Chun-Li

For the member of Morning Musume, see Li Chun.

Chun-Li
Street Fighter series character
File:Super Chun-Li.jpg Chun-Li as she appears in Super Street Fighter II. Illustration by Bengus.
First game	Street Fighter II (1991)

Chun-Li (春麗（チュン・リー）, Chun Rī, simplified Chinese: 春丽; traditional Chinese: 春麗; pinyin: Chūn Lì) is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games. Her name in Mandarin is (chūn 春 "Spring", lì 麗 "beautiful").

An undercover Interpol agent, Chun-Li enters Street Fighter II 's fighting tournament as a way of getting to its founder, M. Bison. She seeks to avenge her father, who was murdered while investigating Bison's crime syndicate, Shadaloo. Her signature move is the Hyakuretsu Kyaku (百裂脚, lit. Hundred Rending Kicks), commonly known as the Lightning Kick, which involves repeatedly kicking her opponent from a tilted standing position. Chun-Li is notable for being the first female playable character in a fighting game, and has acquired the nickname "First Lady of Fighting Games" among enthusiasts.

History

Street Fighter series

Chun-Li was in the original version of Street Fighter II as one of the game's eight playable characters and the sole female character in the game (before the addition of later characters such as Cammy, Rose and Sakura). Chun-Li's backstory centers on her quest to avenge the death of her father, an undercover police agent who disappeared while investigating M. Bison's organization. In her ending, she fulfills her revenge and decides to return to her life as an ordinary girl. In Super Street Fighter II, the player is given the option to make Chun-Li return to ordinary life or continue her work as a police officer.

Chun-Li is brought back in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, which is set prior to the events of the Street Fighter II. She is depicted as an undercover ICPO agent who is after M. Bison and his drug cartel. In the first Alpha game Chun-Li is dressed in a Chinese acrobatics outfit, although the two sequels: Alpha 2 and Alpha 3 feature Chun-Li's original outfit from SFII as an alternate version of the character with alternate special abilities and super combos.

She appears as a playable character in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, the third iteration of Street Fighter III, as one of five new playable characters that were added, making her one of the few Street Fighter characters to appear in all major sub-series. Set years after the Street Fighter II, she has retired from street fighting to teach martial arts to young children, but is forced to return to law enforcement after one of her students is abducted by Urien.

Chun-Li appears in Street Fighter IV as one of the returning World Warriors from SFII (which was subtitled World Warriors) with her brand new Ultra Move, Hōsenka (鳳扇華, Phoenix's Fan Petals). Her in-game narrative shows she is at a current crossroads in her life and her eventual return to both street fighting and law enforcement.

In the Street Fighter EX sub-series, Chun-Li's story is similar to that of Street Fighter II, in which she is a police officer investigating Shadaloo in search of her missing father, instead of avenging his death.

Other games

Chun-Li has made appearances in several other Capcom-produced fighting games including all of the Marvel vs. Capcom games, where she was made an honorary member of the X-Men, and Capcom vs. SNK crossovers. She also appears in the puzzle game Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and its sequel, Pocket Fighter. She is also a playable character in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, representing her debut game Street Fighter II (though her mechanics more closely resemble her Street Fighter III version). She also makes a cameo in Mega Man 9 as a television news reporter during a scene where Mega Man and Dr.Light were watching a breaking-news report, and in Final Fight 2, where she can be found eating ramen in the first stage. She also has a cameo appearance in Breath of Fire, where you can see her practicing her lightning kicks in the thief's house in the town of Bleak if you ask him to perform a magic trick and respond to his questions correctly. She also appears in the Tactical RPG game Namco × Capcom, where she will team up with Cammy White as you progress. She is found in almost any Capcom fighting game, one exception was the first Street Fighter III and its first revision, 2nd Impact, until she was finally added to the third and last revision Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. She also appears in the Pachislot game 'Chun-Li Ni Makase China!', the first game produced by Capcom that features Chun-Li in the starring role. Chun-Li also appears a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. She was also shown assisting Ryu in a gameplay demonstration for the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken. Interestingly enough, Chun-Li and fellow Street Fighter character Ryu are the only Street Fighter characters to appear in every Capcom crossover game.

