Anna Williams
Anna Williams is a fictional
character featured in the
fighting game series,
Tekken. She is trained in bone martial arts and aikido and almost always appears in her trademark red silk dress. In her early twenties, with a flirtatious demeanour and seductive laugh, she is something of a femme fatale. Anna has a memorable sibling rivalry with her sister
Nina, which spawned from the death of their father
Richard Williams.
Tekken 2
As in the first tournament, Nina was once again hired to perform an assassination; her new contracted target was
Kazuya Mishima. Whether at Kazuya's discretion or Anna's own volition, Anna became a
bodyguard, along with
Ganryu and
Bruce Irvin who were all charged with Kazuya's protection. It is likely that Anna's intervention prevented her sister from carrying out her contract, and Nina was later captured by Mishima Zaibatsu forces and used in
Dr Boskonovitch's cryogenics 'cold-sleep' research. Learning about this, Anna volunteered to be another test subject, requesting that she be woken in future at the same time as Nina. Her reasons for doing so remain ambiguous, though the suggestion that Anna would have felt lonely without Nina and/or jealous at the thought of her sister's youth being preserved are both likely.
Tekken 3
After being placed in suspended animation during the second tournament, Nina was awoken 19 years later by the influence of the recently excavated
Ogre, who compelled her to assassinate
Jin Kazama. As per her request, Anna was awoken at the same time as her sister, though she was unaffected by Ogre's influence. Nina also began to suffer ill effects from the 'cold-sleep', resulting in long term memory loss. In an act of compassion, Anna set out to stop Nina from once again becoming an Assassin, and to help her recover her past.
Tekken 5
In
Tekken 4 Anna is mysteriously and inexplicably absent, but she returns in
Tekken 5, where Nina decides to make contact with Anna in hopes of restoring her memory. Unfortunately their meeting serves only to trigger Nina's lost feelings of hostility towards her sister, and she immediately opens fire. Anna retaliates, and the reunion descends into a gunfight which lasts for days. The sisters eventually reach a stalemate and agree to settle things for good at the
King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. A portion of their gunfight can be seen in the introductory sequence of the game.
Tekken: The animated movie
In the animated movie Nina and Anna are
Lee Chaolan's "girlfriends". Although Anna proclaims to Nina that Lee was using her, he was actually playing them both, not even caring that his test subjects would kill them both when he released them. Nina also pronounces her name "Aun-Na", suggesting that her name would not be pronounced like the North American "Anna" (though it should be noted that the animated movie was notorious for mispronouncing character names). The animated movie storyline diverges from the original one; in it, Anna enters Tekken to finish her sister off without any feelings of compassion whatsoever, and is tragically killed by a test subject Lee sets free. The animated movie also states that it was Anna who killed her own father, Richard Williams, because she grew mad with bitterness over him always treating Nina better than her; in the original storyline, it was never stated who killed Richard Williams, and it is implied that both sisters loved their father and blame each other for responsibility for his death, but not literally killing him.
Death by Degrees
In the
Tekken spin-off game,
Death By Degrees, Anna is a member of the
Tekken Force, the Mishima Zaibatsu's military wing, whilst Nina, the player's character, is working as part of a joint operation between the
CIA and
MI6. She is twice a
boss in this game, when she turns up to stop Nina. Once the game is completed, Anna becomes a
playable character, especially in her own mini-game, "Anna Mode."
Tekken 1
In Tekken 1 Anna was equipped with all of the same moves as Nina, but with the addition of her own distinctive crouching moves as well as a
Somersault Kick (FC u/f+4) similar to Marshall Law's. Her standing (tier-wise) in the first Tekken however, with the absence of complex frame advantages and disadvantages, high/low crushes, throw escapes, reversals, tech traps, and a limited move set, is unknown.
Tekken 2
The situation in Tekken 2 is similar, but with the addition of sidestep maneuvers (to a select few characters), reversals, new throws and general refinement of the overall system. Anna, along with a number of other ‘Sub boss' characters received little in the way of character specific enhancements. Tier status once again remains a dull issue as far as this installment is concerned.
