Nina Williams

Nina has a blonde ponytail, blue eyes, and a slim hourglass figure, yet a powerful build. Her look contrasts that of her younger sister, Anna, who is a brunette. She dresses primarily in purple fitted costumes and is commonly seen wearing a military-style outfit to suit her occupation.{{cite web |url=http://www.ninawilliams.com/en_GB/index_en.html |title=Tekken's Nina Williams in Death By Degrees |work=Ninawilliams.com |publisher=Bandai Namco Games|access-date=2014-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112172011/http://www.ninawilliams.com/en_GB/index_en.html |archive-date=January 12, 2014 |url-status=dead }} In Tekken 6, one of Nina's extra outfits is one of her Death by Degrees costumes.{{cite video game|title=Tekken 6|developer=Namco Bandai Games|level=Character Customization}} Her default costume in Tekken 7 is a wedding gown: off-white, burned and tattered, long strapless wedding gown and veil, white gloves and stockings, and white stiletto heels. In Tekken 8, Nina is shown wearing an unzipped black leather jacket, with a purple dress underneath, accompanied with black sunglasses.{{cite web |last1=Ali |first1=Armaan |title=Tekken 8: The 10 Best New Designs, Ranked |url=https://www.thegamer.com/tekken-8-the-best-new-designs/ |website=The Gamer |publisher=Valnet |access-date=February 28, 2024 |date=February 9, 2024}}

According to Namco's original Tekken design team, "It was Nina or Kazuya who was the soul, the cool part, of the [first] game."{{Cite journal|title=To Namco and Back|journal=Game On! USA|volume=3}} Producer Yozo Sakagami said about their choice of Roberto Ferrari as her character designer, "Nina is a white character, and as you can see with games like Final Fantasy, when Japanese artists try to design white women or whatever, [the characters] kind of turn Japanese in their facial features and just the way they look, generally. And we didn't want that with Nina."{{Cite journal|date=May 2004|title=Behind Every Great Woman|journal=GMR|volume=16|pages=41}}

Nina is known for her lethal grappling techniques and counterattacks.Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2008 pg.81 {{ISBN|978-1-904994-20-6}}. She also has a versatile repertoire of striking attacks with all limbs. Some of her moves are shared with her sister Anna, especially in the first two Tekken games.{{cite web |last1=Colbert |first1=Isaiah |title=Tekken's Katsuhiro Harada Says the Developers Actually Love Anna, Despite What Fans Think |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/tekkens-katsuhiro-harada-says-the-developers-actually-love-anna-despite-what-fans-think |website=IGN |access-date=February 18, 2025 |date=July 3, 2024}} Nina was also among the first characters to utilize chain throws, having them since Tekken 2 where she was recommended for aggressive players.{{Cite journal|title=Fighting moves: Tekken 2|journal=Hyper Hint & Cheat Playguide|volume=2|pages=96}} In Tekken Tag Tournament, she was noted as "feared by many players" due to her many combos that are difficult to counter, but her command list has a high execution barrier; she is a challenge, requiring a lot of practice to master.{{Cite journal|last=Lallée|first=Aymeric|date=December 2000|title=Guide: Tekken Tag Tournament|journal=PlayPower|volume=HS 8|pages=70}} In Tekken 6, she has strong jabbing abilities, is agile and has above average strength.{{cite web|url=http://guides.ign.com/guides/748466/page_41.html |title=Tekken 6 Guide & Walkthrough - PlayStation 3 (PS3) - IGN |publisher=Guides.ign.com |date=2009-10-30 |access-date=2012-08-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226125643/http://guides.ign.com/guides/748466/page_41.html |archive-date=December 26, 2009 }}