She also appears as an unlockable costume swap in Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams for Ohatsu, though purely cosmetic. Incidentally a remix of her stage soundtrack can be heard if the player wears this Secret Costume and plays as Ohatsu in the aforementioned game's Dark Realm minigame.

Fighting Style

Chung li, uses a defensive style of Tai chi. Her kicks are based off of the famous shadowless kicks as seen in the hit movie. "Iron Monkey"

Characteristics

In the Street Fighter II sub-series and most of her later appearances, Chun-Li wears a qipao, an early 20th century Chinese dress. In the first version of Street Fighter II, Chun-Li was originally depicted wearing an orange qipao instead of blue. The dress is modified to allow a far wider range of movement than a generic qipao. Her ensemble also includes a pair of white combat boots and brown pantyhose. Chun-Li famously wears her hair in "ox horns"; she wears silk brocades and ribbons in her hair, signifying the mourning of her father. Another familiar part of her ensemble are the large spiked bracelets she wears on her wrists.

In the Street Fighter Alpha games (set during the time period before Street Fighter II), Chun-Li wears an embroidered vest, a unitard, and athletic shoes. She wears her ox horns unadorned. She also wears her original Street Fighter II outfit when you choose her X-ism mode in Alpha 3.

In Street Fighter IV, Chun-Li's alternate outfit consists of black night gown with gold accents at the bottom. She wears a black and gold sash held by a red rope-like belt. She wears her ox horns unadorned, just like in her Alpha appearance, only this time it's held by red ropes with golden balls at the tip. The outfit is completed with red shoes, gold earrings and black and gold bracelets. The outfit resembles the clothes she wore in one of the episodes of the American cartoon series Street Fighter.

Chun-Li is also known for her large, muscular thighs compared to the rest of her body, which depictions are more variable. In the Street Fighter Alpha games, where she wore a sleeveless, tight outfit, her arms and upper body were visibly much stronger than those of any other female character in the games, but many artists choose to depict her as petite and slim, in official and unofficial artworks alike, drawing only her legs strong because of her emphasis on kicking moves.

Appearances in other media

Live-action

Chun-Li, who is given the full name of Chun-Li Zang (simplified Chinese: 臧 春丽; traditional Chinese: 臧 春麗; pinyin: Zāng Chūn Lì) in the film, was portrayed in the 1994 action film Street Fighter by actress Ming Na. She poses as a television reporter in order to infiltrate the nation of Shadowloo and kill M. Bison, a warlord who murdered her father during a peasant uprising.

In October 2006, Hyde Park Entertainment and Capcom announced its intention to produce another film adaptation with the storyline to focus on Chun-Li, who is given the full name of Chun-Li Huang, as the main protagonist called Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. This film is more character-centered and story-based rather than following a "nebulous plot." Screenwriter Justin Marks was attached to write a script for the adaptation. Street Fighter was released on February 2009 release for the 20th anniversary of the fighting game series. The film adaptation is part of Capcom's multi-platform launch for 2008 that will also launch video games and a potential TV series in 2008. Smallville actress Kristin Kreuk played Chun-Li in the 2009 adaptation. Singaporean actor Edmund Chen played her father. While Chun-Li is a pure Chinese in the games, she was portrayed as a Chinese-American in the film with a Chinese father and a Caucasian mother.

Animation

Chun-Li is a central character in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. An Interpol agent, she is investigating M. Bison's organization of Shadowlaw, which is suspected of murdering several diplomats. She requests to work with Guile to investigate Bison's organization. Guile is initially reluctant to work with her, more eager to pursue Bison himself. By the end of the movie, however, they have become inseparable. She is voiced by Miki Fujitani in the Japanese release. In the English adaptation by Manga Entertainment, she is voiced by Lia Sargent.

In a famous instance of fan service, an explicit scene shows Chun-Li showering in her apartment as a Shadaloo assassin, Vega, arrives to kill her. The shower scene has been censored to varying degrees in versions of the English dub. Vega attacks, but she fights back. While she is fighting, Guile contacts her; the phone is knocked off the hook and he hears the sounds of battle and rushes to her aid; however the battle is over by the time he gets there, Vega having been kicked through a wall and hurtling several stories to the ground. Chun-Li succumbs to her injuries and slips into a coma; she remains hospitalized for the rest of the movie. A distraught Guile promises her that he will make M. Bison pay. Following Bison's defeat at the hands of Ryu and Ken, Chun-Li pulls a prank on Guile by making it appear as if she has died while he was away, lying still with a sheet over her body and face. As Guile grieves beside her bed, she surprises him with a newspaper headline announcing the downfall of Bison's operations.

