Ultimate Punch

Ultimate Punch is a move that all characters have from Tekken 2 onward. It is performed during a running tackle or Ultimate Tackle. The escape is 1 for an incoming right punch, or 2 for an incoming left punch, however the punches cannot be escaped in Tekken 2. Only the first and fourth punches can be escaped.

After some games, only specific characters can initiate an Ultimate Punch, but almost all characters can reverse it.

While the move is called Ultimate Punch, most female characters will slap their opponent instead. The only female characters who will always punch their opponent rather than slap are Michelle Chang, Julia Chang, Josie Rizal, Master Raven, and Lidia Sobieska. Though Leo Kliesen's gender is left ambiguous, Leo will punch during a tackle.

Jun Kazama will slap in Tekken 2, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 8, and will punch rather than slap in Tekken Tag Tournament.

Angel and Panda, who have the same movesets as Devil and Kuma II respectively, will also punch rather than slap, though Angel will use an open hand while performing the punching animation in Tekken 2.

Kunimitsu and Kunimitsu II will also punch, starting in Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 7 respectively.

The only two men who will perform slaps after a tackle are Eddy Gordo from Tekken 4 to Tekken 8, due to being a clone of Christie Monteiro, and Sebastian in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, likely due to using the same fighting style as Lili.

The input was originally 2,1,2,1,2 in Tekken 2, but from Tekken 3 to Tekken 6, inputs of 1,2,1,2,1, 2,1,2,2,1 or 1,2,1,1,2 are also possible. Starting in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, however, the amount of total hits were reduced to 4, but the player can now mix any combination of 1 or 2.

From Tekken 3 onward, Paul Phoenix, King II, Nina Williams, Jin Kazama, and Devil Jin can perform a Cross Arm Lock after the third punch. King and Nina can also perform a Leg Cross Hold after the third punch. Sergei Dragunov can only perform the Ultimate Punch on an opponent tackled from behind. Craig Marduk is the only character unable to perform the Ultimate Punch, but he has a similar move, Mount.

In Tekken 2, Yoshimitsu and Kunimitsu will stab their opponent with their weapon rather than punch, dealing 25 damage. While Yoshimitsu retained the tackle stab in subsequent games, Kunimitsu lost the ability to perform the stab when she reappeared in Tekken Tag Tournament.

In Tekken 7, Negan Smith will also stab his opponent with a weapon rather than punch, dealing 25 damage.

In Tekken 8, Victor Chevalier and Clive Rosfield will punch their opponent instead of stabbing them with their weapon during an Ultimate Tackle reversal.

In Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, an opponent cannot be punched if tackled from behind.

Bug

In Tekken 4, Eddy Gordo will slap his opponent due to the game considering him to be a clone of Christie Monteiro. Notably, he cannot slap Nina Williams back when she slaps him, unlike Christie, so code does exist to differentiate Eddy from Christie, but most likely the developers forgot to change his moveset back to punches.

Gallery

Tekken 2

Tekken 3

Tekken Tag Tournament

Tekken 4

Tekken 5

Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection

Tekken 6

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Tekken 7

Tekken 8