Chun-Li

General

Chun-Li (春麗 or チュンリー, Shunrei or Chunrī?, Simplified Chinese: 春丽 chūnlì), also known as the Martial Arts Master (格闘技マスター, Kakutōgi masutā?, Simplified Chinese: 武术大师)[12] is the tritagonist and main female protagonist of the Street Fighter series, originally debuting in Street Fighter II. The first female fighter in the series, she is an expert martial artist and Interpol officer who relentlessly seeks revenge for the death of her father at the hands of M. Bison. She later retires, becoming a Kung Fu teacher and caretaker of Li-Fen.

Biography

Chun-Li was designed by Akira "Akiman" Yasuda. According to Akiman, Chun-Li was modeled after Tao from Shotaro Ishinomori's Genma Wars: Harmagedon movie, which was the #1 box office anime movie of 1983. Chun-Li originally had big, wide legged pants and had a front and back apron. Akiman changed it because she didn't look "very sexy" and the design lacked visual impact and personality. Around the 11th hour, he experimented with her outfit choices. Finally, he decided to give her bare legs and a bodycon dress, making her look more like a professional wrestler. This became the finalized design for Chun-Li. She shares similarities to Tong Pooh, from Capcom's Strider franchise. The Street Fighter III: New Generation Secret File appears to make a nod to this fact, showing a picture of Tong Pooh in a TV while wondering if it'd be the "next Chun-Li". Name Chun-Li's name is Mandarin for "spring beauty" (春 chūn, "spring"; 麗 lì, "beautiful"). It is properly romanized as chūnlì in pinyin and pronounced "Chuen-lee", despite westerners commonly pronouncing it as "Chuhn-lee". The Japanese on'yomi rendering of the name is Shunrei. Older official sources from the early 90's indicate Chung was Chun-Li's surname, although it is worth noting this could very well not be the case anymore. In the live-action Street Fighter movie, Chun-Li was given the surname Zang/Xiang, but Capcom has not officially recognized it. Several Japanese drama CDs and novels created based on the series have given her surname as both "Feng" (楓, "Feng"?) and "Wang" (王, "Wang"?), though these are also not officially recognized by Capcom.

Appearance Part 1

Chun-Li's appearance has differed several times in the Street Fighter series, as well as in official art and cameos she has made in other works. She is known for her very toned thighs and a beautiful well endowed body. Clothing Chun-Li wears a qipao, a Chinese dress imported over from Manchuria that became popular among girls during the early 20th century. Her outfit is modified to allow a far wider range of movement than a normal qipao. She also wears white combat/boxing boots of varying height (around calf-length in games such as the Street Fighter II series and older vs. Capcom titles, or around knee-high in games based around her 3rd Strike sprite) and a blue leotard with dark brown sheer pantyhose and a blue thong underneath with her qipao. Her qipao is blue with golden accents with a white waistband embroidered with a dragon pattern, a detail only seen in her Street Fighter II art before being officially added in Street Fighter V. She was originally supposed to wear a peach-colored qipao, as seen in her in-game profile and ending in the original Street Fighter II. Large spiked bracelets, whose ring is black steel and spikes are white/chrome polished steel are worn on both arms. According to supplementary materials, she wears the qipao in honor of her late mother, who passed away in her early childhood and whose only photo showed her in a qipao similar to her daughter's. The spiked metal bracelets she is known to wear are made of iron, and weigh approximately 7-10 kg (15-22 lbs) each. Chun-Li also wears them to help tone and exercise her body; the qipao is fitted with weights to help build body strength and finesse, while her bracelets are for the purpose of balancing her body when performing her kicking moves, including helping stabilize her center of gravity during a Hyakuretsukyaku and limit her during supers such as the Senretsukyaku to avoid overexerting her muscles. The spikes are also used for the purpose of intimidation.

