Marshall Law (Tekken)

Marshall Law (Japanese: マーシャル・ロウ, Hepburn: Māsharu Rou) is a character in the Tekken fighting game series. The character is often described as a homage to martial artist Bruce Lee and shares many characteristics with the famous martial artist, even uttering similar high-pitched shouts and whoops when he performs certain strikes and attacks. Marshall Law has a son named Forest Law who is a character based on Brandon Lee, and his name is an obvious pun of martial law, which is military rule over a nation. He also appears in the game Urban Reign, along with his friend Paul Phoenix.

In video games

Marshall Law is a Chinese American that fights using various martial arts. Sometimes known as "The Fighting Chef", he is a close friend of Paul Phoenix during Tekken 1 and Tekken 2, and he is the father of Forest Law. He entered the first King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to gain enough money so he could start his own dojo. Marshall does get enough money for his dojo as a runner-up and took Wang Jinrei to a draw. He is indeed married as "Mrs. Law" is seen in Yoshimitsu's ending.

In Tekken 2, Marshall enters the tournament to exact his revenge on the taekwondo master Baek Doo San, who attacked the former's pupils and destroyed his dojo. In Tekken 3, Marshall declined to participate in this tournament. Afterwards, Paul and Marshall fall out somewhat after Paul convinces the latter's son, Forest, to enter The King of Iron Fist Tournament 3. Before Tekken 4, Marshall finds success as the master of a martial arts dojo, and as the owner of a restaurant chain called "Marshall China", back in the USA. However, a rival restaurant chain drives him bankrupt, and he falls into a depressed, alcoholic state. However, when The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 is announced, he beats himself back into shape to compete in the tournament, determined to pick up his business again.

At the end of Tekken 4, after Marshall fails to win the tournament, he is completely broke, and he now works as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Japan. Just before the events of Tekken 5, he receives a phone call from his wife in America. She informs him that Forest was badly hurt in an accident while riding on Paul Phoenix's motorcycle. Marshall enters the 5th Iron Fist tournament in order to pay his son's medical bills. During the middle of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5, it was discovered that Marshall Law was working illegally in Japan, and as a result he was immediately deported to his home country in the United States. With the deadline to pay for the damages of his son’s accident fast approaching, hopes of getting the money needed were slim. Just then, his best friend Paul Phoenix approached him with the idea of forming a team—securing a high-ranking prize alone would certainly be difficult, but if he was part of a team, the probability of winning would be much higher. Marshall accepted Paul’s invite, but thinking a three-man team was better than two, the renowned boxer Steve Fox caught his attention.

Marshall is one of the few characters at the time who did not appear in the non-canon Tekken game, Tekken Tag Tournament, but Forest appeared in the game. However, in the sequel, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Marshall makes an appearance and Forest appears in the console version, making it the first time to have both Laws playable in the same game. Marshall appears in Street Fighter X Tekken, with his partner, Paul and outside of the Tekken series, they appeared in the Namco beat 'em up video game Urban Reign as playable characters. Marshall appears in the free-to-play game, Tekken Revolution, as a default character.

Design

In his original appearance in the first Tekken, Marshall was an almost exact facsimile of Bruce Lee. However, by Tekken 4, a 21-year gap in the storyline produced a much older, mustached Marshall (he shaves his mustache in Tekken 6). This has not deterred the character from being a Bruce Lee homage, however. For example, in Tekken 6, he dons the yellow tracksuit which was worn by Lee in the film Game of Death. In Tekken 5, Law's second attire (his cook suit) can be turned into a close copy of the character Kato from The Green Hornet, a character which Bruce Lee portrayed. Also, upon close inspection, the chest scar on Marshall Law is very similar to the one received by Bruce Lee's character in the film Enter the Dragon. In Tekken 6, it is possible to give Marshall a number of Bruce Lee outifts through the customization system. As previewed by Japanese magazine "Arcadia", customization options include the return of the yellow tracksuit from "Game of Death", as well as the sparring gear from the beginning of "Enter the Dragon." Marshall has also been granted the option to utilize his nunchaku if equipped, but the attack is mostly for use as a taunt and does little damage.

Gameplay

In the Tekken canon, Marshall Law's fighting art is simply stated as "Martial Arts". This can be found in the English instruction manuals of Tekken 5 where his bio still states his style as "Martial Arts", even 10 years after his first appearance in the original Tekken. It is universally acknowledged that he is a practitioner of Jeet Kune Do, the martial philosophy created by Bruce Lee. However, as Lee did not intend Jeet Kune Do to be a strict "style", it can be suggested that Law does not strictly follow any set style of his own. According to IGN, Law has a lot of juggling options, great counterattacks and has a lot of easy to pick up wall combos in Tekken 6.^[1]

In other media

Marshall makes a cameo appearance in Tekken: The Motion Picture as one of the tournament competitors. He has no spoken lines, and it is unknown how he progresses through the tournament. He is last seen escaping the exploding Mishima resort with the other surviving fighters. San Shou and MMA champion Cung Le portrayed Marshall Law in the live-action Tekken movie. He was the people's choice in the previous tournament where he knocked Paul out in 28 seconds. He is defeated by Jin Kazama who becomes the people's choice in the tournament. Le reprise his role in the short film Tekken Reload.^[2] Marshall's dossier is briefly seen in the CGI film Tekken: Blood Vengeance when Anna Williams opens a file containing dossiers on various persons of interest. Marshall appears in the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 live-action short film portrayed by Alex Vu.^[3]

Reception

1UP.com mentioned him as one of the characters they wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken, adding "it's time for Law players to demonstrate how to deal with projectiles and other Street Fighter-centric gameplay."^[4] Complex ranked him as "The 8th Most Dominant Fighting Game Character", commenting "Out of all the fighting game Bruce Lee copycats, Marshall Law has to be the best one."^[5] Complex also ranked Marshall Law as the 6th best Tekken character, commenting "Law has every single one of Bruce Lee's iconic moves – his flip kick, his one-inch punch, and his flying kick, not to mention his costumes from Enter the Dragon and Game of Death."^[6] Michael Grimm of GamesRadar listed Marshall Law and Fei Long as one the match-ups he wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken, where he comments "There are lots of nice words to describe Fei Long and Marshall Law’s origins: tribute, homage, memorial, but we’re going to settle with shameless rip off."^[7] In GamesRadar article for Street Fighter X Tekken, they stated "Often entering the Tekken tournaments to pay off a debt of some kind, Law is a respectable fighter pulled down by the bad luck more than his own choices."^[8] Tyler Nagata listed him among the "Kickass Bruce Lee clones", adding "Because of his supreme Lee-ness, Tekken fans understand the threat that Law posed – even if he was controlled by a mere button masher."^[9] Gaming Target listed him as the 8th best Tekken character, questioning "do you really want to mess with a guy named 'Marshall Law'?"^[10] In 2014, What Culture ranked him as the 17th greatest character in fighting games, calling him "one of the easier characters to command in Tekken, and simple button bashing will suffice to begin with, at least until you try to take on more skilled human players."^[11] In 2015, WatchMojo ranked Law as the "4th top Tekken character", adding "On top of having a name that’s one of the great puns in video games, this character is directly inspired by Bruce Lee, and even wears his yellow jumpsuit from “Game of Death,” so you know he’s not the type of dude you want to mess with."^[12]

References