Azucena Ortiz

Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo is a character in the Tekken series, debuting in Tekken 8.
She is voiced by Marisa Contreras.
== Biography ==
Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo, known better as the "Coffee Queen," is beloved for her innocent personality and her fearless fighting style as an MMA champion. The only daughter of the family who owns Ortiz Farm, a coffee plantation located 2000 meters above sea level, Azucena grew up observing her father's trade and dreamed of becoming the world's best coffee farmer.
To make her dream come true, a young Azucena conducted countless experiments by cultivating new coffee plants based on her novel ideas. Although adults around her rejected her ideas time and again, Azucena used their rejection to motivate herself and continued to refine her daring spirit.
A few years later, Azucena's efforts finally bore fruit, and her coffee beans were awarded the highest quality rating at a world-renowned trade fair, making her a rising star within the industry. Azucena continued to challenge herself using her positive thinking and ingenious ideas to pursue and achieve success both as a model and a dancer. She even studied business administration at the most prestigious university in the country.
However, the caffeine coursing through her body led her to the conclusion that, in order to become the best in the world, one needs not only stability, but adventures as well. A plan suddenly clicked into place for her while she captured a runaway alpaca with one hand and held a cup of coffee in the other. She decided she would use her physical prowess earned from training at high attitudes to break into the American MMA scene and promote her eponymous "Azucena Blend."
Her plan succeeded, and in her first year, Azucena rose to the top of the ranks as champion. All the while, she acted as a walking billboard for the Ortiz Farm, leading to a dramatic increase in the plantation's sales and popularity. As her next step forward, Azucena has turned her attention to The King of Iron Fist Tournament, which has emerged as the world's most popular fighting tournament in recent years.
If she wins, Azucena will be that much closer to becoming best in the world. Although the date for the tournament remains undecided, Azucena is confident that that day is not far away.
== Story ==
Azucena decided to use her martial arts to promote her own coffee brand, and rose to prominence in the American MMA scene, promoting her 'Azucena Blend'. Her business flourished as a result of the promotion, and the next step for her became the international circuit. The King of Iron Fist Tournament, the most popular international fighting tournament, caught her eye. She entered the eighth King of Iron Fist Tournament when it was announced and won the Latin America Block preliminary, allowing her to progress to the next round at a coliseum in Italy. She was scouted by G Corporation for a large-scale fight against Yggdrasil and the United Nations' combined forces on Yakushima. Azucena joined G Corporation on the basis that they were good for her coffee brand's optics. She fought Leo Kliesen during the battle. After she and Leo's fight, she discovered that Leo was a coffee-lover, and told them she would send some of her company's new Azucena Morning Blend to them by mail. Azucena is last seen serving Azucena Morning Blend to Leroy following G Corporation's defeat at the end of the game.
== Personality ==
Azucena is a daring woman who always makes the best of a situation. She is regarded as innocent, as well as a fearless fighter. She is unafraid to experiment and attempt new ideas, and easily motivates herself, whether it be for work or to go on adventures. She enjoys practical, academic, and physical pursuits, being fond of refining coffee bean growing, fighting, dancing, and modelling in her spare time, and also holds a degree in business administration.
Azucena is obsessed with coffee to the point that she thinks her family blend is so delicious that its properties will help to encourage world peace, and that aligning with G Corp to achieve that is an acceptable course of action.
== Trivia ==
* Azucena is the first Peruvian character in the series.
* Prior to her official reveal, Azucena was among the characters leaked in April of 2023, as well as through information found within the files of the Closed Network Test in July 2023. Additionally, the Bandai Namco EU website prematurely announced both her and Raven a day before their official trailers.
* Azucena is similar to Laura Matsuda from the Street Fighter series personality and appearance wise. Both women are also shown to promote their family businesses to boost its reputation (Azucena promotes coffee while Laura promotes her fictional fighting style of Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu which is based on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu).
* The cup of coffee Azucena can be seen holding has Leroy Smith's branding logo, implying that Leroy and Azucena's family could be business partners.
** Additionally, advertisements for Ortiz Coffee can be found in Urban Square, right above Smith's Coffee.
* It is revealed in Tekken 8's Story Mode that Azucena has sided with G Corporation, stating that it has greater financial benefits for her.
* Some of Azucena's moves are similar in animation and utilization to those of Josie Rizal and Katarina Alves.
== Navigation ==
Category:Tekken Heroes
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Science Fantasy Heroes
Category:Female
Category:Optimists
Category:Martial Artists
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Category:Rivals
Category:Thrill-Seekers
Category:Selfless
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Category:Harmonizers
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Category:Genius
Category:Brutes
Category:Merciful