Chun-Li/Pop Culture

Chun-Li is the first playable female fighter in a one-on-one fighting game and 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 was casted in non-playable minor roles, such as objectives to be rescued, 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 the rise of 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.

• She appears in the Pachislot game Chun-Li ni makase China where she has the starring role.

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.

• 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 asks him to perform a magic trick and responds 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.

• Li-Li, a Chinese tennis player who resembles Chun-Li, appears in the Capcom Sports Club.

• Chun-Li appears in a poster in Resident Evil Survivor.

• In the science fiction action-adventure game Crimson Tears, after completing certain conditions, the player can unlock character skins of Chun-Li, Ryu, Guile and Sakura.

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

• 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. She is seen scolding Kalrow's reincarnation while he rides a segway among pedestrians.

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.

• In Saints Row IV, a character using the Female 1 voice will shout "Spinning bird punch!" when using the taunt called "Quarter Circle Forward + A". This is because Female 1 is the current English voice actress of Chun-Li, Laura Bailey.

• In Legend of Legaia, Noa and both of her Hyper and Miracle Art moves, Hurricane Kick and Jurassic Blow bear a resemblance to Chun-Li's Hyakuretsukyaku.

• Mia from the obscure fighting game Slap Happy Rhythm Busters greatly resembles Chun-Li, particularly as she appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha series.
• In the game Thousand Arms, one of Nelsha Stylus's special skills has her dressing up like Chun-Li known as China Girl and she also shares her ox horns hairstyle. Her qipao however is red with a gold trim but appears as a sleeveless mini Cheongsam and wears red high heels instead of boots.

• In the indie fighting game Skullgirls 2nd Encore on the River King Casino stage, one of the two dogs that can be seen there is dressed as Chun-Li and the other is dressed as Guile. This was actually submitted by a Kickstarter backer to be put in the game.

• Tracy from the Battle Arena Toshinden series is similar to Chun-Li (up until Battle Arena Toshinden 3) as both are police officers who fights to take down criminal organizations.

Comics

Natsumi Hinata dressed as Chun-Li (Keroro Gunsou)

• Chun-Li made a cameo appearance in the manhwa Faeries' Landing (Seonnyeo Ganglim).
• The Keroro Gunsou (Sgt. Frog in the international versions) series has made several references to Chun-Li (among other Street Fighter characters). One example is the 11th chapter where Natsumi Hinata is dressed like Chun-Li, beating up bullies in a vision that her younger brother and human protagonist Fuyuki has.
• The Hong Kong detective Rei Dragon from the manga Kaitou Joker greatly resembles Chun-Li and has a similar profession, likely as an homage.

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.
• Tenten, a character from Naruto, strongly resembles Chun-Li.
• In the American Dad! episode "Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls", Toshi's sister Akiko dresses up as Chun-Li for Halloween.
• In Ryusei Sentai Musumet, Kou Saotome bears a striking resemblance to Chun-Li's alternate outfit in Street Fighter IV.

• In the beginning intro of Love Live!'s season 2 episode 4, Umi Sonoda wears a Chinese outfit that closely resembles Chun-Li's.

• In The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Words", during an insult fight parodying Street Fighter, Gumball's victory chant sounds similar to Chun-Li.

• In Justice League Action, Cyborg is playing as a Chun-Li look-alike fighter named Momoi Maiko in a Street Fighter-like fighting game.

• A look-a-like of Chun-Li can be seen in the first OVA of El Hazard 2: The Magnificent World.

• She is seen in episode 8 of Excel Saga.

• She is seen in episode 18 of the Soul Eater anime series.

• She can be seen in episode 2 of DearS.

• In an episode of Ikkitousen: Great Guardians, Hakufu Sonsaku is playing as a Chun-Li look-alike fighter in a Street Fighter-like fighting game.

• She make a cameo appearance in episode 8 of Macademi Wasshoi!.

• In an episode of the popular Nickelodeon animated television comedy The Loud House titled City Slickers, Ronnie Anne is playing as a female fighter resembling Chun-Li while Lincoln is playing as a Ryu lookalike in a Muscle Fish fighting game.

• In the OVA 4 of Cutie Honey, Honey take the form of Chun-Li at one point.

• She is seen in episode 4 of Kanokon.

• She is seen in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!. 

• She is seen in episode 191 of Sailor Moon.

• A look-a-like is seen in episode 9 of YuYu Hakusho.

• A look-a-like is seen in episode 9 of To LOVE-Ru Darkness.

• In the fourteenth episode of Food Wars, the intermission card features parodies of the some characters dressed as Street Fighter characters. The one of the supporting characters, Yūki Yoshino, is dressed as Chun-Li.
  • This is also featured in the manga's title page of the twenty-ninth chapter.

Television

• In Chappelle's Show season 2 episode 9, Dave is shown getting a massage from a Chinese woman named Chun-Li.

• In the Fresh Off the Boat episode "So Chineez", Eddie asks Jessica why she's dressed like Chun-Li after he sees her wearing a cheongsam.

Movies

• In the live-action "movie adaptation" of City Hunter, there is a little "comic relief" sequence in which 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.

• 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 video game characters. They later reappear in the same place, but the two of them are talking to Princess Peach from the the Super Mario Bros. series.
  • She makes another cameo appearance in the 2018 sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet.

• Chun-Li makes a cameo appearance in Ready Player One alongside Ryu.

Internet

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

• 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.

Chun-Li before sculpting (left), and after sculpting (right).

• In a The Sims 4 gameplay footage titled The Sims 4: Create A Sim - Mulan (Disney Princess Series), the woman at the beginning of the video resembles Chun-Li. She undergoes sculpting to make her look more like Mulan.

Webcomics

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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.

• American Hip-Hop artist Nicki Minaj makes a reference to her in Willow Smith's song "Fireball" saying "Okay, I’m the street fighter, call me Chun-Li".
  • In 2018, the rapper also made a song named after her.

• Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean referenced her in his song, "Guantanamera" saying: "If your name was Chun-Li, we'd be playin' Street Fighter."