Leo Kliesen
Tekken character
Leo Kliesen in Tekken 8
First appearanceTekken 6 (2007)
Voiced by
English
German
  • Philipp Zieschang (Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – onwards)
In-universe information
Fighting styleBajiquan
OriginGermany
NationalityGerman

Leo Kliesen (レオ・クリーゼン, Reo Kurīzen) is a fictional character from the Tekken fighting game franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment, making their debut in Tekken 6. Leo also returns for Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken 7 and the upcoming Tekken 8. They practice Bajiquan, and is known for being identified as both a female and male throughout the series.

Conception and design

Namco attempted to cater to both male and female players with the character's shortened name and ambiguous design of short blonde hair and non-revealing clothing.[2] Series producer Katsuhiro Harada revealed Leo's full name (Eleonore) at the 2011 Tekken: Blood Vengeance premiere in Cologne, Germany, stating that Leo was originally created as a female character.[3] This however cause fans quite debate concerning Leo's gender, as they have been misunderstood to think that Leo was officially confirmed as a female since TTT2 provided Leo with a bikini and a male surfer suit. On numerous occasions, Harada explained that, during Tekken 6 development, Leo was conceived as a female character with the name of Eleonore Kliesen (エレオノーラ・クリーゼン, Ereonōra Kurīzen), but midway the concept was changed in favor of a gender neutral character. This happened right after getting the initial concept arts, as the character showed a masculine/neutral style which caught the interest of the development team. He even commented about the difficulty of translating the character's biography in languages other than Japanese, as the original one refers to Leo by using gender neutral terms or repeating their name. He explained also the TTT2 swimsuits situation saying that "They are for those who see Leo as female and for those who see Leo as male". He then affirmed that he's frustrated because Leo is always translated and referred with "she".[4][5][6]

Appearances

Leo Kliesen is a Bajiquan practitioner from Germany whose father, Niklas was a world-famous spelunker and a martial artist himself, while their mother Emma was a G Corporation executive. Though their father disappeared during an expedition, Leo still wanted to follow his career path, until his mother was murdered by an unknown assailant. When the police abruptly call off the investigation, Leo opt to seek the truth alone, during which the G Corporation's Kazuya Mishima materializes as a person of interest. It was at this time that Leo learned of the Mishima Zaibatsu sponsoring The King of Iron Fist Tournament, at which Mishima planned to appear, and he decides to enter the competition in hopes of gaining access to him. In the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending, Leo infiltrates a train owned by G Corporation and learns that their mother was involved with Mishima Zaibatsu twenty years before, heading a project called "Hybrid Gene". The Tekken Tag 2 ending story in regarding of their mother's former job as a researcher in Zaibatsu is continued in Tekken 7, until it came into conclusion in Tekken 8 that Emma was executed by Kazuya's order and after she was spared to complete the Devil Gene research and eventually no longer has used for him, leading Leo to join Jin Kazama's allied heroes side through against Kazuya's army.

In Tekken Comic, Leo is presented as male and Lili Rochefort's bodyguard, accompanying her to Osaka to shoot a martial arts film.

Gameplay

Leo's fighting style is Bajiquan. Leo is also known for using short-ranged attacks, and uses various elbow and shoulder strikes.[7] Due to Leo's gender ambiguity, the character can be customized to use both male and female-specific clothing and weapons.[8]

Critical reception

In a Den of Geek article listing off the Tekken characters from worst to best, Gavin Jasper placed Leo near the bottom of the list (54/59), criticizing their design and storyline. Jasper notes "Miguel epitomizes righteous vengeance in his style and actions while Leo simply hangs out at a cemetery and takes part in a mundane mystery."[9] Andy Moore at Paste was significantly more positive on the character, placing them as the 26th best in the series.[10] Saim Cheeda, writing for TheGamer, listed them as the 15th best character from Tekken 7, noting "Despite what his outward appearance might suggest, he can pack quite the punch and can be absolutely devastating when in the right hands."[11] Tom Goulter of GamesRadar would state in a 2012 feature on the Tekken characters, "Choose this character if anyone tries to tell you that video games are all about enforcing restrictive gender binaries."[12]

In An Analysis of Gender and Sexuality Performance in Digital Games by Kilian Biscop, Steven Malliet and Alexander Dhoest, it is stated "The character of Leo is never problematized, which is an interesting break with a trend Navarro-Remesal (2018) sees in Japanese games, which supposedly "do not have a good record on LGBT representation. Trans women and effeminate male characters are ambiguous tropes in Japanese games, sometimes used for comic relief.""[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Tekken 7: 7 Leo Kliesen Facts, The Cute Yet Dangerous Fighter". duniagames.co.id.
  2. ↑ Villagomez, Andrew (November 3, 2013). "7 Trans-Friendly Video Game Characters". Out.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Official statement by producer Katsuhiro Harada". YouTube. August 19, 2011. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Harada recent statement about Leo (at 20:31)". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021.
  5. ↑ @Harada_TEKKEN (November 26, 2014). "それ、キャラ名も決まってない頃の開発当初は女性キャラ枠だった、が途中でコンセプト全部作り直した、という話ですよ。公式に不明ですから。 RT@negidera 何度も何度も同じ質問されてると思いますがレオの性別は不明ですよね？友達が女だと言ってきかないんです！！！回答お願いします！" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ↑ "Harada's second tweet about Leo's gender". Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Tekken 8 Leo gameplay trailer shows his mix-up potential | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. November 23, 2023.
  8. ↑ Singh, Ravjit (June 28, 2020). "Some queer characters from the world of video games". The Telegraph (India). Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Jasper, Gavin (June 1, 2017). "Tekken: Ranking All the Characters". Den of Geek.
  10. ↑ Moore, Andy. "The 30 Best Tekken Characters". Paste. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  11. ↑ Cheeda, Saim (February 17, 2022). "Tekken 7: The 20 Best Characters, Ranked". TheGamer. Valnet. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  12. ↑ Goulter, Tom (April 3, 2013). "Tekken Tag Tournament 2 roster – Meet all 55 fighters". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ Biscop, Kilian; Malliet, Steven; Dhoest, Alexander. Subversive Ludic Performance: An Analysis of Gender and Sexuality Performance in Digital Games. Leuven University Press. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

Sources

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