Kuma.Jr

The first Kuma was once an abandoned cub in the forests of the Mishima estate. Heihachi Mishima found Kuma and took him in as his pet. When Kuma reached adulthood, Heihachi built him an outhouse to cater for his impressively large frame. Heihachi taught the bear simple commands and hand signals, which Kuma picked up at an alarming speed. Kuma was even taught rudimentary Japanese. After two years, Heihachi realized the power contained in Kuma, and so he trained Kuma in the arts of Kuma Shinken. None of Heihachi's associates could understand why Kuma was so intelligent, which led to a lot of them fleeing the estate in fear of the bear's intellect. This was further reinforced by Kuma's penchant for the taste of human flesh. Despite Kuma's unflinching loyalty to his master, Kuma liked to leave the side of Heihachi to sleep, even during the summer. This lazy approach means that Kuma's fighting style has never really matured and is very disjointed. This was demonstrated in The King of Iron Fist Tournament, where Kuma was easily defeated by Paul Phoenix. Kuma was very impressed with Paul's fighting prowess, as he thought that the only strong human was Heihachi. Heihachi was defeated in the last tournament by Kazuya Mishima, and so the two retreated into a mountain dojo to re-train. Kuma traveled to the The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2 with his master, vowing to destroy Paul Phoenix this time. If anyone gets in his way, he would eat them. He was defeated by Paul again.

During Kuma's travels with Heihachi, Kuma died of old age. Before he died, he had a cub, which was also named Kuma by Heihachi, perhaps in homage of beloved first pet. Eventually, Kuma II became Heihachi's pet, and Heihachi trained him in Kuma Shinken, as he did Kuma II's father years ago. Kuma II is more intelligent than his father, but is also lazier. One day, while he was immersed in a television show, Kuma suddenly went wild at the sight of a martial artist with a scarlet go-gi. The fighter was the original Kuma's old rival, Paul Phoenix. Since that day, Kuma trained intensely in order to defeat Paul in battle. Not interested in defeating Ogre, the fighting God, Kuma enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 with the sole intention of defeating Paul Phoenix. During the previous tournament, Kuma lost to Paul Phoenix. Kuma realized that he had lost touch with his animal roots, and that as long as he remained Heihachi's pet, he would be restricted in harnessing the power of his natural power and instincts. Determined to revive his animal instincts, Kuma began training in the mountains of Hokkaido, and for the first time in his life, he trained alone, without Heihachi. While training, Kuma found life in the wilderness more intense than anything Kuma went through with Heihachi. Despite this, Kuma continued his training, and felt his skills improving, and even developing his own attacks. Although he had made some massive strides in his life to revive his animal instincts, Kuma kept one quirk - he could not live without television. He would frequently go down to nearby villages to watch TV through the windows of the villagers' houses. One day, Kuma went down to the villages to watch some TV, as per usual, but when he looked through the window of one house, he saw a commercial announcing The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. With his animal instincts raging, Kuma headed to the tournament, once again, with the sole intention of defeating Paul Phoenix. Kuma finally defeated Paul in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. However, his master Heihachi was dead. Kuma was alone without Heihachi. Then he realized the Mishima Zaibatsu was in trouble he knew what he must do. When Kuma reached headquarters, he heard someone was taken control and announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. Kuma vows revenge to save the Zaibatsu for his master and enters the The King of Iron Fist Tournament, but he was defeated by Paul. After the death of his former master, Heihachi Mishima, Kuma believed no one but he could rescue the Mishima Financial Group (MFG) from its captor. Eager to do just that, Kuma confronted the MFG. However, the MFG's new CEO, Jin Kazama, was waiting. Kuma was easily beaten and discarded in the Hokkaidō wilderness. Though defeated, his fighting spirit was not lost and he found his former master Heihachi.

Kuma also appears in *Tekken Card Challenge*, *Tekken Tag Tournament*, *Tekken 3D: Prime Edition*, *Tekken Tag Tournament 2* and *Tekken Revolution*.