Mai Shiranui
Encyclopedia
is a player character
in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting game
s by SNK
and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games. Since her first appearance in 1992, Mai has been converted and recognized as the main sex symbol
of SNK, becoming one of the most popular KOF/Fatal Fury fighters and female characters
of video gaming in general.
Mai Shiranui is the granddaughter of Hanzo
Shiranui, the now-deceased master of ninjitsu and an art of Shiranui-ryū
ninja
hand-to-hand combat called koppo-ken. In her mind, Andy Bogard, who studied Shiranui ninjutsu with her grandfather since their early teens, is her fiancé
; the relationship between the two is often ambiguous (usually on the part of Andy). Mai has also studied at her grandfather's friend, the judo
master Jubei Yamada. She uses a closed fan while fighting and is able to create and control fire
("Shiranui
" is the Japanese name for will-o'-the-wisp
).
, the Fatal Fury series would feature a male ninja master using the fighting style that she would use. Later, the SNK staff changed their focus to including an idol
character into the series, and they decided to replace him with Mai. Inspiration for Mai's physical appearance and attributes were culled from a variety of sources. According to the official Neo Geo
publication Neo Geo Freak, her breasts were modeled after Fumie Hosokawa
and her buttocks were modeled after Ai Iijima
; both women were famous Japanese gravure idols during the creation of the Fatal Fury series. The characteristic "bounce" effect of Mai's breasts was inspired by tales of kunoichi
, or female ninja, who supposedly used seduction to catch enemies off guard. Due to censorship, Mai's chest motions were stilled in the international home version of The King of Fighters '94
as well as in the UK version of '95
for the Sega Saturn
.
Mai's basic look changes only slightly through most of the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters games. She has long brown hair (however, in some official art she has red) with long bangs
framing the sides of her face, tied up in a thick, long ponytail
which flows behind her back. Her costume is usually a sleeveless, skimpy red outfit or tunic
. The costume is held at her waist by a decorative waistband
, often with long, trailing decorative tails, leading down to a loincloth
with a thong
underneath (or mini-shorts in the U.S. version). Her footwear for Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special
and The King of Fighters games is a pair of soft-soled tabi
. From Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory
onwards into Real Bout Fatal Fury
, she wears instep guards that leave her heels and the front parts of her feet exposed. In Fatal Fury 3, she also wore a red vest (which was abandoned later on) and a heavier eye shadow. Mai has been subject to much regional censoring and her famous breast bouncing animation was removed in the U.S. versions of Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special and The King of Fighters 2002
.
In The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, her alternate costumes portray her with very short, boyish hair and ninja outfits that resemble that of Kasumi
from the Dead or Alive series. In KOF: Maximum Impact 2
, one of Mai's second outfit color schemes is exactly Andy Bogard's standard palette, even giving Mai blonde hair. Another of her outfits bears a resemblance to the character Lum Invader
from the manga and anime series Urusei Yatsura
(long green hair, clothes sporting tiger prints, and her hairpin even makes it look like she had small horns). This costume is also considered to be a cosplay of Cham Cham from SNK's Samurai Showdown series. The Maximum Impact series' producer, Falcoon
, stated that designing Mai's alternate design was one of the ones he felt "unforgivable", as he felt unsure of fans' reaction to the change. Shinkiro
, an illustrator from The King of Fighters, commented that Mai was the most difficult to draw since he "thought she was going to burst out of her costume", making the series less recommended for children.
, the criminal who killed Andy and Terry's
father, Jeff Bogard. The following games from the series, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
do not contain a storyline, while the 3D game Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
retells the story of Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
, which originally did not feature Mai.
from the Art of Fighting
series, but it changes constantly. In The King of Fighters '99
, the teams were expanded to four members, and so Mai goes to the Fatal Fury Team (composed of Terry, Andy and Joe Higashi
). She returns to the Women Fighters Team in The King of Fighters 2000
for the following games, until she leaves competition in The King of Fighters XI
in order to search for Andy who was absent in 2003 (however, Mai appears in the PS2
version of the game as a hidden character). In The King of Fighters: Kyo, a role-playing game centered on Kyo Kusanagi
and settled right in between KOF'96 and KOF'97, Mai is not a playable character, but she provides Kyo with info and help during his trials. Following the unveiling of The King of Fighters XIII
at Akihabara it was confirmed that Mai would make her return to the series along with the other two members of the '94 Women's Team.
