Debating Leo's Gender: Male or Female?
From the moment Leo was announced, in
the earliest of Tekken 6's trailers, fans across the world have been
debating Leo's gender. On sight it really is hard to tell, if not
possible at all, no matter how many times pro male/female debtors try
to convince us. This is why I am eliminating this factor all together,
as one person's "male-Leo" is another person's "female-leo" in their
eyes.
The way I'm going to put forward my theory, is going to be solely on
what Namco have given us, so I'm discounting any theories put by fans
which include; Leo attempting to hide her/his true gender by dressing
up like the opposite sex. The only thing we know official, story wise,
is that Leo had a parent killed by Kazuya and that Leo is out to get
revenge on him. Having put that out the way, I am now going to try to
convince you , why I believe that Leo is male.
I have personally come to the conclusion by these
following "clues", that I found out in the research....
1. Heihachi
Mishima to Leo: "You lack proper manners boy "
In Scenario Campaign Heihachi Mishima refers to Leo; as a
"boy" , if you do not believe me then feel free to either click on the
image below , to enlarge, or pick heihachi yourself and fight the Leo
boss in Scenario Campaign.
2.
Anna Williams to Leo: "I'd
love to help a cute boy like you"
This is the second time; we have another Tekken character
refers to Leo as a boy. Again if you do not believe me, then feel free
to click on the picture below to enlarge, or play as leo in scenario
campaign and fight Anna Williams, as boss.
3. Voice Actor: Is female BUT voices Ash Ketchum from Pokemon !

Ok so the argument could be that
Leo's voice actor being female (Veronica Taylor), proves that Leo is
female too...right ? Maybe, but if you look at the character of Leo,
you will notice that Namco, keep reminding us how young this guy really
is. We have Heihachi Mishima referring to him as a "child" we have Anna
Williams calling him "cute", namco certainly do be little Leo every so
often.
Now if you look at the majority of the young males/boys in anime and
cartoon, you will find out that they are indeed voiced by females and
not males. A classic example would be Bart Simpson from the Simpsons.
The voice actor for Leo has already voiced a young male before, in the
popular 90's cartoon; pokemon, and so Namco may have found her as the
perfect person to voice another young male; Leo.
4. Tekken
Trend Games
Males out
number Females in the Newcomers department
(A side from Tekken Tag, Tekken 2,3,4,5 have had more male new comers
than female.)
Tekken 2:
Females = 2 Angle, Jun Kazama
Males = 6 Jack 2, Lei, Bruce, Baek, Roger, Alex
Tekken 3:
Females = 3 Ling Xiaoyu, Panda, Julia
Males = 7 Jin, Eddy, Hwoarang, Forrest Law, Bryan Fury , Ogre, True
Ogre, I have excluded King II, Tiger, Kuma II for arguments sake
Tekken 4:
Female: = 1 Christie
Male: = 2 Steve Fox, Marduk
Tekken 5
Female = 1 Asuka
Male = 2 Feng Wei, raven have again excluded Jinpachi
So you see namco have always had the trend of more males than female
new comers. If we count up the female and male playable new comers,
excluding Leo, we would have 2 female Alisa and Zafina and 3 male Lars,
Miguel and Bob. However if you added Leo to the female list, then
female new comers would be equal to male. But if I were a betting man I
would certainly see the odds of having 4:2 males as a more realistic
ratio, due to the gender historic trends.
5. Secret Male/Female Poses: Leo
Doesn't slap but headbutts, while Wang doesn't think much!
If Wang fights a female, occasionally he would have a
special intro pose saying: "you're hot..."
This has so far been addressed to every singly female in the game, and
it has never been reported that it was addressed to Leo before.
Secondly everyone by now must be aware of the secret slap retaliation
females would respond to after being slapped by Anna Williams. If you
pick Anna Williams , and if you slap a female opponent ( back + 2, 2)
as long as the other female is cpu controlled and the fight does not
take place in practice you will find any female fighter respond in Anna
Williams slap in the exact same way. This again excludes Leo had she
been a female.
EDIT
I've just now been informed of a male
only secret taunt, which Leo also does. If you select Heihachi and you
headbutt a male ( forward 1+2 ) the male opponenet would reply with the
same headbutt. (Go to 2:30) in the video below.
Leo does the male only taunt, and ignores the female only taunt.
6. Minor Observation:
- Leo was in the male category in the official art book
- Leo was referred to as "his" on namco's official website, but then
again the very website claimed Asuka and Jin were brother and sister XD
- No sauciness , Tekken as a series has been getting saucier and
saucier...not quite DOA material but getting there.
- No female tantrum when Leo loses, I have seen every female so far,
except zafina I confess, do the unique female tantrum after she loses
the first round. Leo does not do it either.
Conclusion
I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I'm
sorry I'm just going by what Namco has given us. Apart from the voice
actor argument, every bit of proof I put forward, was namco's official
work or word. The only argument left for Leo being female, is that
Harada allegedly referred to him as a she in 2007. Other than that,
until Tekken 7 comes out, Leo is a male in my eyes. From the 1st of
February Tekken Nation will put out a poll on whether you think Leo is
male or female. Make sure that you take part in it :)
Deebo