Nina, a silent assassin trained by her parents, is sent to eliminate Heihachi Mishima in the original Tekken (1994).{{cite book|url=https://ia801708.us.archive.org/12/items/12_20230117_20230117tekken_1_ntsc_manual/019.png|title=Tekken NTSC Manual|page=19|section=Nina Williams}} Later in Tekken 2 (1995), she is tasked with assassinating Kazuya Mishima, but is captured along with her sister Anna and used in a 15-year cryogenic experiment. Awakening in Tekken 3 (1997) with amnesia, Nina is controlled by the creature Ogre.{{cite magazine|title=Tekken 3 Special Update|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |issue=92|publisher=Ziff Davis|date=March 1997|page=81}}{{cite book|author=Simon Hill|title=Tekken 3: Prima's Official Strategy Guide|section=Julia Chang|date=October 1997|isbn=978-0761511854|page=40|publisher=Prima Pub. }} In Tekken 4 (2001), Nina is contracted to kill British boxer Steve Fox, but abandons the mission upon discovering he is her son.{{cite video game|title=Tekken 4|developer=Namco|level=Nina Williams ending}} Tekken 5 (2004) features her ongoing rivalry with Anna, where they engage in a gun battle, before agreeing to participate in the tournament to settle their rivalry,Opening sequence of Tekken 5 (console version). while in Tekken 6 (2007), she serves as Jin's bodyguard and antagonist.{{cite video game|developer=Namco Bandai Games|level=Scenario Campaign|title=Tekken 6}} In Tekken 7 (2015), she works for Heihachi before resigning and returning to freelance assassinations, where she assassinates Anna's to-be husband, who had darker ties with the syndicate, and reveals everything she knows to Steve about their relations to the Mishima Zaibatsu's abandoned past project.{{cite video game|developer=Bandai Namco Studios|title=Tekken 7|level=Steve Fox Ending Movie}} In Tekken 8 (2024), she takes over Anna's former position as Kazuya's bodyguard, following her sister's expulsion from G Corporation.{{cite web|url=https://tekken.com/fighters/nina-williams|title=Nina Williams|work=Tekken.com|publisher=Bandai Namco Games|accessdate=November 25, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://tekken.com/fighters/anna-williams|title=Anna Williams|work=Tekken.com|publisher=Bandai Namco Games|accessdate=February 25, 2025}}

Nina is the protagonist of Death by Degrees, an action-adventure spin-off of the Tekken games. She has also been featured in other series spin-offs such as Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken Card Challenge, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken Revolution, and Tekken Mobile, and the crossover games Street Fighter X Tekken and The King of Fighters All Star.{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/king-of-fighters-allstar-is-collaborating-with-tekken-7/1100-6506923/|author=Luis Joshua Gutierrez|title=King Of Fighters Allstar Is Collaborating With Tekken 7|website=GameSpot|date=Aug 25, 2022|access-date=Nov 21, 2024}} Additionally, she appears in the 1998 animated film Tekken: The Motion Picture, the 2009 Tekken film adaptation, the 2011 animated film Tekken: Blood Vengeance, and the 2022 anime Tekken: Bloodline. In Tekken Mobile, Nina also has summer-themed variant named Summer Nina.

File:Tekken Sisters.jpg at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012]]