Appearance Part 2

In the Street Fighter EX series within her CGI appearance, the dragon pattern of her white waistband and its trimmings are pale blue instead of gold. During the period covered in Street Fighter Alpha, she wore an embroidered vest, unitard and athletic shoes, as well as studded wristbands. Of further elaboration and to the Alpha series' time frame, the embroidered vest draws upon real world Hong Kong style martial arts school uniform vests that became prevalent after the migration of Chinese martial artists from the mainland upon the Maoist Cultural Revolution during the 1960s, and were efficiently economical in their function in contrast to full body uniforms. It is somewhat unclear why she chose to stop using this outfit and switch to the qipao in subsequent Street Fighter games; materials state that this was worn during her days as an active detective for comfort. In the Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation movie, her vest has changed to red instead of blue. Her Alpha costume became her "Nostalgia" costume in Street Fighter V. In Street Fighter II V, Chun-Li has seen wearing casual outfits throughout the episodes, including a red sleeveless v-neck qipao with a blue obi and it's ribbons are hanging loose at the right side, red Chinese pants, black Chinese shoes, her hair is tied in a high ponytail adorned with a long blue laced ribbon and a yellow formal sleeveless short dress adorned with orange lined ribbons (which resembles a skirt at the back), pink panties underneath and yellow open toed flats. When she was brainwashed, she wore her primary outfit but with minor changes, the color of her qipao is light blue with white accents, the front and back skirt are short instead of long, her brown pantyhose is replaced with blue kneepads and her hair is let loose.

Appearance Part 3

In Street Fighter IV, Chun-Li's alternate outfit consists of a black sleeveless evening gown with gold accents at the bottom. She wears a black and gold sash held by a red rope-like belt. 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 in the cartoon series. In various official art, she has also been shown in her police outfit, as well as (presumably) her favorite casual attire: a varsity-style jacket, T-shirt, jeans and white tennis shoes. It has been shown in some official art that when wearing her casual attire she also wears her Alpha wristbands. In Street Fighter V, her first alternate costume is the sleeveless evening gown from Street Fighter IV and her hair is now loose. Her second is her police uniform, which is also paired with white featureless boots akin to her prior signature ones. In all of her costumes, she's shown with bright lipstick and enchanting eyeshadow around her eyes. She gains new alterations of her main outfit and her police uniform; Her main outfit is similar to the one she wore in Street Fighter II V but in a sleeveless modified qipao with gold decorations and she wears black thigh-high socks and sneakers instead of kneepads and boots. Her police uniform is her disguise form in Pocket Fighter as color of her outfit is indigo and her top now shows her midriff with the black mini vest and the sign "Police" on front and her pants and boots are black. She no longer wears a beret and her hair is tied in unadorned ox-horns. Altogether, Chun-Li has the most costumes in Street Fighter V, excluding the Easter-Egg variations, marketing costumes, and player-exclusive costumes.

Personality Part 1

Chun-Li is a resourceful and dedicated officer of the law with a strong sense of justice that rivals that of her father, as she strongly believes in protecting the innocent and saving the lives of others. She is a highly disciplined, seasoned, and courageous woman, and is often the voice of reason. As an official of Interpol, she takes her work as a cop with pride (showing pride at what she does when she saves another), outside of her duty as a cop, she has an elegant, sweet, and feminine personality. Chun-Li, however, is not without her flaws, as she has shown to get very competitive with criminals in Street Fighter media, and does not take kindly to those who insult her pride as a cop. There are also times she is shown to have a fairly rash side to her personality, as shown in her ending of Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix. As pointed out by Nash and Guile, Chun-Li tends to let her emotions get the best of her while on duty, this has at least on one occasion almost caused her demise at the hands of Bison. As shown in her story mode and in A Shadow Falls, Chun-Li has been told this and she has promised not to do it again while it keeps happening. Because of her devotion to justice, she often becomes allies and friends with other soldiers and cops. Additionally, she has shown great resilience and determination in pursuing intense crime organizations, such as Shadaloo. In her Street Fighter V arcade ending, a surprising trait was revealed that Chun-Li is inept at cooking, (averting her usual femininity like Lucia, but not to the point when the food becomes humorously bad like the latter) to the point of burning her food while following cooking instruction and Li-Fen having to take over with what remains of the ingredients. Chun-Li displays her kind and caring, almost motherly, traits in her Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike arcade ending. After rescuing Li-Fen, she goes on to teach Kung Fu to children. Chun-Li was inspired by all the people she's met on her journeys.

