series, following the release of the non-canon crossover titled ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' in 1999. It was released as an arcade g ...
'' and ''
Tekken 5
is a fighting game developed and published by Namco for the arcades in 2004, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. It is the fifth main and sixth installment, in the '' Tekken'' series, marking the tenth anniversary of the series. The game is set ...
'', but regained his own slot in subsequent games beginning with ''
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection''.
Eddy's storyline from his debut through ''Tekken 5'' revolved around his quest for revenge for the murder of his parents, culminating in the defeat of
Kazuya Mishima
is a fictional character in Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, first featured as the protagonist in the original 1994 game and later became one of the major antagonists and antihero of the series. The son of worldwide conglomerate ...
during the events of ''Tekken 5''. From ''Tekken 5'' onward, Eddy's plot focused on his and
Christie Monteiro
is a fictional character in the '' Tekken'' video game series of 3D fighting games. A fighter of Afro-Brazilian nationality, Christie uses the Brazilian fighting style of capoeira.
She is the granddaughter of a legendary capoeira master who tau ...
's search for a cure to an unknown illness that Christie's grandfather, Eddy's Capoeira master, was suffering from. Eddy was the first capoeira practitioner to appear in the ''Tekken'' franchise; followed by
Tiger Jackson, a palette swap of Eddy in ''Tekken 3'' and ''
Tekken Tag Tournament
is a spin-off of Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series. It is the fourth installment in the ''Tekken'' fighting game series.
''Tekken Tag Tournament'' was released as an arcade game in 1999, before becoming a North American and European launch ...
''; and Christie Monteiro, Eddy's replacement in ''Tekken 4''. Eddy has received heavy criticism in the fighting video game community for the low skill floor associated with Eddy's play style; however, the character, along with Christie, has been credited with popularizing the art of capoeira to a new audience within the larger gaming and martial arts community, and has influenced
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
.
Character development
The ''Tekken 3'' development team wanted to include a Capoeira practitioner for ''Tekken 3'' and turned to the development artists to create the character. It was desired by Masahiro Kimoto, one of the game designers of ''Tekken 3'', that the Capoeira character be female but the artist that was tasked with the character's design deemed the female character too difficult to create and instead created Eddy. Kimoto later stated that his favorite character from ''Tekken 3'' was Eddy, because of the challenges in his development.
Mestre Marcelo Pereira, a Brazilian capoeira master, was the
motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
artist for Eddy Gordo in ''Tekken 3''.
Pereira stated that Namco had heard of him as a result of his 1995 International Capoeira Seminar held in San Francisco, and that he felt honored in being chosen by Namco to represent Capoeira in ''Tekken 3''. Marcelo Pereira reported that during the development of ''Tekken 3'' he had been injured, as a result the acrobatic movements he performed were restricted. He also claimed that he performed "about 20%" of what he was capable of performing because it was necessary to have "another skillful capoeirista to spar with" to perform some movements in Capoeira. Additionally, Pereira criticized Namco's naming choices for Eddy Gordo and his moves, noting that Eddy is not a Brazilian name and that "Gordo" in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
meant "fat" and the movements' names were not "traditional" like the names he had called them during development.
In video games
Eddy Gordo first appeared in ''Tekken 3'' and appeared in the following 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 without serving any purpose in the storyline. Masahiro Kimoto stated that Eddy was replaced because initially, they had intended to create a female Capoeira character in ''Tekken 3'' but instead changed to a male character due to artistic limitations. In ''Tekken 4'', the team was able to successfully create "an attractive female character" who practiced Capoeira, so they chose to replace Eddy with her. Eddy Gordo later served as a character costume swap for Christie in ''Tekken 5'', and became a separate character once again in the ''Tekken 5'' update, ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection''; however, while he did have his own character customizations, his moveset remained identical to Christie's. Eddy Gordo appeared again in ''Tekken 6'', and its update, ''Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion'', but his moveset has remained similar to Christie's, only differing in move properties such as speed and distance.