), as well as in the off-shot fighting games SNK Gals' Fighters
and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, the mobile games SNK Beach Volley～GAL'S ATTACK～ and Neo Geo Tennis Coliseum, four games in the dating simulation series Days of Memories
(first, fifth, eighth and ninth), the quiz game Quiz King of Fighters, the shooting game The King of Fighters Sky Stage, and many minor mobile games (such as The King of Fighters Mahjong, The King of Fighters Volleyball, The King of Millionaire, KOF Gals Mahjong, SNK Beach Volley Gal's Attack, SNK Gal's Open ~Cutey Shot~ and SNK Gals Island Dokidoki Puzzle Shock!).
Mai appears as a roulette character in several pachinko
game machines (including Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf, Garou Densetsu Special, The King of Fighters, The King of Fighters 2 and Maximum Impact). She also made cameo appearance
s in character endings for both Samurai Shodown
and Art of Fighting 2, as well as in Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo Geo CD
version only) and The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise. In the North American release of Art of Fighting it was implied that Eiji Kisaragi has feelings for her, but the original Japanese version contains nothing of the sort canon
-wise. Being a character featuring in Queen's Gate erotic gamebook series, she also appears as a playable character in Namco Bandai
SRPG Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos for the PSP by Namco Bandai
.
, Mai "is one of the easiest characters to master and also has a huge range of pyrotechnically astounding special moves" in Real Bout Fatal Fury.
appearance in Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
, where she follows Andy on his travels to find Krauser in Germany, where she is approached and later attacked by Laurence Blood. Andy defeats Blood and rescues Mai. In Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
, Mai is present with Terry, Andy and Joe when the quest to find the Armor of Mars and stop the would-be conqueror Laocorn Gaudeamus is given to them by Sulia, Laocorn's sister. As usual, she tags along mostly as an excuse to spend time with Andy. She also has a minor role in the original net animation The King of Fighters: Another Day
.
In the live-action movie The King of Fighters
, loosely based on the game series, Mai was played by Maggie Q
, bearing little resemblance to the video game character. As in the case of the rest of KOF characters in the film, her appearance, biography, and personality were re-designed from scratch.
action figure. A third-party company has also made a custom Neo Geo
joystick
controller designed to play for PlayStation
consoles, which has been decorated with Mai-related imagery.
Mai is also a featured character in one of the Queen's Gate gamebooks, published by Hobby Japan
as part of its Queen's Blade
erotic system, and has a number of cards (including a starter deck) in the Universal Fighting System
collectible card game
.
. In a retrospective article "Game babes: A history", GamesRadar
commented in 2007 that "gaming magazines were abuzz with commentary on what Mai's bobbing bosom meant for the industry - it was like witnessing (half-naked) women entering the workplace for the first time." (An example of this was the review of Fatal Fury 2 by VG&CE, commenting that "if Street Fighter
s Chun Li
turns you on, you're bound to be tittulated by the sight of Mai Shiranui, who jiggles through the battle wearing next-to-nothing from the waist down.") Mai is also noted to be popular in the cosplay
community, including a homage video Queen of Fighters 2005 released by the pornographic actress Misa Nishida. In 2009, SNK Playmore's decision to not add to her in any form in The King of Fighters XII
has disappointed and even upset many fans.
's list of Top Ten Babes in Games in 2003. In 2009, MSN
included her as fifth on the list of Gaming's Hottest Babes, commenting that "the developers may have created a character that will upset every feminist
out there, but the guys ain't complaining". In 2010, Complex featured her in the lists of The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games and The 10 Hottest Video Game Girls. Mai was also included on several lists of video games' top ninja characters, including by CrunchGear in 2008 (ranked seventh) and Wild Gunmen (ranked ninth) and PC World
in 2010 (ranked sixth).