Summer Daniels portrayed Nina in the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 live-action trailer "Girl Power" in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnMy955oY9Q |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/MnMy955oY9Q |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - 'Behind the scenes of Girl Power 'trailer |publisher=YouTube |date=2012-08-02 |access-date=2012-08-15}}{{cbignore}} In 1998, Epoch Co. released a 1/10 scale Nina action figure based on her appearance in Tekken 3, including two plastic swords and one plastic gun.{{cite web |author=Captain Coder |url=http://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure.php?FID=16161&figure=ninawilliams |title=Action Figure Gallery |publisher=Figurerealm.com |access-date=2011-12-29 |archive-date=21 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521142255/http://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure.php?FID=16161&figure=ninawilliams |url-status=live }} An action figure based on her appearance from Tekken 5 was released in 2006;{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/news/soul-calibur-iii-tekken-5 |title=Soul Calibur III, Tekken 5 Figures |publisher=1up.com |date=2005-12-06 |access-date=2012-03-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802171214/http://www.1up.com/news/soul-calibur-iii-tekken-5 |archive-date=2012-08-02 }} two figures based on her appearance in Death by Degrees were also released that same year.{{cite web |url=http://myfigurecollection.net/item/5720 |title=Databases " Figures " Death by Degrees - Nina Williams - SR Namco Girls Part 6 (Yujin) |publisher=MyFigureCollection.net |access-date=2012-08-15 |archive-date=31 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831010302/http://myfigurecollection.net/item/5720 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://myfigurecollection.net/item/4310 |title=Databases " Figures " Death by Degrees - Nina Williams - SR DX (Yujin) |publisher=MyFigureCollection.net |access-date=2012-08-15 |archive-date=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902194248/http://myfigurecollection.net/item/4310 |url-status=live }} Kotabukiya released a bishōjo figure of Nina from Tag Tournament 2 designed by Shunya Yamashita for the 20th anniversary of Tekken in 2014.{{Cite news|url=https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/655360.html|title=フィギュア「TEKKEN美少女 ニーナ・ウィリアムズ」11月に発売 「鉄拳」シリーズ皆勤賞の美女暗殺者を山下しゅんや氏がアレンジ|last=株式会社インプレス|date=2014-06-26|work=GAME Watch|access-date=2018-05-22|language=ja-JP|archive-date=22 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522181613/https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/655360.html|url-status=live}} In 2017, Nina was one of the five Tekken characters to receive a Funko Pop.{{cite web |last1=Pereira |first1=Chris |title=Tekken's Own Line of Funko Pop Figures Arrives This Year |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/tekkens-own-line-of-funko-pop-figures-arrives-this/1100-6447179/ |website=GameSpot |access-date=December 27, 2023 |date=January 23, 2017 |archive-date=September 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907141635/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/tekkens-own-line-of-funko-pop-figures-arrives-this/1100-6447179/ |url-status=live }}

Nina has been well received since her debut, and has been routinely praised as one of the sexiest and strongest female characters in video games.{{cite web|url=http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2007/02/20/the_50_greatest_female_characters_in_the_history_of_video_games/page13.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020062639/http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2007/02/20/the_50_greatest_female_characters_in_the_history_of_video_games/page13.html|archive-date=2007-10-20|access-date=2011-11-28|title=The 50 Greatest Female Characters in Video Game History | Tom's Games }}{{cite web|url=http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/top-25-hottest-game-babes/?page=22|title=Top 25 Hottest Game Babes|last=Gilbert|first=Ben|date=2011-09-17|publisher=Gamedaily.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915171816/http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/top-25-hottest-game-babes/?page=22|archive-date=2008-09-15|access-date=2011-09-22}}[http://www.ugo.com/games/video-game-hotties/?cur=nina-williams-tekken&morepics=33 Top 50 Videogame Hotties] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205083417/http://www.ugo.com/games/video-game-hotties/?cur=nina-williams-tekken&morepics=33|date=2008-12-05}}. UGO.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-14 Gavin Jasper from Den of Geek praised her recurring conflict with Anna, both as siblings and assassins, describing their relationship as very "Batman/Joker and further adding that "Anna makes Nina more interesting by existing, but Anna would be nothing without Nina."{{cite web |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/tekken-ranking-all-the-characters/ |title=Tekken: Ranking All the Characters |first=Gavin |last=Jasper |website=Den of Geek |accessdate=2024-11-21 |date=2017-07-01}} James Mielke of GMR meanwhile heavily praised her attractiveness and purple jumpsuit outfit, and saw her as deviating from the "myth" of fighting game characters as "two-dimensional cutouts". He further felt that her then-upcoming role in Death by Degrees not only would allow her to possibly become "the next great action heroine" but also fill a void they felt existed amongst strong female protagonists in video games at the time.{{cite magazine |magazine=GMR |first=James |last=Mielke |date=May 2004 |issue=16 |pages=33–41 |issn=1544-6816 |title=Nina: The It Girl}}