Additionally, in ''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".
Eddy was born into one of the richest families in Brazil. When Eddy was 19 years old, his father was killed while trying to destroy a Brazilian
drug cartel
A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the ...
known as the "Organization". In his last breaths, Eddy's father asked his son to take responsibility for his death. Eddy went along with his father's last wish and served eight years in prison, during which he met an old man who taught him
Capoeira
Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...
. For his eight years of prison, Eddy practiced until he became a master. Upon his release, Eddy heard about the
King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 and the Mishima Financial Empire (MFE), the sponsor of the tournament and a conglomerate compared to a "large slice of the world" which is owned by Heihachi Mishima. He decided to enter the tournament, believing he could either convince the MFE or take control of it and force it to help him get revenge on his father's killers.
As shown in his Tekken 3 ending, Eddy tracked down the gang who killed his father; the gang members confessed that the killing had been ordered by Kazuya Mishima.
In ''Tekken 4'', it is learned that while Eddy was in prison he learned of his master's granddaughter, 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." 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.
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.
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. In his ending and ''Tekken 7'' however, even Mishima Zaibatsu's technology is also far from saving his master and eventually his death. Eddy attends the master's funeral with a grieving Christie, then angrily throws his Mishima Zaibatsu badge to the ground, signifying his end of service to the company and his failure. However, he still has his personal task to get revenge on Kazuya for ruining his life and involved his master and Christie along with it.
Eddy appears in the non-canon sequel of Tekken Tag Tournament, ''
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' is a sequel to the ''Tekken'' fighting game series. It was released for the arcades in September 2011. It received an update, subtitled ''Unlimited'', on March 2012. A console version based on the update was release ...
'' where he speaks his native language Portuguese, alongside Christie.
Eddy makes a series of brief cameos in ''
Street Fighter X Tekken
(pronounced "Street Fighter Cross Tekken") is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom and released in March 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in May for Microsoft Windows and in October for the PlayStation Vita. The game feature ...
'' and its associated "Episode" trailers, as Christie, accompanied by
Lei Wulong
is a fictional character from the '' Tekken'' fighting game franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Added to the ''Tekken'' series as a tribute to Jackie Chan, Lei's role is that of a police officer who investigates the Mishima Zaibatsu corpor ...
, seeks out Pandora in the hopes it will lead her to Eddy.
Gameplay
''
BradyGames
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media cong ...
'', in 2009, attributed the "button masher" stigma to Eddy's "constantly shifting stances and unpredictable nature" in regards to casual gameplay of ''Tekken 6'', while in competition the random actions of button mashing" lead to heavy punishment more often than not."
In other media and merchandise
In the 1997 original video animation ''
Tekken: The Motion Picture'', Eddy is seen during the opening introduction. In the 2011 CGI film ''
Tekken: Blood Vengeance'', Eddy's dossier is briefly seen when
Anna Williams Anna Williams may refer to:
* Anna Williams (poet) (1706–1783), writer and friend of Samuel Johnson
* Anna Maria Williams (1839–1929), New Zealand teacher and school principal
* Anna Wessels Williams (1863–1954), pioneering female doctor an ...
opens a file containing dossiers on various persons of interest.
In the 2009 live-action film ''
Tekken
is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations.
The ...
'', Eddy is portrayed by Brazilian capoeira fighter/stuntman
Lateef Crowder
Lateef Crowder dos Santos (born November 23, 1977) is a Brazilian-American actor, martial artist, and stuntman. As a member of the ZeroGravity stunt team since 2000, he has been featured in multiple internet short videos and demo reels, such a ...
. He participates in the Iron Fist tournament and is pitted against Raven, who defeats Eddy. Critics praised the accurate portrayal of Eddy toward the games, but criticized the brevity of Eddy's role in the film. Unlike the games, he has no relation to Christie Monteiro.
