Lars AlexanderssonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lars Alexandersson

Tekken character

Lars Alexandersson in Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion

First game Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion (2008)

Voiced by

(English)

Jack Calabrisi (Street Fighter X Tekken)

Voiced by

(Japanese)

Junichi Suwabe

Portrayed by Jonathan Henry (Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Live-

Action Short Film)

Fictional profile

Birthplace Sweden

Nationality Swedish

Fighting style Karate (based on Shorinji style)[1] inTekken Tag

Tournament 2[2]

Occupation Tekken Force member

Lars Alexandersson (Japanese: ラース・アレクサンダーソン Hepburn: Rāsu Arekusandāson?) is a

video game character from the Tekken fighting game series developed by Namco Bandai. Introduced

in Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion, Lars appears as a member from the Tekken Force military unit

confronting the Mishima Zaibatsu that started a war. During the game, Lars is revealed to be the

illegitimate son of Heihachi Mishima, the former leader from Mishima Zaibatsu and goes to confront the

current one, Heihachi's grandson Jin Kazama.

Lars also appears in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, a video game based on a series whose

author was in charge of designing Lars' alternate outfit. Video game critics have often commented on

Lars' character, praising his appealing fighting style, but criticizing his design to the point of finding it

ridiculous.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Appearances

2 Creation and design

3 Reception

4 References

Appearances[edit]

Following Jin Kazama's victory at the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, the Mishima Zaibatsu started a war

against the world, with Jin at the helm. The rise of the G Corporation opposition resulted in a global trail

of carnage. In the fray, a large portion of the Zaibatsu's special military unit, the Tekken Force, defected

from the organization. Lars Alexandersson led the coup d'état and became a ranking officer in the

Tekken Force at a fairly young age due, in part, to his renowned physical and mental ability. Despite this

high rank, Lars often fought on the front lines, which made him quite popular among his subordinates.

Only he knew the fact that he drew the Mishima bloodline through his father, Heihachi. Lars' fighting style

incorporate the Tekken Force military combat and the striking-based martial art based on Shorinji

Kempo.

In the console versions of Tekken 6, and more specifically in the story-driven Scenario Campaign within,

Lars is made the central character. After an infiltration of a Mishima Zaibatsu-run laboratory goes awry

and a series of Jack robots overwhelm Lars' rebel squadron, Lars is left with no memory and begins to

seek out his true purpose. Joined by an activated Alisa Bosconovitch, he crosses the world trying to

grasp his identity. Along the way he meets a lieutenant in his rebel Tekken Force army who tries to enlist

him to help the cause once more. Lars' memory is restored upon encountering Heihachi Mishima at his

compound, at which point he also rediscovers his purpose. He resumes his role as the leader of the rebel

Tekken Force army and infiltrates both G Corporation and eventually the Mishima Zaibatsu itself where

he encounters Kazuya and Jin respectively. Before he is able to fight Jin at the Zaibatsu headquarters, it

is revealed that Alisa has been acting as Jin's surveillance unit and has been monitoring Lars'

movements around the world. He commands Alisa to attack Lars, to which she unwillingly complies as

per her programming. After a fight with Lars, Alisa leaves to join Jin. At this point, Raven offers to

accompany Lars and together the two pursue Jin into the desert where he intends to awaken the ancient

beast "Azazel". At Azazel's Temple, Raven and Lars collectively defeat the newly awoken Azazel and

encounter Alisa and Jin one more time. Lars disables Alisa and engages Jin in battle but before he is

able to finish his fight, Azazel reappears and Jin turns his attention to the monster. Jin destroys Azazel

(seemingly at the cost of his own life) and Lars' mission is completed. He brings the disabled Alisa to Lee

Chaolan, who offers to restore her. After leaving Alisa with Lee and parting company with Raven, Lars

gets a call summoning him for a new mission.

Lars also appears in the spinoff game Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Outside Tekken, he is also featured as

a playable character in the fighting game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and in his

alternate Tekken 6 costume designed by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto.[3] He appears as a playable

character via downloadable content in Street Fighter X Tekken, with his official tag partner, Alisa.[4] Lars

appears in the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 live-action short film portrayed by Jonathan Henry.[5]

Creation and design[edit]

In contrast to other Tekken 6 debuting characters that were based on fans' suggestion, both Lars and

Alisa were created with a different approach. Lars was developed to be a character that

veteran Tekkengamers would find new. Additionally, his motions and moves were made so that players

could develop various strategies at the time of using him. The storyline from Tekken 6 was also made to

focus on Lars' mysterious identity and intentions of an encounter against Jin Kazama.[6] Katsuhiro Harada

stated that Lars' techniques were made so that they could easily overpower his opponents as well as to

counterattack them when the player is facing a difficulty using him.[7] As with several Tekken

6 characters, Lars was given an alternate outifit designed by a manga artist. His outfit was designed

by Masashi Kishimoto, author of Naruto.[8]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception to Lars' character has often been mixed with several writers commenting on the

character's outfit. IGN's Ryan Clements found Lars appealing commenting on his "badass nature" as well

as his movesets which were often punches aimed at the opponent's face. Additionally, the accessories

that became to available to Lars were noted to make the him more likable to the point of commenting "I

don't think you realize how badass this guy [Lars] is."[9] On the other hand, writers

from GameSpy labelled Lars as "Captain Ridiculous" owing to his "absurd" looking design which they

found similar toMichael Jackson. Nevertheless, he liked his gameplay mechanics as it made him a fast

character and allowed to torture the opponent.[10] GameSpot's Justin Calvert found him similar to Jin

Kazama and commented that "the only thing remarkable about him on this occasion was his gravity-

defying hair style."[11] Writing for 1UP.com, Shane Bettenhausen also praised Lars' moves mentioning

their balance between speed and strength. However, like other reviewers, Bettenhausen considered the

character's appearance ridiculous comparing him with Final Fantasy protagonists despite his integral role

in the story.[12] While also calling Lars similar to a Final Fantasy character, Bryce McDonough from IGN

AU stated he was "ridiculously strong" joking it was better not to make fun of him.[13] Jeff

Gerstmann fromGiantBomb considered his actions in the plot "pretty dull" and concluded that his leading

role from the story mode was "sloppy" since while players were able to choose any character to play

with, Lars was always the focus following fights.[14] His moves were also compared with the Mishima

characters by Videogamer.com's Wesley Yin-Poole, yet at the some less effective. Yin-Poole often called

Lars "the emo", but added that his hairstyle and cape are "classic Tekken."[15][16] Within the

debuting Tekken 6 characters, GameZone found him as the most challenging one as his moves would

require a skilled player.[17] Nelson Hum of GameFocus called Lars a "dud" and "Dragon Ball reject".[18]

Lars' addition to Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 has receive mostly positive

comments. Kotaku's Mike Fahey liked it as it helped to expand the game's roster, but thought others

characters from theTekken series would be more suitable than Lars.[19] A similar comments was made by

Tyler Nagata, a writer from GamesRadar, who found Lars' alternate design to resemble Naruto's

character Sasuke Uchiha despite not suffering changes for the game.[20] Jamin Smith from Videogamer

called it a "strange crossover", but still noted that fighting games fans would appreciate his appearance

in the game.[21]