UGO.com ranked Mai sixth on the list of Top 50 Videogame Hotties in 2010 (calling her the "Chun-Li
of the SNK universe" and stating their preference for her over the Capcom
character), and in 2011 named her as one of the Top 11 Girls of Gaming at number seven (describing her as "an unapologetic sex symbol" and a mascot
for both the King of Fighters series and SNK as a whole); also in 2011, UGO also featured her on the lists of 25 Hot Ninja Girls and Fighting Games' Finest Female Fighters. GameDaily
placed Mai as sixth on the list of Top 50 Hottest Game Babes in 2008, and featured her three times in the Babe of the Week series in the galleries Outrageous Boobs, Asian Beauties and the special gallery Mai Shiranui, as well as in the 2007 article Boobs Through the Years, adding: "when it comes to 2-D breasts, no character tops Mai Shiranui". In 2010, PopCrunch ranked her as fourth on the list of 10 Hottest Video Game Babes Ever.
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
s by SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games. Since her first appearance in 1992, Mai has been converted and recognized as the main sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
of SNK, becoming one of the most popular KOF/Fatal Fury fighters and female characters
Portrayal of women in video games
The portrayal of women in video games has often been the subject of both academic studies and controversy. Two recurring themes are the level of independence of female characters from their male counterparts, and their objectification and sexualization....
of video gaming in general.
Mai Shiranui is the granddaughter of Hanzo
Hattori Hanzo
, also known as , was a famous samurai and ninja master of the Sengoku era, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. Today, he is often a subject of modern popular culture.-Biography:...
Shiranui, the now-deceased master of ninjitsu and an art of Shiranui-ryū
Ryu (school)
A Ryū , or ryūha , is a Japanese word referring to a school of thought in any discipline...
ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
hand-to-hand combat called koppo-ken. In her mind, Andy Bogard, who studied Shiranui ninjutsu with her grandfather since their early teens, is her fiancé
Engagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
; the relationship between the two is often ambiguous (usually on the part of Andy). Mai has also studied at her grandfather's friend, the judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
master Jubei Yamada. She uses a closed fan while fighting and is able to create and control fire
Pyrokinesis
Pyrokinesis, derived from the Greek words and , was the name coined by horror novelist Stephen King for the ability to create or to control fire with the mind that he gave to the protagonist Charlie McGee in Firestarter...
("Shiranui
Shiranui
Shiranui is a Japanese term given to the optical or supernatural phenomenon similar to will-o'-the-wisp. It has also a name associated with:-People:*Shiranui Dakuemon , the 8th Yokozuna sumo wrestlers...
" is the Japanese name for will-o'-the-wisp
Will-o'-the-wisp
A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...
).
Character design and development
Prior to the creation of Mai for Fatal Fury 2Fatal Fury 2
is a 1992 fighting video game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters and the second game in the Fatal Fury franchise.-Gameplay:...
, the Fatal Fury series would feature a male ninja master using the fighting style that she would use. Later, the SNK staff changed their focus to including an idol
Japanese idol
In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...
character into the series, and they decided to replace him with Mai. Inspiration for Mai's physical appearance and attributes were culled from a variety of sources. According to the official Neo Geo
Neo Geo
was a family of video game hardware developed by SNK from 1990 to 1999, and fully discontinued in 2004.-Neo Geo MVS :The Neo Geo Multi Video System , is an arcade system board, being the first product in the Neo Geo family, and released in 1990...
publication Neo Geo Freak, her breasts were modeled after Fumie Hosokawa
Fumie Hosokawa
is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She is often referred to as the “original” kyonyu idol.-Life and career:Hosokawa was born in Tanabe, Aomori prefecture, and lived in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture until the age of 4. She then moved to Hawaii, United States for a year to attend school there...
and her buttocks were modeled after Ai Iijima
Ai Iijima
was a Japanese media personality and AV idol. She belonged to the entertainment agency Watanabe Entertainment until her retirement.-Early life:Born as , she described a troubled early life in her autobiography. She was raped in her early teens, and had an abortion...