Tekken 3
Come Tekken 3 (console version only), Anna's standing was roughly mid-tier. Her juggles weren't as damaging as most characters (eg. Nina and Hwoarang), though other enhancements such as a parry property on her
Scarlet Windmill (FC f+2) attack, a launching property on her
Scarlet Sweep (FC d/f+2) and the addition of a version of her
Flip Kick (U/F+4) which could be performed from a standing position enhanced her abilities. Anna was given two ‘string' attacks dubbed by Tekken players as ‘Jail Strings' ((d/f+1,2_f+2),1,4,2). These forced the opponent to block continuously until the string terminated, at which point Anna could use ‘frame traps' and ‘mix-ups'.
Executioner (f,f+2) was also a useful technique that could prevent opponents from sidestepping, avoid high attacks, provide ‘frame advantage' on block and also create ‘setups' on hit. This version of Anna relied on fast pokes to chip away at the opponent and strong ‘mix-ups' to confuse.
Tekken Tag Tournament
In Tekken Tag, Anna ranked easily as an upper-mid tier character. She possessed powerful new moves such as her infamous
Assassin's Dagger (qcf+1) elbow attack that could lead to powerful juggles.
Wine Opener (d/f+4) was a fast low poke that provided 'frame advantage' on hit. Her new
Offensive Push (d/f+1+2) was not only an ‘unblockable' attack which provided a lot of ‘frame advantage', but also worked well as a ‘tech-trap'. Her
Fatal Attack (u/f+1<3) was a strong ‘poking' technique that granted high rewards on ‘counter hit' with a free
Blonde Bomb (f+1+2) afterwards. Her
Chaos Judgement (b+4) stance even gained the ability to reverse throws, a technique that is still exclusive to Anna. Added to this, her moves from Tekken 3 remained largely intact, resulting in a character with great 'pressure' and 'mix-up' capabilities as well as having a high damage output and safety.
Tekken 5
Tekken 5.0 however saw Anna drop down to a low tier position. Almost all of the effective techniques that she had acquired during Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag were either removed or toned down, in some cases to the point of being completely ineffective. Her
Scarlet Windmill (FC f+2) attack had its parry window greatly shortened making it less useful for applying 'pressure'.
Fatal Attack (u/f+1<3) no longer granted a free
Blonde Bomb (f+1+2) after successful hits, reducing Anna's 'counter hit' offensive options. The
Assassin's Dagger (qcf+1) elbow technique became less feared as the newly introduced 'crush' system dictated that it could no longer interrupt crouching moves. Anna's ‘Jail Strings' ((d/f+1,2_f+2),1,4,2) were removed completely, leaving her with less 'mix-up' and 'pressure' opportunities. She became completely overshadowed by her sister, who not only avoided any tone downs but was also given some of the best ‘okizeme' tools in the game. Many of the new attacks which Anna received failed to compensate for her deficits as they suffered from slow execution times, lack of safety, impractical hit levels or extreme linearity. However, there were a few attacks that were of benefit to Anna in this instalment:
Hail Storm (u/f+1,3,3+4) when used in 'juggles' allowed her to carry opponents to walls (for more damage) over long distances.
Treading Water to Picking Heel (f,f+3,4,b+3,3)was one of the most damaging wall combo techniques in the game (possibly the most damaging) and
Treading Water to Hunting Swan (f,f+3,4,3,b+3:1+2) served as a powerful 'tech-trap' and did even more damage against walls.
Treading Water (f,f+3,4,3) acted as Anna's staple 'juggle ender'.
Radiant Arch (d/f+1<2,3) was a launching kick tacked onto the end of her staple ‘poke' attack, giving good opportunities for mind games and also acting as a useful 'launcher' against back turned opponents.
