Crimson Viper

Crimson Viper (クリムゾン・ヴァイパー), also known as Maya, (マヤ) is a character in the Street Fighter series. She is an American fighter employed by S.I.N., and presumed head of the "Battle Suit" Project. In reality, Crimson Viper is a secret agent under the employ of a U.S. government agency, presumably the CIA. She enters and participates in the S.I.N.'s tournament under the guise of acquiring data for the Battle Suit for S.I.N., though her true motives are to acquire data from the BLECE Project, in addition to eliminating &quot;Number 15&quot;.

Personality
Crimson Viper's working personality is superior and condescending, as seen in her interactions with Chun-Li, Cammy and Hakan. However, she is also genuinely interested in the inner workings and problems of the other fighters, as shown in her various win-quotes.

Appearance
Crimson Viper wears a specially designed Battle Suit for the tournament, developed and manufactured by S.I.N.. When inquired by an Executive as to the reason for her participation in the tournament, she states that she's the only test subject to utilize 100% of the suit's capabilities effectively, and thus is the prime candidate for the field test. The suit is remarkable in the sense that it resembles an ordinary business suit, though two weapons lurk within the accompanying gloves and boots.

The gloves have metal knuckles that can be electrically charged, creating visual arcs of electricity when enough power is supplied; these can stun or damage an opponent quite heavily at higher settings, which combined with Viper's natural speed and agility pose an incredible danger to fighters of all skill and size. The boots hold jets inside the arc between the heel and sole, with a switch on the side of the boot activating the temporary jet propulsion. The boots are capable of granting the wearer a much greater jumping ability, though Viper frequently fires them up and uses them in a defensive kick, burning anyone within distance.

The suit does not provide the wearer with any sort of ranged attacks or abilities in the traditional sense (as opposed to ki practitioners who utilize attacks such as the Hadoken or the Sonic Boom), but the gloves (when switched to a particular setting) allow for C. Viper to unleash the Seismic Hammer, a ground explosion from beneath her opponent that she causes by punching the ground with the glove. This is a very deceptive attack, considering it travels beneath the floor. The Battle Suit does not (presumably) protect the wearer from damage; it was designed for stealth and ease of concealment, not battlefields or war zones.

Super Street Fighter IV
Though employed by S.I.N., she is actually a mole for an American intelligence agency (most likely the C.I.A.) investigating the BLECE project: she is in charge of the "Battle Suit project" in her role as S.I.N. operative, and enters the tournament they are holding to test the prototype. If successful, she will be reassigned to the BLECE project. In addition to this, she's also to scout for potential recruits on a recruitment list she is given, one of whom is Hakan - whom she rejects as a candidate.

Prior to the tournament, Viper attacked Ryu under Seth's orders to test his skills, but the fight is interrupted by Cammy; Viper manages to defeat and brutally torture her in an attempt to enrage Ryu into giving into the Satsui no Hadou. She is successful, but the surge of power destroys her monitoring equipment, and she is forced to flee.

Before the tournament, she is informed that members of a C.I.A. team which was investigating S.I.N.'s rumored links to Shadaloo have all been assassinated. Realizing that she alone must finish the mission, she infiltrates S.I.N.'s HQ searching for information. While there, she comes across a wounded Seth, who recognizes her as a CIA agent. She responds by finishing him off. Unfortunately, the data pertaining to BLECE is destroyed by Cammy before Viper has a chance to copy it, resulting in several years of investigation disappearing into thin air. The data linking Shadaloo to S.I.N. is not destroyed, however, and is recovered by Chun-Li prior to the Facility's destruction.

Returning back to the CIA, she reports to her superiors that "#15" (i.e. Seth) has been eliminated, and that the "remaining 26" are in her sights. She then returns home to her daughter Lauren, who is finally seen and confirmed after having gradually been hinted at since the Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind anime.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
C. Viper is a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and its updated version, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In her ending, she is confronted by Nick Fury. Fury seems to be impressed with her skills and thus he offers her a chance to work as part of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Legend of Chun-Li
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li depicts a character, Detective Maya Sunee, who is based off of Crimson Viper, according to the "Making of" commentary included on the DVD.

Trivia

 * Crimson Viper's hair could most likely be inspired by Angelina Jolie's roles in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Tomb Raider.
 * She is the only playable mother in the Street Fighter series.
 * The Super Street Fighter IV website lists her birth date as July 18, and the Marvel vs Capcom 3 site lists her age as 30.
 * Viper's second alternate costume, the skin-tight battle suit, features a logo around the chest area incredibly similar to that of the real-life CIA.
 * Crimson Viper is one of the six characters from Street Fighter IV (the others being Chun-Li, Cammy, Guile, Ryu and Seth) to have second rivals in SSFIV. Her second rival is Hakan.
 * Her suit and moves closely resemble those of Captain Commando.
 * Crimson Viper's gloves and boots are fully visible if she is wearing either her Street Fighter IV or Super Street Fighter IV alternate costumes.
 * Crimson Viper is the first playable female character from the United States in the series.
 * Many of the fighters in Street Fighter IV, most notably El Fuerte, Akuma and Gouken, dislike her for bringing weapons into a martial arts tournament, perceiving it as a reliance on something other than her own skills.
 * C. Viper is the only playable character from SFIV not to make a direct cameo appearance in Street Fighter X Tekken; Abel and Rufus are playable, and El Fuerte appears on a billboard in the background of one of the stages. However, Tekken's Jin Kazama dons a battlesuit similar to Viper's as one of his Swap Costumes, and Viper herself is referenced in the Playstation Store/Xbox Live Marketplace descriptions (and the Japanese website).
 * C. Viper might have worked with Colonel Wolfman (Cammy's boss in the Delta Red team) in the past, as evidenced in her winng post-round quote during Cammy's rival fight against her.