C. Viper

"Try getting a real job!"

- Crimson Viper

"Yes, that's right... Understood. (ええ そのようです 了解！)"

- Crimson Viper (Street Fighter IV series)

Crimson Viper (クリムゾン・ヴァイパー), also known as either C. Viper or by her alias, Maya (マヤ), is a video game character from the Street Fighter series, first appearing in Street Fighter IV. She is an undercover CIA agent who fights using an assortment of gadgets hidden within her battle suit.

Appearance
C. 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 fully utilize 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 Battle Suit presumably does not protect the wearer from damage, as it was designed for stealth and ease of concealment.

One of her alternate costumes in the Street Fighter IV games is a white science coat, black dress with a revealing top and black high-heeled shoes. In her original Street Fighter IV ending, she wears what appears to be a long black dress and black open-toed shoes.

In her profile artwork from the Street Fighter V website, C. Viper wears a gray revealing catsuit with a green shoulder holster and a black arm band with a pouch on her shoulder and black boots. She also wears a matching black choker on her neck.

Personality
C. 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, but when it comes to her missions, C. Viper will not let anyone stop her from completing her goals.

As mentioned in her win quotes, her current personality is a far cry from her younger years. It is implied that she was something of a wildcat and a thrill seeking delinquent as a teenager, before the events that got her to be a responsible and focused adult.

When C. Viper is not doing missions, she is shown to be a loving mother for her daughter Lauren, as shown in her Super Street Fighter IV ending.

Concept
Designed by Capcom artist Daigo Ikeno, C. Viper was designed around the concept of a 20-year-old single mother. Visually, she resembles Sharon, a redheaded special agent from Street Fighter EX 2.

While previous Street Fighter titles relied almost solely on Capcom's Research and Development branch, the development team instead allowed other branches of the company to give input on the design of new characters, due to the influx of fan requests from outside Japan. C. Viper was designed based upon marketing research on what sorts of characters an American audience would enjoy playing, and tailored her towards Western tastes as an experiment to see how audiences would receive the character. Street Fighter IV executive producer Yoshinori Ono has described her as the most "unorthodox" of the four new characters introduced in the title, emphasizing this aspect as one he felt would appeal to American players, and was his favorite character when the game was early in development.

In response to claims that the character resembled one found more commonly in SNK developed games, Ono retorted that the resemblance was unintended, and that she was created from the best parts of several proposed designs during early development. He went on to state that she was also an attempt to create a character with a "cool" design, which he feels are predominant in SNK titles.

Seth
Even though C. Viper worked for him, she is against everything Seth and the S.I.N. stands for. After the tournament, she states to her superior that Seth was eliminated and searches for the remaining 26.

Lauren
C. Viper is shown to be very close to her daughter.

Cammy
Cammy and C. Viper are only rivals; Cammy sees her as an enemy because she works for the S.I.N. (same for Chun-Li), but is unknown of the fact that C. Viper is a CIA agent secretly trying to take down S.I.N. and Shadaloo. After Cammy defeats C. Viper for standing in her way, C. Viper herself then appears in Cammy's Street Fighter IV ending. When Cammy discovers and read the computer files regarding the "BLECE Project", C. Viper surprises her and holds her at gunpoint, wanting the BLECE files for herself. Not wanting the data to be used to hurt anyone, Cammy deletes the files instead. After dodging a backhanded fist from Cammy, C. Viper puts away her weapon and escapes, lamenting years of investigation wasted. C. Viper flees, disappointed that her mission failed.

Chun-Li
Crimson Viper is one of Chun-Li's rivals, mostly because C. Viper "impeded" Chun-Li's investigation on Shadaloo and S.I.N. Chun-Li almost blew C. Viper's cover (her working for S.I.N.) and tried to take her in. It is unknown who won the battle between C. Viper and Chun-Li, but it is known that Chun-Li recovered data linking to Shadaloo and S.I.N.

