How to Get Alternate Ending in Tekken 8

The story mode for Tekken 8 might seem linear in how it plays out, but it is possible to get an alternate ending to Jin and Kazuya’s showdown. If that sounds enticing to you, our guide can tell you everything you need to do to unlock the special secret ending.

How to Get Secret Ending to Tekken 8 Story Mode (Despair Trophy and Achievement

While it might seem like there are a slew of specific flags you need to trigger, it’s actually super easy to get the alternate ending to the story mode of Tekken 8.

During the final battle in Chapter 15, you need to hit several button prompts in order to power up Jin and otherwise defeat Kazuya. If you fail to hit one of these prompts, it makes the following battle harder to overcome. Missing all of them, however, powers up Kazuya and makes it possible for him to defeat Jin; and unlocks the Despair ending in the process.

As such, all you need to do to get the alternate ending is fail all three major button prompts following the Get Up one. They can be failed by not pressing the corresponding button when it appears on screen.

The first is the “I will not deny my past” prompt. Let the window to hit it fade, which leads to Jin starting the round with less health.

After that is the “I will not deny my comrades and our bonds” prompt. Fail it by not pressing its button.

Finally, there’s the “I will not deny my existence” prompt. Fail this one the same as the past two. You’re then thrown into a round against Kazuya where he has a buff to his defense. Don’t worry about beating him though; you need to lose the fight to trigger the secret ending.

What Does the Tekken 8 Alternate Ending Get You?

Once you lose, the Tekken 8 alternate ending triggers and you’re treated to a rather grim outcome for the game and its characters.

Everyone aligned with Kazuya gets what they were after. This runs the gamut from violence and carnage to a thriving coffee business. The good characters, meanwhile, are either not present or shown to have been eliminated.

You also unlock the Despair Trophy and Achievement, which is one of the rarer accolades for the game. It’s a Gold Trophy or high value Achievement too, so it’s well worth adding to your collection.

Is the Tekken 8 Alternate Ending Canon? Explained

As for whether or not the Alternate Ending is canon, we can’t say for sure.

While it’s much more likely the canon ending is the one where Jin defeats Kazuya, the series’ creator Katsuhiro Harada and the team over at Bandai Namco Entertainment may well pull the rug out from under players. After all, the Despair ending still shows Reina awaken the Devil Gene and swear vengeance against those that killed her father Heihachi.

This is just speculation though. No one knows for certain what the team will do, and won’t until Tekken 9 comes out way down the line. Until then, we recommend you take the good ending at face value as the intended course for the series.

And that’s a wrap on our Tekken 8 Alternate Ending guide. For more on the series, check out our other guides and articles down below. They cover everything from how to unlock every character to where every roster member falls tier-wise.