You misunderstood everything I said. Chun-Li isn’t the exception to any nonexistent “rule”. She is one of the few characters whose significance in her franchise is practically equal to that of the main protagonist. None of the Sonic characters can say this for themselves, since you used them as examples.
Kyo, sure but that’s a bit of a special case. Terry is the star of Fatal Fury, not KOF - even though they are closely related. It’s kind of a hard comparison to judge because it’s somewhat of a special case. And Raiden... not really? I mean, he has his own games but he’s not as significant as Snake at all. I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone saying Raiden is as iconic as Snake. Having their own game doesn’t immediately make them as important as the main series protagonist.
Shadow having one game does not put him on a Chun-Li esque pedestal in his respective series. Knuckles Chaotix does not make Knuckles as synonymous with the Sonic brand as Chun-Li is with SF. Chun-Li doesn’t have her own game, but rather a deep deep undetachable legacy in this series where she is marketed just as frequently as the main character and appears alongside him in literally like every major SF crossover that isn’t Smash. Not M Bison, not Akuma, not even Ken. That’s Chun-Li showing up, every single time.
Sonic poses a very different problem. Tails, Eggman and Shadow are all equally viable choices for the next Sonic character. Street Fighter does not have this problem. I wasn’t saying Chun-Li is leagues more iconic or whatever than Tails or Eggman - I was saying her role as co-mascot of the series is incomparable to any of them. She’s in a league of her own in that regard. Except maybe the aforementioned Kyo, which is sort of an odd case. But when you want to promote a new Sonic game, you put Sonic front and center. For Street Fighter though...
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Equal spotlight on both of the stars of the series.
I ask you this as a totally genuine question, I’m not trying to be sarcastic - do you know very much about Street Fighter at all? Seriously, like, it’s so hard to get through to you on this for some reason while I’m speaking from a place of deep love for this series, these characters and knowledge of its history.
You keep undermining the significance of Chun-Li and blatantly misunderstanding or dismissing what people tell you, I don’t get it. She is literally THAT important, nothing else you’re saying about Akuma being the “ultimate secret boss” or whatever justifies this weird uninformed take that anyone even comes close to the significance of Chun-Li, hands down and far away not just the most important SF character absent but legitimately might be the most important video game character absent from the roster. And as bold of a statement as that is it isn’t even a hot take.
I’m sorry to go off on you like this but man, it’s Chun-Li or nothing. 1000%.
First of all
Regarding Sonic, I'm not exactly sure what metric you're trying to use when saying Chun-Li is more important within her series than characters like Tails, Eggman, & Knuckles are.
If you want to go for the boxart, The other Sonic characters have frequently made Appearances on the boxart. The most recent games, Sonic Forces, Mania, and TSR, all had more than just Sonic on the box art. Ryu alone has been used for the boxart, with USF4 and the SF5 Base game
If you want to go for Crossover appearances, typically when Sonic comes along, he usually isn't alone. Ninjala, OK KO, Puyo Puyo, PS02, Sega Allstars, etc. I think Fallguys and Smash are examples where Sonic is alone (though with Smash, There's still the Spirits and Assist trophies).
Within the games themselves, They still show up in Sonic games of course, though I will acknowledge that they might not be playable all the time, but different Genres and stuff like that
The other Sonic characters are as much of Co-Mascots as Chun-Li is.
And does your refusal to mention Zero and Alucard mean that you acknowledge that they are Important in about the same way Chun-Li is. I do acknowledge though that Chun-Li is bigger than these two, but in terms of their respective series, they both important
in any case. I will acknowledge that Chun-Li is more of a Co-Mascot of sorts. She's been in Most crossovers that's Ryu has showed up in (not all of them). I still don't think that means that other Street Fighter characters would be left in the dust
I Have, and do sometimes still play Street Fighter. I've played SF2, Alpha series, 3rd Strike, SF4, and SF5. These were the characters I always saw as most important
-Ken
-Chun-Li
-Akuma
-M.Bison
Bison is more of him being the Big bad of really the entire series except for SF1 and SF3. I don't think his importance to him being the main villain of SF2, the Most important game in the series, should be ignored, even if Bison himself doesn't appear every time both in Street Fighter and in Crossovers
Akuma is not a character I would say is a Co-Mascot, but he just does his own thing. The fact of the matter is that he also frequently make appearances as well. Not as much as Chun, but still frequent, and stuff like him being in X-Men Children of the Atom and Tekken 7 does show he can stand on his own. yes Tekken 7 does focus on the Villains/Antagonists of the series, but the fact of the matter is Akuma is still in the game, where Ryu and Chun are not. It also shows that Akuma plays his own role that Chun does not, and that is something to consider
Ken is already in, no need to talk about him
The thing I'm trying to get at is that While I acknowledge that Chun-Li does have the most merit to be in the game, That doesn't mean she's the only character that could be considered. Ken was considered, and yes he is an echo, but they wouldn't have added him as an echo fighter if he wasn't Ken Masters
Akuma and Bison also play different roles as frequent antagonists of the Street Fighter franchise, and that is an important role that should be taken to account, even if they aren't seen as like Co-Mascot like Chun-Li. I don't think if Chun-Li were for some reason not be able to work, That they would ignore the other options from Street Fighter. they have their own merits
I'm not undermining Chun-Li, I'm just not undermining the other characters and their importance to the series.
