- Please note: This article discusses a character whose origins are outside the Tekken universe. Certain links will guide you to The Walking Dead Wiki for more information about the character.
Negan Smith (ニーガン・スミス Nīgan Sumisu?) is the leader of a survivor group known as The Saviors in Image Comics' The Walking Dead comic book series and in AMC's TV series of the same name. Charismatic and power hungry, Negan forced his iron-fist rule to whatever group of survivors he encountered and never hesitated to kill others if it meant intimidating people into submission.
Negan was first teased at EVO 2018 as part of the second wave of Tekken 7 DLC characters, and was the fourth guest character to be added to the roster, after Akuma, Geese, and Noctis. He was released alongside Julia Chang on February 28, 2019 as a DLC character in Season Pass 2. Like the other two crossover DLC characters before him, he was bundled with a stage centered around his origin series, entitled Last Day on Earth.
Personality
Negan has a charismatic, cocky, manipulative and brutal personality with a dark sense of humor. Negan carries a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire which he named Lucille, after his late wife. During battle, he appears self confident and arrogant, smirking at his opponents in amusement before and after the fight. He has a penchant for provocation and power plays, the stronger resistance he faces, the more he seems to enjoy the showdown.
In The Walking Dead series, Negan is a strong, effective leader, having kept hundreds of people alive and is worshiped by many and feared by others. When he was leader of the Saviors, he was shown to have had complete control over his vast group and was questioned by no one, acting as a complete dictator.
Appearance
Negan's design is based off that of the actor who played him in the TV series, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He is a tall middle-aged man with slicked back graying black hair and brown eyes. Negan's clothing is true to his portrayal in The Walking Dead series, sporting a black leather motorcycle jacket, black pants tucked into black boots. He wears a leather glove on his right hand, and has a red bandana tied around his neck. He carries his signature barbed wire baseball bat with him, using it as a weapon during battle.
Outfits
- Main article: Negan Smith/Outfits
Story
Tekken 7
Note: Negan's backstory and presence in the game are non-canonical.
The Walking Dead’s Negan, the charismatic leader of the Saviors, brought other communities together under his thumb with the motto “people are a resource.” One day, Negan received reports that an unknown group had taken out several of his men. Per his standard policy, he enacted a plan to capture and make an example of them. The survivors fell into Negan's carefully laid trap, but, just as he was choosing his victim to serve as an example, the group put up an intense fight and escaped. Negan worried they would disturb his new world order if he did not deal with them swiftly. Taking his barbed-wire bat Lucille - named after his beloved wife - into his hand, he set out to take care of these foolish ingrates who would challenge his authority.
Gameplay
Tekken 7 - Negan Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer TWT 2018
Negan's fighting style and moves are possibly based on Underworld Brawling in its purest form. His style is aggressive and relies heavily on strikes using his barbed-wired baseball bat named Lucille.
Moves
Quotes
| Intro | Win |
|---|---|
| Easy peasy lemon squeezy! | Buddy, you still there? |
| I hope you got your shitting pants on. | Lucille is thirsty. She is a vampire bat! |
| Pissing our pants yet? | (Whistling) |
| Who are you? |
| Rage Art |
|---|
| Lucille, give me strength. Punishment! Look at that. Taking it like a champ! Oh, my goodness! (Only if opponent is KO'd) |
Tekken 7 - Negan (Voice Collection)
Trivia
- Negan was chosen as the fourth guest character for Tekken 7 partly due to Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray being huge fans of The Walking Dead TV show and Negan's character in it, and due to them thinking he would be a "perfect fit" for Tekken.
- Negan is the second guest character who originates from a comic book series, the first being Gon.
- Negan is the first guest character to originate from a non-Japanese franchise, as The Walking Dead originated in America.
- He is also the second Image Comics character to appear in a Namco game, following Spawn in the Xbox version of Soulcalibur II.
- In the Japanese dub of The Walking Dead, Negan is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka, who voiced Jack-2 in Tekken: The Motion Picture, while also serving as the series' narrator.
- Negan’s character and traits are based on his live-action adaption counterpart, rather than his original comic book counterpart, hence his voice actor.
- Negan's official character artwork is unique (even among the other DLC guest characters) in that it features a detailed background themed around his stage, and not a generic single color background like the other fighters.
- In his gameplay reveal trailer, the scene in which he first appeared in the television adaptation where he confronted the captured Walking Dead protagonist Rick Grimes (portrayed by Andrew Lincoln) and his group with Lucille is recreated, but with Tekken characters in their place instead.
- Negan’s inclusion in Tekken is possibly due to Bandai Namco (as Namco) having a past collaboration with Image Comics, the American comic book company from which Walking Dead originates, for a comic adaption of Tekken Tag, Tekken Forever.
- However, it should be noted that Image Comics' role in including Negan in the game was likely minimal or nonexistent, as it seems that AMC fully owns the rights to this particular portrayal of Negan, as only AMC's name is ever included in the official announcements, advertising, trailers, credits, title screen, and so on.
- Much like Geese, Negan’s character in this game is also based on certain universe incarnations where they are still alive. However, unlike Geese, Negan’s fate in his original universe is unknown instead of deceased.
- At the end of Negan's second gameplay trailer, he confronts an in-engine Katsuhiro Harada, director and producer of the Tekken series. Negan comically "persuades" Harada to put him in the next update, to which Harada briskly thumbs up in response.
- The EVO Japan 2019 trailer had Negan tell Master Raven via walkie talkie, "not to ask him for shit", which is a reference to one of Negan's dialogues with Michonne.
- Additionally, this is also a reference to a viral picture within the community, which shows Harada and Michael Murray wearing a shirt that reads "Don't ask me for shit".
- Negan is currently the only character to be able to utilize a Wall Bound in the middle of a juggle, similar to Geese’s previous status as the only character to have the Wall Bound mechanic back in Season 1.
- When Negan gets hit by an opponent, he will sometimes yell "Shit!" or "Goddamn!". As such, Negan is the only character to use profanity in this game.
- Due to this, Negan's addition to the game caused the game to receive the "Strong Language" ESRB label.
- Negan's last name was revealed during The Walking Dead's Season 10 finale in 2021, which is two years after Negan was announced as a guest character in Tekken.
Gallery
- Main article: Negan/Gallery