Rising Palm (WS+2) although much slower than previous versions, was a safe, mid hitting attack with good range and a launch property. When combined with the restored launching property (this was removed in Tekken Tag) of her
Scarlet Sweep (FC d/f+2), it became a powerful ‘mix-up'. Due to tone downs and her now limited move set, this version of Anna had to be played in a way that focused on ‘poking' using
Rouge Palms (d/f+1<2), and utilizing her damaging wall combos after launching opponents. In infinite stages (without walls) she could rely on the first hit of
Treading Water (f,f+3) then
Landslip (d/b+3) as a relaunching ‘tech-trap' against opponents ‘tech-rolling' left and right after juggles.
Tekken 5.1
It was expected due to her low rating in tier listings, that she would have been somewhat improved in Tekken 5.0's arcade revision, Tekken 5.1. But the Namco administration reached a different consensus. Tekken 5.1 pushed Anna even further down the lower ranks as she ironically suffered detrimental effects as a result of her top tier sister being toned down. Her main ‘poking' tool,
Rouge Palms (d/f+1,2), changed from giving ‘frame advantage' (necessary for her to maintain momentum) to disadvantage, while her launching attack,
Radiant Arch (d/f+1,2,3) lost its launch property. The only positive thing Anna derived from this version was that a number of the stronger characters in the game were also toned down, though this did not prevent a number of fans from shunning her.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
In Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (the difference between versions A and B is almost negligible), Anna has risen up again. Her
Step-in Upper (d/f+2) has gained the ability to launch crouching opponents, increasing its value as a ‘whiff punisher' and also providing Anna with a guaranteed launch option after low parries. The first hit of
Treading Water (f,f+3) now has better block recovery, making it a more viable long range launcher.
Hail Storm (u/f+1<3,3+4) is now a ‘counter hit combo' as well being a ‘launcher' able to carry opponents to walls easily. The improved recovery of her
Shin Kick to Spin Punch (d+4,1) allows greater versatility in Anna's juggles while the improved damage of
Rouge Rush (d/f+3,1,4) provides her with an easy and reliable 'juggle ender'. Her new
Pin Heel Stich (u/f+3+4) and
Scarlet Rain (d/b+1) attacks can be used as 'anti-tech-roll juggle enders', and the latter combined with her now ground hitting
Scarlet Windmill (FC f+2) and
Scarlet Sweep (FC d/f+2) attacks, provides improved 'okizeme' oppotunities.
Bloody Scissors (d+1+2), with its new tracking properties, can also be used as an almost instant death ‘unblockable', ‘tech-trap' against unwary opponents. Although Dark Resurrection's system reduces wall damage to 50% (70% in Tekken 5.0 and therefore a change detrimental to Anna), enough improvements have been made to solidify her overall standing. With these modifications Anna can be played similarly to her Tekken 5.0 incarnation but with greater variety, less reliance on wall damage, better okizeme and more reliable juggles. Generally, the risks she must take in proportion to the rewards she receives have been balanced out, and this also applies to the majority of other characters. Her tentative rank is mid to high-mid tier.
* Like Nina, Anna has had a number of different voice actresses, but the most prominent so far is
Lenne Hardt, who performs Anna's voice in
Tekken 5. This is especially noticeable in her line "You BITCH!" and when Anna laughs. In
Death by Degrees, she is voiced by
Debra Rogers.
*Anna is most notable for the stylish outfits she wears in matches. Usually she's shown wearing a modified
qipao with matching gloves and shoes, and keeps her hair well-coiffed and cut to the neckline.
*Anna's zebra suit outfit was removed due to
PETA's insistent demand on removing fur clothing.
*Anna is renowned for being a tease, and uses her beauty to lure her opponents to their own demise. Given the instinct of a cat, she can kill her opponents with stealth or cause massive destruction with big guns.
*The peacock design embroidered onto the right side of Anna's dress is shown to be facing backward during gameplay in
Tekken 1 and
5, but forwards in
Tekken 2,
3, and
Tag.
*It is a common misconception that Anna is Nina's twin sister, but Anna is in fact 2 years Nina's junior, proving this untrue.
* Anna appears to have the look of the 1920's "flapper", due to her short hair and what would be considered "revealing" attire.
Moves Changes Summary
