Chun-Li/Pop Culture

Chun-Li is one of the earliest female video game protagonists to achieve widespread popularity. Prior to Street Fighter II being released in 1991, most female characters in games existed as objectives to be rescued or cast in the roles of other supporting characters, such as townspeople, girlfriends, the occasional opponent, or simply background decoration; as such, there were very few heroines in action-based video games. After the success of Street Fighter II and Chun-Li's popularity, female protagonists became increasingly common. Since then, in games with selectable characters, at least one of them will almost always be female; and a number of games released since then have placed a female character in the lead role.

Like Ryu, Chun-Li has been referenced countless times in pop culture ever since her introduction in Street Fighter II. This is a page listing her references in general pop culture.

Street Fighter series

 * In Street Fighter III, one of Chun-Li's win quotes is "Hey leave me alone. I'm a fighter, not a news reporter." This may refer to Street Fighter: The Movie, where Chun-Li was portrayed as a news reporter.


 * Chun-Li's "continue" pose in Street Fighter IV is taken from a panel in the Sakura Ganbaru! manga.

Capcom games

 * Chun-Li can be seen at the background of the Hong Kong stage in Final Fight 2, eating ramen at a food stall.


 * Chun-Li appears in the crowd in Saturday Night Slam Masters. She can be seen at the left side, next to the ring entrance.


 * In the prologue of Mega Man 9, a news reporter on the TV resembles Chun-Li, possibly referencing her movie counterpart once again.


 * A policewoman bearing a striking resemblance to Chun-Li appears in the epilogue of Asura's Wrath, another video game by Capcom.


 * Chun-Li's likeness appears in the game We Love Golf! as an unlockable cosplay outfit for Lisa.


 * Chun-Li has a cameo appearance in the original Breath of Fire, where she can be seen in her P2 outfit practicing her lightning kicks in the thief's house in the town of Bleak if the player ask him to perform a magic trick and respond to his questions correctly. If the player beats the game with the "BrokenSD" equipped on the Hero and gets the good ending, she will also appear during it while wearing her P2 outfit.


 * She also appears in the Pachislot game Chun-Li Ni Makase China! where she has the starring role.

Other video games

 * An NPC by the name of Chun Li can be found in a night club in Ubisoft's game Watch Dogs whose profile lists her as the subject of a foreign police report.


 * In 2008, Sackboy skins for Chun-Li (along with Ryu, Guile and Zangief) were released as downloadable content in LittleBigPlanet.


 * One of Peppita's alternate costumes in the PS2 RPG Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is Chun-Li's outfit.

Comics and Manga

 * Chun-Li made a cameo appearance in the manga Faeries' Landing.
 * Chun-Li shares some simmilarities with Chi-Chi from DragonBall manga.Both are the first female martial artists in their respective series,both are in love with muscular male charaters (in Chi-Chi's case,she is also married),both are sex symbols of their respective series.

Television and Animations

 * In the Sonic X episode, "The Adventures of Knuckles and Hawk", one of the Chinese women with ox horns resembles Chun-Li.


 * Chan Lee, a character from Bakugan Battle Brawlers, slightly resembles Chun-Li.


 * Chun-Li was seen in a background scene in the U.S. cartoon Jackie Chan Adventures.


 * In the American Dad! episode "Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls", Toshi's sister Akiko dresses up as Chun-Li for Halloween.


 * In Fushigi Yûgi, the main heroine, Miaka Yuuki, has her hair tied in two unadorned ox horns similar to Chun-Li's appearance in the Street Fighter Alpha series until the OVA versions, where her hair is loose.


 * In Jibaku-kun also known as Bucky: The Incredible Kid, the character Pinky has two large unadorned ox horns resembling Chun-Li's ribbon ox horns in Street Fighter II.


 * In Ryusei Sentai Musumet, Kou Saotome bears a striking resemblance to Chun-Li's alternate appearance in Street Fighter IV. In her Automet Yellow form, the shape of her white, yellow and orange helmet resembles ox horns that half conceals her unadorned ox horns on her hair similar to Chun-Li's ribbons in Street Fighter II and onwards.


 * Chun-Li and Cammy appear as a cameo in the Disney's film Wreck-It Ralph. They are seen walking together holding hands at the Game Central Station, along with many other famous videogame characters. Later reappear in the same place, but talking to the Princess Peach from the videogame Super Mario Bros.. Chun Li can also be seen in an episode of the Wreck-It Ralf TV series "Day in a zoo".


 * Yuki from the Shokugeki No Soma series, on episode 13, she has a slight resemblance to Chun-Li.


 * Sonoda Umi in Love Live! Project season 2 episode 4, in the beginning intro; she wears a Chinese outfit that closely resembles Chun-Li's.

Movies

 * In the live-action "movie adaptation" of City Hunter, there is a little comic relief sequence in wich some of the characters from Street Fighter II appear depicted. Ryo Saeba, the main character played by Jackie Chan, hilariously cosplays as Chun-Li near the end of that fighting sequence.

Fan Works

 * Chun-Li's Hyakuretsukyaku and Senretsu Kyaku was used in the fan-made series Dead Fantasy by Final Fantasy character Tifa.


 * Chun-Li appeared in the 16th episode of Screwattack's "Death Battle" series where she was pitted against her SNK rival, Mai Shiranui. She ends up losing and the fight ends with Mai incinerating her down to her skeleton.

Music

 * British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys has a song entitled "Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick" (a demo recorded before their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not), a guitar-driven instrumental track still unreleased on record, but available over the Internet.