Chun-Li like her father before her, means nothing to Bison, and the idea of Bison is what truly repulses Chun-Li - She had her say in the end when she looked back and saw his fallen hat.
Unfortunately that’s the true. For someone like M. Bison, Chun-Li’s father was just a bug he just happened to squash on a Tuesday. But I feel that Chun-li has been a thorn at his side for many games now that he has no choice but to acknowledge Chun-Li. Yes, he squashed her in her Alpha 1 ending. And no one knows how the SFII Torunament arc went down. But counting Alpha, SFII, SFIV (including the C. Viper OVA), and then SFV, Chun-Li somehow manages to keep buzzing around M. Bison’s face. Even though he’s on a whole power tier above her, I still think she deserved one last opportunity to avenge her fathers death directly.
And I may disagree with you about the scene where Chun-li looks at M. Bison’s hat before rushing out of the Shadaloo base. One could take it as some closure for the vengence arc. Seeing M. Bison’s crown without a head could be enough to convince Chun-Li to close that chapter in her life for good.
However, (and as a Bison zealot you are) another way people can take this is that Chun-li still senses Bison’s psycho power still emitting form his hat. When Bison discriminated, everything discriminated. (Even his head gear). But some how, his hat remains.
Knowing how incredibly difficult it is to kill M. Bison, I suspect Chun-Li feels the same way, and that they have won the battle for now. But M. Bison will surely rise again. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get that proper closure.
If you are an actual fan of Chun-Li, you would realize that she is over “killing Bison” because the path towards vengeance will only destroy her. She understood this in SF2/A3.
While I do see your understanding of this, that doesn’t mean that I still didn’t want it to happen. I think for me, as a die-hard Chun-Li fan, it was all about closure. I wanted closure for her vengeance arc, so she can move on to her adoptive mother phase.
It’s been written in every character overview about Chun-Li: She is motivated to avenge her father’s death against M. Bison. So if Capcom were to bring that up every single game, then they owe us to bring proper closure to that story arc of hers.
In SF4, Chun-Li was willing to sacrifice her life to get the data/evidence needed to bring down Shadaloo.
In SF5, Chun-Li chose to save a child over getting a punch in against Bison - The man who took everything.
In SF3, Chun-Li again risks her life to save kidnapped children and her adopted daughter, then she retires from being a police to open a martial arts school for children. A future army of fucking Chun-Lis!
This is how you defeat evil in the world long-term. You gotta keep your mind and heart on the bigger picture and not to be consumed by your own selfish desire to enact violence on those who hurt you. This is true strength, and this is what makes Chun-Li a fucking icon.
Excellent points, though. Post SFII, it’s been more about taking down the Shadaloo organization, rather than be the one that deals the final blow on M. Bison’s fucking face.
Maybe Chun-li has realized that M. Bison might be an immortal god that can’t be destroyed, so she’ll go after the next best thing: His organization. Because a God without a foundation of support is nothing but a myth.
As evidenced by you, Chun-Li has taken an indirect approach to taking down Shadaloo. And while it does serve as proper closure to her revenge story arc, it feels that it just ends with a simple period instead of an explanation point. Apart from Guile and Nash, No one in the SF universe deserves to take on the main antagonist of the game than Chun-Li (take a spot on the bench, Ryu). And I think it all goes back to having the right closure for her.
- Would I want Chun-li to be the one to defeat M. Bison?
– Yes! However, i thin k it would hurt the SF franchise more if they just wrote off such a beloved antagonist. So since capcom won’t have Bison killed off for good, then there is no sense in chun-li being the one to deliver the final blow unless it’s the final blow.
- Would taking down Shadaloo serve as a worthy substitute?
– Yes, but ASF butchered that story up, didn’t they?
- Would it be safe to assume Chun-Li’s vengeance arc is concluded?
–Hard to say. She eventually does, as evidenced in SFIII. But depending where Capctom wants to place SF6, there could be some time left for her to write that exclamation finish.
All an all, Chun-li’s story is great because she doesn’t spend her whole life chasing down M. Bison. She does become an adoptive mother and sows the seeds for a stronger future for her students. She went from a young-brash interpol agent, to the iconic strognest woman in the world, to mother/teacher in the lore of the series, which says a lot for character development. As convuluted as the SF lore can be, I feel that Chun-Li’s character development is something Capcom nailed.
And while I do wish to see Chun-Li finally get the respect in the Lore she deserves (thank god there is always Fan Work), there’s no doubt that she’s one of the better written characters of the series.
(How long you gonna be a traveling Hobo Ryu? Still for another 30 years?)
Also, Happy Belated Birthday Chun-Li.