Hakan
C. Viper was sent to investigate Hakan by her superiors, but doesn't respect him at all.

M. Bison
M. Bison was previously interested in using C. Viper's gadgets, but she declines so they fight. She was defeated but somehow escaped with her gadgets.

Juri
C. Viper has somewhat maintained a professional relationship with the taekwondo fighter during her time undercover.

Super Street Fighter IV
Though employed by S.I.N. in reality, C. Viper is a secret agent under the employ of a U.S. government agency, later shown to be the CIA. She is in charge of the "Battle Suit project" in her role as a S.I.N. operative under the alias "Maya", 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 list she is given, one of whom is Hakan - whom she rejects as a candidate.

Before the tournament, she is informed that members of a CIA team which was investigating S.I.N.'s rumored links to Shadaloo have all been assassinated, realizing that she alone must finish the mission. On the way there during the tournament, C. Viper encounters numerous people. She introduced herself to Cammy (who didn't seem to want to be bothered with her) then they fight. She also encounters M. Bison, who wants her gadgets but she declines and they fight. Chun-Li almost blew C. Viper's cover causing them to fight also. After all that 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 C. Viper has a chance to copy it, resulting in several years of investigation disappearing into thin air. However, the data linking Shadaloo to S.I.N. is not destroyed, 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 on her car.

Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind
Prior to the tournament, Crimson Viper (as Maya) tried to interview Ken Masters (who she also has been spying on for some time) at the Masters Foundation headquarters but is turned down. Later, C. Viper goes to find and introduce herself to Ken's wife Eliza Masters in a babyshop, giving a doll to her.

At the Masters' manor, Eliza and a maid are talking about the doll, which is bugged, unbeknownst to them. The bug was planted by C. Viper, who catches a S.I.N. agent spying on her. She beats him soundly with a Thunder Knuckle and tells him to contact "his boss right now". Later, she talks with the CIA about her mission to go after Ryu, believing that if he is to be found, they will need Ken, because of their friendship and rivalry. C. Viper thinks of her daughter Lauren throughout the conversation and after, looks at a picture of herself and Lauren, she finds a "Happy Birthday Mom" card on the mirror of her car. Later C. Viper was drinking in her car when she sees someone runs pass her car.

Afterwards, C. Viper ambushes Ryu (under Seth's orders to test his skills) and fights him, using attacks like her Thunder Knuckle, untill Cammy interrupts. She attempts to fend the secret agent off, but is defeated and tortured by C. Viper to force Ryu to give into the Satsui no Hado. When he does so, the power he exudes forces her to retreat. At the Masters' manor, C. Viper calls Ken to inform him and the rest of the fighters that S.I.N. are holding Eliza hostage in exchange for Ryu. In the cruise ship where C. Viper keeps Eliza hostage, Ken and the rest of the fighters, Ryu, Sakura, and Chun-Li, sneaks on board and Ken confronts C. Viper, who refuses to tell him where Eliza is, regarding him as weak, and tries to punch him with her Thunder Knuckle but to her surprise, Ken blocks it with near invincibility, and C. Viper escapes, noting this power Ken showed is no slouch, even compared to Ryu's Satsui no Hado.

At the end of the film, Lauren arrives to C. Viper's car from school to see her mother who was talking on the phone and was happy to see her daughter.

SSFIV OVA
C. Viper appeared near the end of the OVA having remotely hacked into Chun-Li's laptop and monitored the battle with Juri at Shadaloo's base in the mountains. Commenting on the events, she hoped Chun-Li had managed to dig up good Intel on Juri, and looks forward to the Interpol agent continuing to purse the Taekwondo fighter for Crimson Viper's purposes.

Character Story appearances
While C. Viper has yet to make a playable appearance in Street Fighter V, she is shown to be constantly communicating with Rashid through social media during the latter's prologue story. She is under the username "effiepurpnight", and even uses an image of a crimson-colored snake. She is referred to as Maya by Rashid, and she warns him of the dangers of Shadaloo. At some point prior to the present events, she had sent Rashid a mysterious object, though she did not state for what purpose or what the object was. As a way to test his skills, she then gives him the coordinates to Ryu's location.

