Chun-Li’s Fight to the Top
By: C.S. Voll
Tags: Visual Design, Digital Life, History, Gaming, Features

Chun-Li’s Fight to the Top

Damsels in distress were a common in older video games, accompanied with well-trodden clichés that would only continue to proliferate as time went by. Certain strong characters were pulling out of these deep furrows by the early ‘90s though, such as Chun-Li, the popular character from the iconic Street Fighter video game franchise.

Calling all fighters

Coming off the success of Final Fight, the team at Capcom had to follow it up with another success in 1991. In the first Street Fighter game, everyone could only play as Ryu (or Ken if a second player put money in the arcade cabinet), but with the second instalment the development team created a roster of eight playable characters, further fostering a sense of competition among players.

Ken and Chun-Li appearing on a screen in Akihabara, Tokyo — Japan. By Hakan Nural from Unsplash.

Akira Yasuda, the chief artist in the Street Fighter II development team, made distinctive fighters with characteristics that drew on the stereotypes of each’s respective birth country. The choice of the qipao as Chun-Li’s apparel of choice was one aspect of this. She also sports so-called ox horn buns, which is a hairstyle traditionally worn by Chinese girls. Yasuda explains the rationale behind choosing this type of hair for the character (Hendershot 2017: 9):

I was taught they were Chinese. And they’re cute. And they’re easy to draw. And they look good in dot art.

Small stylistic choices, such as the bun hairstyle, meant the roster of Street Fighter II was more memorable. Yasuda also added character elements to provoke a reaction, get people talking, and to make it viral.

Different realities

Chun-Li can fight on an equal footing with her male counterparts, but this might have taken a different turn during the development of Street Fighter II. Artists felt pressure to make her more “cute” or “beautiful” (Hastings 2018). Yoshiki Okamoto, one of the lead designers, made a suggestion that could have had major implications, as he recounted in an interview (Leone 2014):

You know how each character has a life bar? At one point, I wanted to make the power gauge for Chun-Li shorter than for the other characters because women are not as strong. But Nishitani [game designer] didn’t want to do that. We both had legitimate reasons, but then we came to an agreement to not make it shorter.

This decision could have forced Chun-Li to make her debut with a significant disadvantage. With a shorter life bar, fewer players would have chosen to play as her, and this would undoubtedly have affected her popularity. Nevertheless, with the choice of a level playing field, she became one of the most popular. At one point in the development her design, she was something more akin to a soldier, based on Vasquez from Aliens, although the team went in another direction.

Chun-Li cosplay in 2014. By kxz Chen from Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Physical traits

One of the most remarked upon traits of Chun-Li is her muscular thighs. In the world, the reason she has powerful leg muscles is her intensive training, and this dedication allows her to pull off the Lightning Kick technique. Yoko Shimomura, the composer of Street Fighter II’s soundtrack, still felt she had to ask though (Leone 2014):

Chun-Li has big thighs, right? So back in the day, I asked Mr. Yasuda, “Why does she have such big thighs?” And he started shouting and went off and was like, “I can’t believe you don’t understand the appeal.” And he started explaining the attraction. And you know, I’m a woman and I asked the question but it kind of got awkward when he started explaining his fetishes. I mean, he has really strong feelings toward his creations.

Many fans were thankful for this representation of a different femininity. Muscular women, and strenuous physical activities, were often deemed to be unfeminine, but icons such as Chun-Li represented a change in thought. Because her muscles are visual representations of her power, they aren’t merely eroticized signifiers, but show her earned physical mastery. Thus, it is through the use of her legs, often sexualized on female characters, that she vanquishes her opponents, many of whom are men. This paradox is one constant throughout her design.

Revoltech Chun-Li figurine. By Marco Hazard from Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The meaning of a hero

She would also have a career as an Interpol investigator, indicating a shift in perceptions of women in the workplace. Because of these ground-breaking shifts, she became one of the favorite characters for cosplayers as well. Bryan J. Carr, an expert on pop culture, summarizes the impact that Chun-Li had (Carr 2017: 36):

Most importantly, it is possible that for many young men and women of the early 1990s, Chun-Li might have been their introduction to the idea that a woman could be as capable as a man both in the virtual world and outside of it.

Fans became attached to her because she signified strength, skill, and perseverance. Unlike other fighters, her motivations were pure as well — she took part in fighting tournament to take down evil Shadaloo organization that was responsible for the death of her father. Her study of Chinese Kenpo, with a focus on fast strikes, made her a formidable opponent. In 1992’s Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Chun-Li became even more formidable when was given her own energy projectile attack — the Kikoken.

Street Fighter minifigures. From left to right: Chun-Li, Balrog, Cammy, and M. Bison. By Julian Fong from Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

An enduring legacy

Capcom understood the importance of creating iconic characters would have for their fighting game. The art staff accounted for more than half of Street Fighter II’s development team, and they created characters that would stand out among the many competing arcade cabinets. The franchise’s first female character would, in contrast with the prevailing practices of the time, be a powerful fighter with a mission. Yoko Shimomura had her own theory about why the characters came out so different (Leone 2014):

Because all these unique people got together and everybody had something they wanted to do. So they gathered all of that and put it together into one game. And because of that, I think it turned out to be something unique.

The eccentric creatives made a game where the gender divide didn’t stop different fighters from competing on equal footing. Chun-Li, the product of these unique minds converging, became much more than a character: “The Strongest Woman in the World” became a pop culture icon.

Sources:

Baird, S. 2017. “Street Fighter: 15 Things You Never Knew About Chun-Li” on Screen Rant.

Carr, B.J. 2017. 100 Greatest Video Game Characters. Banks, J. & Mejia, R. & Adams, A. (eds.). Lanham (USA): Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Hastings, C. 2018. “The Kickass Legacy of Chun-Li, the First Playable Woman in ‘Street Fighter’ ” on Vice.

Hendershot, S. 2017. Undisputed Street Fighter: The Art And Innovation Behind The Game-Changing Series. Mount Laurel (USA): Dynamite Entertainment.

Leone, M. 2014. “Street Fighter 2: An Oral History” on Polygon.

Ng, B.W. 2006. Street Fighter and The King of Fighters in Hong Kong: A Study of Cultural Consumption and Localization of Japanese Games in an Asian Context. Game Studies volume 6 issue 1.

Plunkett, L. 2020. “Chun-Li Is 52 Years Old” on Kotaku.

Stone, S. 2019. “Street Fighter: What Made Ryu and Chun-Li Video Game Icons” on Comic Book Resources.

Wilde, T. 2008. “Street Fighter Week: The evolution of Chun-Li and Blanka” on GamesRadar+.