Answering The Internet's Most Asked Questions About Chun-Li

Google is such a useful tool for answering questions. The search engine has basically become ingrained in everyday life, with people more comfortable with Google answers than those from their fellow human beings. This also means that people tend to ask all sorts of questions about the biggest celebrities. There's even a YouTube show dedicated to celebrities answering the most searched questions about themselves.

Interestingly, fighting games also boast of interesting and diverse characters that fans are eager to know more about. In this piece, we'll answer the top questions asked about the beauty that is Chun-Li. While you could probably find the answers to some of these questions yourself, having them in one place is pretty handy, so I did the searching, so you don't have to.

Is Chun-Li Chinese?

This is one of the most obvious questions, and from the name, it is pretty evident that she is of Chinese descent. Her name literally means "Spring Beauty" and is pronounced 'Chuen Li' rather than the more popular 'Chuhn Li,' which is used by most people. There is an American iteration of the character in the movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, where the fighter was played by Smallville's Kristin Kreuk. But, the movie was terrible, and we can all pretend it does not exist. With that said, we can settle on the official answer, which is that Chun-Li is Chinese.

Is Chun-Li a real person?

No. Unfortunately, Chun-Li is not a real person. However, it is a real name, and there are a couple of women with the name Chun-Li. Naturally, when a character is so iconic, she tends to inspire several things, the most popular being the hit single by American rapper Nicki Minaj in which the rapper alluded to the Street Fighter character's aesthetic. While the Chun-Li lyrics don't delve into the character, they do present Nicki Minaj as Chun-Li. Apart from that, Chun-Li is an inspirational figure as she was the first female character in the game and is a pivotal part of the story.

As mentioned above, Chun-Li is not a real person, but a number of cosplayers have tried to bring her to life with varying degrees of success.

Is Chun-Li evil?

Evil and Chun-Li form an oxymoron of sorts, as this is a character that has always been on the right side of the law. In fact, she is usually characterized as a straight-laced law enforcement agent who is after a crime syndicate boss, M Bison, over her father's death. The question of evil was due to the Nicki Minaj Chun-Li song where the rapper seemed to call the fighter a 'bad guy,' but this isn't true, and in a later interview, Nicki Minaj explained that she is aware that Chun-Li isn't evil but that her good deeds could easily be flipped. There is a villain that looks like Chun-Li in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes called Shadow Lady. She is a cyborg with a darker shade of color allegedly created by M Bison using Shadaloo tech.

Does Chun-Li like Ryu?

Okay, so this is interesting. The Chun-Li/Ryu ship has been going on for a while, and the two work so closely together over various Street Fighter storylines that a lot of fans like the idea of the two as a couple. Unfortunately, Capcom has not made this canon, and as far as anyone knows, the two are just friends and allies. But, such is the nature of Street Fighter that there are several storylines explored in other media. For instance, in the Malibu comic version of Street Fighter, it was implied that Ken and Chun-Li might have had a thing before he became a big deal. Also, there is a sequence in which Ryu and Chun-Li share a kiss, which points to the idea that the two might have feelings for each other. Unfortunately, Ryu's dedication to martial arts and training makes the possibility of a relationship slim to none.

Meanwhile, Chun-Li's determination to avenge her father's death could also be a reason why she doesn't get together with Ryu. The reluctance of Capcom to make a relationship between the two could also be to allow for enough wiggle room from a storytelling perspective. It's kind of how Spiderman and Batman are barely ever given settled relationships.

Does Chun-Li wear pants?

In her first appearance in Street Fighter II, Chun-Li didn't have any pants on and instead stuck to a blue dress, called a qipao, with a pretty generous slit that basically reached her waist. This could possibly be because it provided more freedom to execute her moves (spinning bird kick in jeans sounds like a LOT of stress). However, in later games, she has been put in pants including in Street Fighter V, where she has the tracksuit option and a uniform option for the story mode, both of which feature pants. But, her default costume is closer to her Street Fighter II outfit.

What is Chun-Li's fighting style

Most wikis state that Chun-Li uses Chinese martial arts, but this is a pretty vague answer as there are several disciplines under this style of fighting. If we want to get more specific, it could be argued that Chun-Li practices Tai Chi Chuan as her sprite animations in third strike seem to resemble some of tai chi poses. Gen, who is a mentor and master to Chun-Li, is also listed as using legendary Chinese martial arts, and in some cases, his move set can be categorized as Ansatsuken. But he and Chun-Li's moves aren't very similar, which made me wonder how both characters are connected. At least with Ken and Ryu, you can see the influence of Gouken.

How old is Chun-Li?

Chun-Li is 52 years old as her biography states that she was born on the 1st of March 1968. She is also about five foot six inches tall, which is a decent height all things considered. Also, while her weight is kept a secret (maybe she's self-conscious?), it is estimated that she weighs between 138-150 pounds, and we all know that about half of those are because of her incredibly strong thighs.