Personality Part 2

Her new goal to teach her new students about strength and beauty, as well as to help shape their future. In Street Fighter 6, she maintains the same elegant and caring personality. Because she's taking a break from work, and she has Li-Fen to take care of, she isn't as headstrong to rush into dangerous situations like she used to be when she was in the past. But whenever a fight does come her way, she won't hesitate to defend herself or those she cares about. She is a little stricter with Li-Fen this time around, now that she's older and often times spends way too much time on her computer, but deep down, Chun-Li still very much cares for her. She treats her like a little sister, although she admits she's young enough to be her daughter. It took some time for her to open up to her after being rescued from Shadaloo and taken in by Chun-Li. But ever since, the are rarely seen apart. Chun-Li loves spending time with Li-Fen, whether it be shopping, going to get sweets, or even just teaching kung fu, her motherly personality shines even more so than ever. Chun-Li is also very encouraging and endearing to the Player. In addition to being one of the Masters you learn martial arts from, Chun-Li also encourages players to experience the many cuisines that the city and world has to offer. In addition, she teaches that solely focusing on martial arts can lead to inflexibility in mind and body, and that single-minded dedication is key for self-improvement. Chun-Li also encourages to take breaks from fighting from time-to-time, saying that a change of pace can do good for you. Chun-Li's legs are her unmistakable trademark, and not only her source of power in her fighting, but also a source of pride in herself, her kung fu, and her strength. When Chun-Li asks the player what they think of them will result in different reactions from Chun-Li. Calling them "Inspirational" will get gratitude out of Chun-Li, and she'll be okay if you stared at them longer. Calling them "Thick".

Enemies Part 1

M. Bison M. Bison is considered to be Chun-Li's greatest enemy, as well as the main antagonist for her story. In Chun-Li's Street Fighter Alpha ending, M. Bison is the final boss in her Arcade route. After making quick work of her, M. Bison reveals to Chun-Li that he was the one who killed her father. Since then, Chun-Li has sworn to avenge her father's death, and that motivation has continued to be the driving force for her well until the fall of Shadaloo. C. Viper C. Viper is one of Chun-Li's rivals, mostly because she "impeded" Chun-Li's investigation on Shadaloo and S.I.N., so Chun-Li almost blew C. Viper's cover (her working for S.I.N.) and tried to take her in. It is unknown who won the battle between C. Viper and Chun-Li, but it is known that Chun-Li recovered data linking to Shadaloo and S.I.N. Balrog "Not even traditional Chinese medicine can cure your stupidity!" Even though Balrog has a thing for women, Chun-Li is one exception. Because he's a member of Shadaloo and one of Bison's top subordinates, Chun-Li sees Balrog as an enemy. The two would encounter during Balrog's rival cutscene, in where Chun-Li would try to bring in a resistant Balrog for questioning. Vega Much like Balrog, Chun-Li sees Vega as an enemy. Vega, however, enjoys her beauty and mocking her. In his SFIV rival scene with Chun-Li, he calls her a persistent wench and tries to play her mind calling himself a ghost. During Chun-Li's story In SFV, he encounters Chun-Li when she was a rookie cop investigating her father's disappearance. Chun-Li and Vega battle, trying to learn more about her father but Vega manages to escape after scratching Chun-Li's arm. Chun-Li would later encounter him after she teamed up with Nash and Guile, and after a second fight, Vega would reveal that he has information in regards to her father. Akuma Although the terms of their meeting weren’t specified, Chun-Li’s win quote against Akuma in Street Fighter 6 shows that they have fought in the past.

Enemies Part 2

Gill Gill is among Chun-Li's most hated enemies and like Ryu, Chun-Li sees no difference between the Illuminati leader and that of Bison. F.A.N.G As the second-in-command of Shadaloo, F.A.N.G is one of Chun-Li's greatest enemies. Urien As stated in her respective win quote in Street Fighter V, Chun-Li mistakenly perceives Urien as a potential ally by his well-kempt appearance. She would later track him down for kidnapping Li-Fen during the events of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, with Chun-Li herself successfully rescuing and saving Li-Fen from Urien. On the other hand, Urien sees her as nothing more than a commoner until she proves to be pivotal in destroying Shadaloo.

Abilities and Fighting Part 1

Fighting style Chun-Li's fighting style is of all kinds of Chinese martial arts/Kung Fu - mostly Tai ChiW Techniques In almost every case, Chun-Li's signature move is the Hyakuretsukyaku, which was her ability to throw multiple kicks in one sitting. Its easy accessibility (bluntly pressing a kick button rapidly) has become a staple in many games. Her Spinning Bird Kick acts like Ryu's and Ken's own Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Chun-Li can also wall-jump, meaning that pressing in the opposite direction after touching the wall during a jump will allow her to bounce off of it. While jumping, she can perform a Stomp Kick on top of her opponent's heads. Beginning with Street Fighter Alpha, this move was replaced by the Sen'enshu, which was an overhead drop kick which knocked the opponent down. This, in itself, was replaced by the Hazanshu in Street Fighter III, which was a similar move where Chun-Li flipped in the air before attacking with her overhead kick. She also regained her Spinning Bird Kick in that game. Her Kakukyakuraku was basically a move where she flips in the air and drop kicks her opponents on the head, causing them to fall down. This was replaced in Street Fighter III with the "Tenshin Shuu Kyaku" which requires her to jump all the way behind the opponent to attack, but also lets her combo afterward. Her trademark projectile is called the Kikoken, and has alternately been a motion attack and a charge attack depending on the game. Her Tenshokyaku enabled her to jump in the air and perform 3-4 consecutive kicks that can damage air born opponents.

Abilities and Fighting Part 2

Other notable moves that have appeared include the Sou Hakkei, a powerful palm strike that Chun-Li can do in her X-ISM mode in Street Fighter Alpha 3; the Reishiki Kikou Ken, a toned-down version of the Kikosho as it appeared in the Alpha games that Chun-Li can do at any time in the Marvel vs. Capcom series; and the Tenshin Embu in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, a command grab similar to Yun and Yang's Zenpou Tenshin that does no damage but leaves the opponent open to a combo. In Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, Chun-Li retains most of her moves as both Kikosho and Hazan Tensho Kyaku serve as her Mighty Combos and has five disguises serve as her special attacks but one of those moves makes herself recoiled. (Eg: a summer school uniform while wielding a golf club and a love letter, a cheerleader wielding pom-poms and a baton stick, a circus performer, cosplaying as Jill Valentine in her first outfit in Resident Evil wielding heavy firearms and a traffic enforcer) One of her special attacks has to bump her opponent by sliding into the ground. She later wears a black sleeveless formal chinese qipao serving as one of her taunts. One of her Mighty Combos has her to slam the opponent with a traffic sign while disguising as a traffic enforcer to make the bikers from the Alpha games to hit and run the opponent for a heavy damage. Super Attacks Chun-Li's first Super Combo, the Senretsukyaku, was an extended Hyakuretsukyaku that moved Chun-Li forward and could go through fireballs. Her Kikosho, which she received in Street Fighter Alpha, was a stationary ball of energy that could hit attacks coming from above and in front. Her Hazan Tenshou Kyaku was a powered-up version of the Tenshokyaku. These moves received typical power increases in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Her appearance in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike saw her retain only one Super Combo from before, the Kikosho, in a version that more resembled the Vs. version than the original Alpha version.

Abilities and Fighting Part 3

The move would return to Street Fighter 6 with an airbone version of it. Her two new Super Arts were the Hoyokusen, a re-imagined Senretsukyaku that was made up of two flurries of rapid kicks followed by a final kick that sent the opponent upward; and the Tensei Ranka, an aerial flip-kick that ended with a final kick crashing straight downward. Chun-Li's Hoyokusen would later become her Critical Art in Street Fighter V, having a more cinematic effect upon landing the first hit, as well as one of her Hyper Combos for the Marvel VS Capcom series. In Street Fighter IV, Chun-Li gains a new Ultra Combo called Hosenka. It is very much like Houyoku Sen, except instead of kicking the opponent away after the Hyakuretsukyaku, she kicks the opponent upwards and does a powered-up Spinning Bird Kick, which causes a tornado and does significant damage. She then kicks the opponent up into the air with a lot of force, landing gracefully after the opponent falls back on to the floor. In Super Street Fighter IV, the Kikosho returns as Chun-Li's second Ultra Combo. The Kikosho animation is nearly identical to what is depicted in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. In crossover games, Chun-Li gains a Hyper Combo called Shichisei Senkuu Kyaku. Chun-Li passes through the opponent with a powerful kick. As the two are momentarily paused mid-air, the screen turns black and the kanji of the Hyper Combo's name appears on the screen, with the screen flashing afterwards. Street Fighter 6 has every character equipped with at least three Supers. Chun-Li's Kikosho returns as her Level 1 Super Move, with an Aerial version of her Kikosho being introduced as a new Super Art. Chun-Li's Hoyoku-sen is Chun-Li's Level 2 Super Art with Chun-Li circling her arms while lowering into a stance as seen in her Critical Art in Street Fighter V. Chun-Li's Street Fighter 6 Hoyoku-sen launches her opponent in the air after the final move, allowing for a follow up combo just like in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.