In a 2020 retrospective, Caroline O'Donoghue in an article for The Guardian felt that while Nina was often overlooked when it came to the subject of classic female video game characters, she appreciated the character nonethless. O'Donoghue stated "It wasn’t just that she was Irish", something she was surprised she had in common with Nina, "it was that I felt as if I knew things about her". She emphasized how well the character's story was fleshed out through the course of the series which she described as part "soap opera, anime, drama, toy commercial" that often relied on the player to piece the elements together. But even in that context she appreciated how Nina was portrayed as a mother and a character with her own struggles with her family, illustrating her character's particular hero's journey. She felt the Tekken franchise juggled these aspects well with their cast, and with it paid did better with the stories of their female characters than other franchises by comparison.{{cite web |first=Caroline |last=O'Donoghue |date=2020-02-26 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/feb/26/tekken-the-fighting-game-that-takes-womens-stories-seriously |title=Tekken: the fighting game that gives women the meatiest stories |website=The Guardian |accessdate=2024-11-20}}

In the context of other female fighting game characters, the staff of Game On! USA compared her to Virtua Fighter{{'}}s Sarah Bryant due to their similar character designs, with writer Roger Miller feeling Sarah was the superior character that Nina appeared to more copy traits from. Miller further argued that Nina was overshadowed in her own game by characters such as Michelle Chang who he described as being a "more user-friendly, manga-like character".{{cite magazine |title=Three ROM Blondes |first=Roger |last=Miller |magazine=Game On! USA |issn=1087-8505 |page=77 |volume=1 |issue=2 |date=February 1996}} University of Delaware professor Rachael Hutchinson meanwhile felt that Nina took design cues from Sarah, following the template of a female character with a "tall frame, blond hair and jutting breasts".{{cite book |title=Japanese Culture Through Video Games |pages=89–90 |publisher=Routledge |date=December 2020 |isbn=9780367728151 |last=Hutchinson |first=Rachael}} She further stated her belief that the increased sexualization in Nina's design as the Tekken series progressed was in part response to the introduction of more sexualized characters such as Ivy Valentine in the Soulcalibur franchise, causing "a ‘sexualization race’ among companies who could produce (and get away with) the most outrageous skin exposure and physical forms" which eventually led to the creation of titles such as Tecmo's Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.{{cite book |title=Japanese Culture Through Video Games |page=249 |publisher=Routledge|date=December 2020 |isbn=9780367728151 |last=Hutchinson |first=Rachael}}

On the other hand, the paper "Kawaii Killers and Femme Fatales" published in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media cited Nina as an example of a "vamp" archetype, a display of hostile sexuality in character design, in particular due to her characterization in Death by Degrees. Describing her as physically representing a femme fatale due to how her skintight attire illustrated her as using her body as "both object and weapon" against multiple male enemies, the authors pointed out in contrast her narrative never had her employ her sexuality as a means to an end. Instead of being explored, they felt her sexual display was "paper thin", and while she was portrayed with masculine traits of power and violent actions they saw it as undermined by her body becoming more exposed as the game progressed. They were also critical of her negative reactions towards others in the game that tried to lean on her for emotional support, feeling it painted her as an "unfeeling cyborg more than a human with her own feelings or objectives".{{cite journal |first1=Jessica E. |last1=Tompkins|first2=Teresa |last2=Lynch|first3=Irene I. |last3=Van Driel |first4=Niki |last4=Fritz |date=May 1, 2020|title=Kawaii Killers and Femme Fatales: A Textual Analysis of Female Characters Signifying Benevolent and Hostile Sexism in Video Games|journal=Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media |doi=10.1080/08838151.2020.1718960 |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=241,244}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category-inline|Nina Williams}}

{{Tekken|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Nina}}

Category:Action film characters

Category:Ansatsuken

Category:Cryonically preserved characters in video games

Category:Female characters in video games

Category:Fictional aikidoka

Category:Fictional assassins in video games

Category:Fictional bodyguards in video games

Category:Fictional Irish people in video games

Category:Fictional Systema practitioners

Category:Fictional Taido practitioners

Category:Tekken characters

Category:Video game bosses

Category:Video game characters introduced in 1994