The Fighting Heiress Emilie De Rochefort, or as most fans know her, Lili, has somersaulted her way onto Tekken 8 with her own trailer.
The trailer also introduces Lili’s pet cat Salt, which would be a welcome change of pace for Lili, from having to deal with the vampire hiding under the Rochefort basement. I guess she doesn’t need to take Kuma as a pet anymore after all.
Lili is from Monaco, a silver spoon who picks up an interest in fighting after getting kidnapped, and develops her own fighting style, combining elements of ballet and gymnastics with street fighting.
In the story of Tekken, she initially enters the tournaments out of curiosity, and finding Asuka Kazama as a rival. However, later on she becomes one of many fighters bearing a grudge vs the Mishima family, when her own family’s fortunes go to ruin because of the Mishima’s actions.
As Project Tekken head Katsuhiro Harada has revealed on Twitter, he commissioned Lili’s new costume from artist Jasmin Darnell.
Jasmin is from a growing generation of younger artists who are making their name online even before taking on bigger projects. On her own site, Jasmin describes herself simply as “a self taught lady artist based in New Zealand. My art is mostly inspired by fairy tales, fantasy and fashion history. I use pencils, ink, markers and Clip Studio.”
And her site has links to her Instagram, Twitter, and Patreon. She’s already been commissioned to make a Wonder Woman # 797 Variant Cover, and has another upcoming variant for The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly #1.
Some of Jasmin’s work is NSFW, but seeing her specialty in lingerie and boudoir, she was a perfect pick to produce a new dress for our lovely Lili. She wears bloomers under her skirt now, but the new white, pink, and red dress is an elegant upgrade to her original costume, that looks like something a real athlete could move around in.
As a fighter, Lili has successfully blended in as a new character with her own appeal, not just to fanboys, but the competitive community. Her flips and cartwheels lead to a unique playstyle in a world dominated by realistic martial artists. Or at least, that was the case before the Lucky Chloes and Alisas came in. Nevertheless, this was one welcome fan favorite to join the roster.
Tekken 8 is planned for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam. You can watch Lili’s official announce trailer below:
