30 years of Street Fighter: 30 years of Characters #2

Street Fighter has been one of the all-time great fighting game franchises. Part of the reason for its popularity had to do with the World Warriors featured in Street Fighter II. With a hundred or so characters being added into the Street Fighter universe over the past 30 years I would argue that Chun-Li is the most popular one (with Cammy being a close second). Chun-Li is an absolute icon, not only in the fighting game community but for the video game industry as a whole. She's a role-model to women and an inspiration to men. She's a complex character with a fantastic design. A brilliant fighter with a style all her own. She didn't start out perfect in the development stages of Street Fighter II. The planners wanted a kung-fu master in the game, as Lee and Gen had represented different Chinese schools previously. Also they didn't want the new character to be a guy. The first draft of Chun-Li, then called Zhi-Li was very traditional, almost to the point of being a cartoon stereotype. Chinese characters and Chinese-inspired costumes were somewhat popular in Japan in the mid '80s. Thanks in part to the series Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi and 3x3 Eyes by Kaoru Wada. Both of those runs debuted in 1987, the same year that the original Street Fighter was released.

It would take a few years for their influence to be felt at Capcom but once it was there the China Daughter would make her way into the Street Fighter universe. There was something missing with the original Chun-Li concept. She was a little too simple, a little too generic. The studio was playing it safe with the lineup. That was when designer Akira "Akiman" Yasuda decided to give her a radical makeover. She was turned from a prodigious girl into a grown woman. She became an undercover cop that had infiltrated the Street Fighter tournament. Her flowing costume was a disguise. She had wrestling boots on and heavy spiked bracelets to add some contrast to her blue silk uniform. She wore tights over her exposed thighs which allowed her to kick and remain modest at the same time. Akiman was a proponent of her legs being her main weapons. She was given the Hyakuretsukyaku aka Lightning Kick and the Kaitenteki Kakukyakushuu aka Spinning Bird Kick as her special attacks. Akiman would forever be known as the father of Chun-Li and the person that painted her best portraits.

Audiences fell in love with Chun-Li at first sight. She was young and energetic. Blindingly fast and able of doing things that none of the other World Warriors could. Despite being an adult she still had some hold overs to her youthful origin. She would jump and giggle with each victory. She would cry with every loss. Even her ending showed that she had a life outside of fighting, which was a stark difference to most of the male characters. After avenging the death of her father she celebrated her newfound independence and went out with her girlfriends. An alternate ending was added where instead of dating she went into police work. She set a standard that would be hard, if not impossible to beat. The best female designs in the Street Fighter universe have borrowed from Chun-Li. Cammy, Blare Dame, Pullum Purna and Juri all took cues from the first lady of Street Fighter. Whether it was costume elements, build or even back story, there was something that connected many of the designs together.

When the studio decided to create a younger version of Chun-Li for the Zero / Alpha series they changed her costume to be an homage to the jumpsuit that Bruce Lee wore in his final movie, the Game of Death. Her spiked bracelet became a weighted bracelet and her wrestling boots were turned into sneakers. It was a clever way of showing her in a more youthful light and celebrating the influences that Capcom designers used when creating the character. Chun-Li is without a doubt one of the biggest reasons why the Street Fighter series has made it to 30 and will keep on going. Do you have a favorite version of Chun-Li or game she appeared in? I'd like to read about it in the comments. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!