In M. Bison's character story, whilst on an undercover mission infiltrating Shadaloo, C. Viper found information about M. Bison's last encounter with Charlie Nash, whom everyone (including herself) thought to be long dead. When spying on a meeting held by Shadaloo, her presence is easily spotted by M. Bison, who shoots a blast at her; she manages to escape his attack without any injuries.

In Juri's character story, C. Viper encounters Juri as she tells her about her reasons why she was not jailed because of other matters and warns her about Shadaloo's motives.

In Urien's character story, C. Viper confronts Urien after finding out that another vessel from S.I.N. is in someone's hands. C. Viper questions him about his motives and mistaking him as the next potential leader of S.I.N. after Seth (as Urien currently holds as the title of Vice President of Illuminati). As her interrogation continues, Urien angrily shoots an Aegis Reflector on her which she dodges. Urien continuous to use multiple of Aegis Reflectors, forcing her to escape.

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

UDON comics
Crimson Viper appeared in UDON's Street Fighter IV comic, which focuses on her and the game's other newcomers. She is shown working undercover for an unknown employer in order to discover S.I.N.'s plans. To that end, she infiltrates the organization and, at 15's request, she kidnaps fighters all over the world, due to the latent Satsui no Hado within their bodies. Her final target turns out to be Sakura, whom she abducts along with Dan in Japan. Tricking 15 into learning how the BLECE project works, C. Viper starts having second thoughts about her mission and, even though she is instructed to let S.I.N.'s plans run their course, she has a change of heart and breaks into the S.I.N. facility where the fighters are being held captive, releasing them and also stealing vital data from the project before the facility - and the BLECE machinery - is destroyed in an explosion. C. Viper manages to cover up her part in the events from both her employer and S.I.N.. through clever manipulation, however.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3/Ultimate
C. Viper is a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and its updated version, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. She is the first Street Fighter IV representative to be playable in the series. In her ending, she is confronted by Nick Fury, who seems to be impressed with her skills and offers her a chance to work as part of S.H.I.E.L.D. This is hinted at by Captain America in his win quote against Crimson Viper ("S.H.I.E.L.D could use an agent of your skill. One with a bit more training, anyway."); Hawkeye's opening line for her also hints that S.H.I.E.L.D. ultimately did not go through with the offer, however ("Take it up with Fury if S.H.I.E.L.D. rejected your application. Not me.").

Street Fighter × Mega Man
C. Viper is one of the bosses of Street Fighter × Mega Man.

Fighting style
While her fighting style is simply officially refered as "using secret spy gadgets", C. Viper, as a CIA agent, likely went through the same training regiment as all other CIA operatives, which can be surmised to mirror that of the real-life organization; included among the styles utilized in training are judo and Krav Maga.

Abilities
C. Viper's techniques in particular are centered around augmenting her natural speed and agility with her special Battle Suit. 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 based on the limiter's settings, often via sending powerful shockwaves through the ground. Crimson Viper can also feint these moves to confuse her opponent, or cancel the moves themselves for a combo.

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 for a defensive, burning kick.

In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Crimson Viper gains the Optic Laser, a red laser beam fired from her sunglasses. Mega Man also unlocks the Optic Laser after defeating C.Viper in Street Fighter X Mega Man, though despite it's name, he fires it from the Mega Buster like most attacks.

Viper's use of high-tech weaponry is commented on frequently by the other characters, and is usually looked down upon due to their 'unorthodox' nature.

Moveset
Gameplay-wise, C. Viper is useful as a rushdown character, and can keep foes off-balance with her speed and variable attacks.