In the Japanese anime series Street Fighter II V, Chun-Li appears as the spirited tour guide to Ken and Ryu. Her character in this adaptation is a far cry from The world's strongest woman, since she's mostly a Kung-Fu student under the guidance of her father, the highest-ranked police chief in Hong Kong. Chun-Li plays a sizeable role in the finale when she is brainwashed by Bison's psycho power. Noteworthy to mention is Ken's growing feelings for her, as he takes her on a shopping spree and even buys her an engagement ring in the first part of the series. In the Animaze dub, she is voiced by Lia Seargent, while in the ADV Films dub she is played by Junie Hoang and later on by Tamara Lo.

Chun-Li was a regular character and a reporter as she was in the 1994 movie in the USA Network's animated television series Street Fighter. She was voiced by Donna Yamamoto.

Chun-Li also appears in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation OVA, as an Interpol agent who investigates a mad scientist called Sadler that works for Shadaloo. She believes the trail can lead her to her father, who at the time, was missing and presumed alive. She assists Ryu and Ken in finding a boy named Shun, kidnapped by Sadler to force him to succumb to the Satsui no Hadō. Once again Lia Seargent provides her voice for this OVA.

In episode 6 of the anime Midori Days, an arcade game that resembles Virtua Fighter is played by the main character against a little girl. She picks a character named Nyan Nyan that is very similar to Chun-Li down to her victory salute. He picks Tota Arashi, who could be either Ryu himself or Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter.

Manga

In a Street Fighter II manga published in the 1990s (by Masaomi Kanzaki), Chun-Li remains in her established role of an interpol agent investigating Bison, yet frequently expresses her desire to earn Ryu's praise as a genuine fighter. As the Manga progresses, she eventually participates in a tournament arranged by Shadaloo, and outlasts many of the other warriors, eventually coming up against Vega, portrayed here as her father's killer. She defeats Vega, but as in the SF II movie, she is exhausted from the fight, and she is pulled from the tournament. Her injuries prevent her from doing much when Ryu and Bison confront one another, except call off an air strike by Interpol. Chun-Li appears one final time in the closing pages of the final issue of the Manga in a panel illustration depicting her arrest of a drug peddler, she remains eager to prove herself to Ryu, and sends him a letter conveying that wish.

Chun-Li also appears in Masahiko Nakahira's Sakura Ganbaru! manga, in which she participates in a police raid to an illegal underground fighting circle. Later on, she follows the trails that lead her to an assassin which turns out to be Gen, from whom she suffers an utter defeat.

In the manga and anime adaptations of Street Fighter Alpha, Chun- Li is again an agent of interpol as she is in almost all iterations save for the live action film. In the anime, she begins tracking down Ryu because of his battle with Sagat and Shadaloo's apparent interest in Ryu. Believing this information will in some way lead to further dismantling of Shadaloo, she seeks out Ryu and becomes involved in his struggle to defeat the temptation of the Satsui no Hadou.

In the manga, she encounters Ryu, who has fallen from grace when he began to give in to the Satsui no Hadou, and had hired himself out as a bodyguard to some drug smugglers. She winds up befriending Ryu and Birdie as well as Ken (which also happens in the anime), and Chun- Li, Ken, and Ryu begin trying to deal with the Satsui no Hadou, though Chun-Li plays mostly a minor role in that regard. However, the three friends encounter members of Shadaloo, and Ritchie Bains, at the end of the first volume of the manga, rescues Cammy from being captured (or possibly killed, the manga doesn't say which, only that losers are 'stored' somewhere) after having her hand apparently crushed or at the least injured in some way by Sodom. Shadaloo in the manga is once again responsible for the death of her father, though the exact identity of the killer has yet to be revealed.

In comics

In the 1990s, Malibu Comics produced a short-lived series of Street Fighter comics, which featured Chun-Li as a starring character. She is depicted as having known Ryu and Ken since her late teens, as well as having a romantic interest in Ryu. The story primarily focuses not on Chun-Li or Ryu in particular, but rather on the events which follow the murder of Ken Masters. Due to the comic's abrupt end (it was cancelled after three issues), the storyline was never resolved.