In 2003,
Epoch Co.
is a Japanese toy and computer games company founded in 1958 which is best known for manufacturing Barcode Battler and ''Doraemon'' video games, and the Sylvanian Families series of toys. Its current Representative President is Michihiro Maeda.
...
released an Eddy Gordo action figure as part of their ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' toyline; the toy featured interchangeable hands and a display stand.
Reception
''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' ranked Eddy as the seventeenth-"Most Dominant Fighting Game Character", commenting "You either think this dancing brawler is the greatest thing to happen to ''Tekken'' or you think he's the cheesiest character in the entire series". In the official poll by Namco Bandai Games, Eddy is currently ranked as the ninth most requested ''Tekken'' character to be playable in ''
Tekken X Street Fighter
(pronounced "Tekken Cross Street Fighter") is a crossover fighting game that was being developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was supposed to cross the universes of Namco's ''Tekken'' and Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' into one game, creating ...
'', at 10.05% of votes. In 2014, What Culture ranked him as the 14th greatest character in fighting games, calling him "the easiest, most intuitive character to get to grips with in any fighting game."
The character has been criticized for his perceived simplistic playability.
MTV.com
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
nicknamed him "Eddy 'Button-Masher's Savior' Gordo." Luke McKinney of ''
GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
'' lambasted Eddy as "the worst thing to happen to fighting gamers since
repetitive strain injury
A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is an injury to part of the musculoskeletal or nervous system caused by repetitive use, vibrations, compression or long periods in a fixed position. Other common names include repetitive stress disorders, cumula ...
" and likened him to "
Jar-Jar Binks, a floppy-limbed aberration staining a beloved classic."
Dave Cook of ''
NowGamer
Imagine Publishing was a UK-based magazine publisher, which published a number of video games, computing, creative and lifestyle magazines.
It was founded on 14 May 2005 with private funds by Damian Butt, Steven Boyd and Mark Kendrick, all we ...
'' rated Eddy among his "10 most hated game characters ever" at tenth in 2010: "Eddy shouldn't even have a command list, just pictures of both kick buttons, because if you hammer both endlessly, you will win every round." Pete Dreyer of
RedBull.com
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inclu ...
included Eddy in his selection of the "10 Cheapest Fighting Game Characters of All Time" for similar reasons in 2016: "Just start mashing those kick buttons until his legs start capoeira-ing all over the place and rake in the glory." In his 2014 article "In Defense of Button Mashing", Kevin Wong of ''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
'' explained his success at ''Tekken 3'' with Eddy after having struggled playing as other characters: "I won't gild the lily by claiming any sort of thought out strategy. It was definitely button mashing, but I had never had so much fun."
Cultural impact
According to Eoin Lyons at
Balls.ie, capoeira was "single handedly" introduced in Ireland by Eddy. Professional wrestler
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Kofi Kingston. He appeared on WWE's NXT brand as one-hal ...
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." He also stated, "I watch a character like Eddy Gordo in 'Tekken' and his capoeira style, and its characters like that that I like to take from because of how they stand out." Fellow professional wrestler
MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
attributed one of his moves called "Malicious Intent" to Eddy Gordo, calling it "a variation of one of
ddy'sspinning kicks." MVP also considers Eddy Gordo as one of his favorite video game characters.
Dane Cook
Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released six comedy albums: ''Harmful If Swallowed''; ''Retaliation''; '' Vicious Circle''; '' Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garde ...
referred to Eddy Gordo in the track "Struck by a Vehicle" from his second album ''
Retaliation
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
'', joking that 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."
See also
*
List of ''Tekken'' characters
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordo, Eddy
Black characters in video games
Fictional businesspeople in video games
Dancer characters in video games
Fictional Brazilian people in video games
Fictional capoeira practitioners
Fictional henchmen in video games
Male characters in video games
Fictional mercenaries in video games
Orphan characters in video games
Fictional soldiers in video games
Tekken characters
Video game characters introduced in 1997
Fictional Afro-Brazilian people