Super and Ultra Combos
Crimson Viper's Super Combo, the Emergency Combination, has her charging her gloves, then delivering a punch to the gut, then a Thunder Knuckle to the face and finishing with a burning backflip kick. The punch button pressed determines the speed and range that the super combo covers (the Light version covers half the screen but has a very long gap inbetween the moves, the Medium version covers a bit further and has a lower gap and the Heavy version covers a very short range but there is no gap between the moves).

C. Viper's first Ultra Combo, Burst Time, has her overcharging her gloves and punching the ground to create an electrical explosion. Crimson Viper then performs four backflip kicks that juggle the opponent in the air. The Burst Time comes with a lot of startup and recovery, so comboing into it from a juggle or crumpling the opponent beforehand is the best method of insuring that it will hit.

C. Viper's second Ultra Combo, the Burning Dance, has her crashing into her opponent foot first from the air and then surfing them to the edge of the screen. She then cartwheels and catches her opponent with her crossed wrists while soaring upwards with her boots. At the peak of the jump, C. Viper electrocutes her opponent and backflips to land on her feet. As it can only be performed in the air, the Burning Dance is a very hard move to combo into. On the other hand, it has a tiny amount of startup and there are ways to combo into it if timed right.

In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, C. Viper uses the Emergency Combination and Burst Time as her two level 1 Hyper Combos, and her level 3 Hyper Combo Viper Full Throttle resembles the Burning Dance's electrocution part, though ending with Viper smashing the opponent back into the ground for extra damage.

Quotes
See: Crimson Viper/Quotes.

Trivia

 * C. Viper is notable for having these distinctions in the series.
 * The first playable female character from the United States.
 * The only character whose fighting potential doesn't come from a known spiritual energy, martial art (currently), combat sport or physical training.
 * The first and only known playable single parent and mother so far.
 * The only character who wasn't in the Street Fighter III series or Street Fighter X Tekken who can Super Jump.


 * C. Viper's fighting stance has a minor resemblance to Sharon's fighting stance.


 * C. Viper's physical appearance could've been inspired by the famous actress Angelina Jolie, specifically by her roles in Tomb Raider (live-action film) and Mr. &amp; Mrs. Smith.


 * The Super Street Fighter IV website lists her birth date as July 18 and the official Marvel vs. Capcom 3 website lists her age as 30.


 * C. Viper's second alternate costume features a logo around the chest area incredibly similar to that of the real-life CIA.


 * She has a mobile phone very similar to the Nokia N76, as seen in Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind.


 * As a CIA agent, She is currently one of the people investigating Q.


 * C. Viper's gloves and boots are fully visible if she is wearing either her Street Fighter IV or Super Street Fighter IV alternate costumes.


 * In Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind, her boots allow sustained flight, though in-game they can only provide quick bursts of height (since no character is able to fly in-game).


 * Her suit and moves closely resemble those of fellow Capcom character Captain Commando.


 * C. Viper shares some few similarities with The King of Fighters characters Mature, Vice and Vanessa.


 * C. Viper is the only playable character from SFIV not to make a direct and/or cameo appearance in Street Fighter X Tekken. However, Tekken character Jin Kazama dons a battlesuit similar to C. Viper's as one of his swap costumes, and C. Viper herself is referenced in the descriptions (and the Japanese website).


 * C. Viper might have worked with Colonel Wolfman (Cammy's boss in Delta Red) in the past, according to her post-round win quote against Cammy.


 * An unlockable title for C. Viper in Super Street Fighter IV, captioned "Gotta Quit Smoking" suggests (though not confirmed) that C. Viper herself is a smoker.


 * In Dead Rising 4, a chibi version of C. Viper is seen in an electronic panel during the final battle.


 * As noted above, C. Viper is the only character introduced in the Street Fighter IV series who made a debut in a Marvel vs. Capcom game.


 * C. Viper is the first character to retain the Focus Attack mechanic in a crossover game (Ryu would be next in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U).

Gallery
C. Viper/Gallery