When Udon comics picked up the comic book license for the Street Fighter franchise for American distribution, Chun-Li again became a central character, involved in the hunt for Bison and Shadaloo. However, in the new comic, it is not Bison (a.k.a. Vega in Japan) who is the killer of Chun-Li's father, but rather Cammy, prior to her being freed from Bison's control. Chun-Li battles Cammy when they meet face to face for the first time. Chun-Li ultimately forgives Cammy for her actions, because she was brainwashed to serve Bison at that time. As a result, she turns her sights on Bison himself. Thus Chun-Li met Cammy for the second time(issue #11) and formally wins against her.

Chun-Li's mode of dress changes several times throughout the Udon comics, from the outfits worn in Street Fighter Alpha, to her more traditional qipao from the Street Fighter II games. She has received an invitation from Shadaloo to enter a tournament being held by Bison. The comic appears to be mixing elements of the various games together. The story is currently ongoing, though Udon has yet to release the next volume of the series.

In Other Video Game Series

A Chun-Li inspired costume for players to use in Sony's LittleBigPlanet was released on December 12 of 2008 as downloadable content for the title.

Actresses

• In a number of games since Street Fighter Alpha, her voice is performed by actress/singer Yūko Miyamura.
• In the animated movie, her voice actress is Miki Fujitani.
• In Street Fighter III, Capcom Fighting Evolution, and the RPG Namco x Capcom she is performed by Atsuko Tanaka.
• In Capcom vs. SNK and Capcom vs. SNK 2, Chun-Li is voiced by Michiko Neya.
• In SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom, Chun-Li is voiced by Mari Jitsukawa.
• Chun-Li is portrayed by Ming-Na alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in the live action movie (1994). After being captured by M. Bison, she is dressed in a red qipao in contrast of the signature blue portrayed in the video games. Ming Na played a news reporter in this movie, instead of an Interpol agent. The character is dubbed over by Sailor Moon actress Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) in the Japanese dub of the film.
• In the English dubs of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Street Fighter II V and Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie, Chun-Li is voiced by Lia Sargent.
• Jackie Chan humorously parodies several characters from the game in the film City Hunter. He briefly dons Chun-Li's attire in the movie to defeat a thug who modeled himself after Ken Masters.
• In the 2009 film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, she is portrayed by actress Kristin Kreuk.
• In Street Fighter IV, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3, she is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa, while she is voiced by Laura Bailey in the English versions of SFIV and MVC3. Both actresses were retained for the anime film Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind that was distributed with the collector's edition of the game.
• In the official music video of Endboss by German rap artist Marteria she can be chosen for the player and performs as an in game character during the video.

Critical reception

IGN ranked Chun-Li at number three in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, noting that while sexism is factored into her initial design, "[she's] come a long way over the years. She's by far the most popular female fighting game character out there, and if you try to start naming off better-known women in videogaming period, you're going to wind up with a pretty short list." GameDaily listed her at number one on their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article, praising her character evolution and for balanced gameplay. The same site ranked her 2nd their Top 25 Capcom Characters of All Time with editor Robert Workman noting her to be his favorite character from the Street Fighter series because "her kicking attacks are amazing". Spike featured her in their "Top 10 Video Game Vixens" article at number four, citing a preference for her muscular thighs. UGO.com ranked her ninth in their "Top 50 Videogame Hotties" article, stating "Chun-Li's female presence and early dominance of the fighting game genre propelled her into the minds of many early fanboys." She was awarded Hottest Babe of 1992 by Electronic Gaming Monthly, tying with Blaze from Streets of Rage. Mania Entertainment writer Briana Lawrence put her 2nd in the article 13 Video Game Women That Kick Ass commenting that despite being the only female fighter from Street Fighter II, her special moves were appealing to gamers.

Chun-Li was voted top in Capcom's own poll of 85 characters for the 15th anniversary of Street Fighter.

Chun-Li artwork was featured on an officially licenced animated Nubytech/UDON joypad for the PlayStation 2, and a Mad Catz wireless joypad for the PlayStation 3.

External links

• Chun-Li at the Internet Movie Database