No, I'm not suggesting Capcom make some radical change to Chun-Li's wardrobe, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Why? Because Chun-Li is the Street Fighter II Champion, and the champion gets a cape. Anybody who's played Street Fighter III: Third Strike can tell you that Chun-Li was indeed victorious in SF2. When Chun-Li fights Urien, he says to her, "Your legendary legs are said to have destroyed 'that organization.' Let me see for myself if the rumors about you are true."
Now, hardcore and extremely anal fans of other characters who like to pretend that THEY won the tourney can make the following argument against that statement which I shall now address:
"'That organization' does not necessarily mean Chun-Li caused the downfall of Shadaloo and this does NOT mean she defeated Bison to do it. As an interpol agent she would undoubtedly have worked on other cases, and Shadaloo could have been destroyed any number of ways, not just by Chun-Li's victory in the SF2 tournament."
Like I said, it's an extremely technical and anal arguement, but if I don't address it right now I'm bound to hear it.
First, there are two undeniable facts that we learn from Urien:
1) Chun-Li's fighting abilities are now considered legendary.
2) Chun-Li's fighting ability is said to have cause the downfall of an organization.
Now, Ryu's fighting abilities became "legendary" after beating the odds and defeating Sagat in SF1. The only other character besides Ryu and Chun-Li to have achieved this kind of legendary status is Akuma. However, Akuma seems to be known only by the shotokan diciples and a few others, therefore Ryu and Chun-Li are the only truly well-known Street Fighters.
So, if Ryu could only achieve such status by beating Sagat, then how could Chun-Li reach that kind of status unless she accomplished a feat no less extraordinary? Fighters like Ken and Zangief are well-known and respected in their circles of peers, but Ryu and Chun-Li have both reached a status level where they are well-known by Street Fighters worldwide.
Chun-Li's fighting abilities are also said to have destroyed "that organization." So, by using her fighting ability, she was able to break up some kind of operation. While there is, of course, a possibility that Chun-Li was working on another case, we know for a fact that she was hellbent on bringing down Shadaloo and the only way she could do it was in the Street Fighter tournaments using her "legendary legs." Therefore, it is more reasonable than not to believe that she tracked down Bison and defeated him, causing Shadaloo to dissolve and giving her the title of The World's Strongest, as Sagat calls it.
But why should she have a cape? Well, the answer is simple: When Sagat defeats Bison in Super Street Fighter II, he is given a red cape as a sign of his victory. I don't know if it was supposed the same cape Bison wore, him being the current champ and all, but the cape Bison discards at the beginning of the fight is greyish blue.
Anyway, if Sagat gets a cape for winning the SF2 tournament, then why wouldn't Chun-Li? Of course, she probably did and simply chooses not to wear it, but still, it would be kinda cool if for one of her intos in SF3, she has the SF2 champion's cape and discards before the battle begins. Well, here's hoping that this article will inspire some fan artist to draw a picture of Chun-Li with her Champion's cape. ^_^
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