; both women were famous Japanese gravure idols during the creation of the Fatal Fury series. The characteristic "bounce" effect of Mai's breasts was inspired by tales of kunoichi
Kunoichi
is the term for a female ninja or practitioner of ninjutsu .-Etymology:The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the kanji character for ; said in the order they are written: ku - no - ichi...
, or female ninja, who supposedly used seduction to catch enemies off guard. Due to censorship, Mai's chest motions were stilled in the international home version of The King of Fighters '94
The King of Fighters '94
The King of Fighters '94 is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It is the inaugural game in The King of Fighters series by the same company. The game was originally ported to the Neo Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD following its original arcade release...
as well as in the UK version of '95
The King of Fighters '95
The King of Fighters '95 is a fighting game produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It is the sequel to The King of Fighters '94 and the second game in The King of Fighters series...
for the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
.
Mai's basic look changes only slightly through most of the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters games. She has long brown hair (however, in some official art she has red) with long bangs
Fringe (hair)
Fringe are a shaped cutting of the front part of the hair so that it is combed forward and hangs or curls over the forehead. A classic fringe is cut fairly straight at or above the eyebrows, but fringes can also be ragged or ruffled, spiked up with hair gel, swept to one side or the other, and...
framing the sides of her face, tied up in a thick, long ponytail
Ponytail
A ponytail is a hairstyle in which most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip or similar device, and allowed to hang freely from that point. It gets its name from its resemblance to the undocked tail of a...
which flows behind her back. Her costume is usually a sleeveless, skimpy red outfit or tunic
Tunic
A tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...
. The costume is held at her waist by a decorative waistband
Waistline (clothing)
The waistline is the line of demarcation between the upper and lower portions of a garment, which notionally corresponds to the natural waist but may vary with fashion from just below the bust to below the hips. The waistline of a garment is often used to accentuate different features...
, often with long, trailing decorative tails, leading down to a loincloth
Loincloth
A loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks.-History and types:Loincloths are being and have been worn:*in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted...
with a thong
Thong (clothing)
The thong is a garment generally worn as either underwear or as a swimsuit in many industrialized societies around the world. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions such as sumo wrestling...
underneath (or mini-shorts in the U.S. version). Her footwear for Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special
Fatal Fury Special
is a 1993 head-to-head fighting game produced by SNK originally released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is an updated version of Fatal Fury 2, introducing several changes to the gameplay system while expanding the available character roster....
and The King of Fighters games is a pair of soft-soled tabi
Tabi
are traditional Japanese socks. Ankle-high and with a separation between the big toe and other toes, they are worn by both men and women with zori, geta, and other traditional thonged footwear. Tabi are also essential with traditional clothing—kimono and other wafuku as well as being worn by...
. From Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory
Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory
is a 1995 head-to-head fighting game released by SNK for the Neo-Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fourth game in the Fatal Fury series after Fatal Fury Special . Console versions of Fatal Fury 3 were released for the Neo Geo CD, Sega Saturn, Windows 95-based computers and on the Wii Virtual...
onwards into Real Bout Fatal Fury
Real Bout Fatal Fury
is a 1995 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo-Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fifth installment in the Fatal Fury series, following Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory. Ports of Real Bout were released for the Neo-Geo CD, PlayStation and the Sega Saturn...
, she wears instep guards that leave her heels and the front parts of her feet exposed. In Fatal Fury 3, she also wore a red vest (which was abandoned later on) and a heavier eye shadow. Mai has been subject to much regional censoring and her famous breast bouncing animation was removed in the U.S. versions of Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special and The King of Fighters 2002
The King of Fighters 2002
The King of Fighters 2002 is a competitive fighting game produced by Eolith and Playmore for the Neo Geo. It is the ninth game in The King of Fighters series and the second one produced by Eolith and developed by SNK Neo Geo . The game was ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and the Xbox...
.
In The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, her alternate costumes portray her with very short, boyish hair and ninja outfits that resemble that of Kasumi
Kasumi (Dead or Alive)
is a player character in Dead or Alive fighting game series by Team Ninja and Tecmo. Kasumi has served as the main character of the Dead or Alive franchise since its beginning in 1996, being the official protagonist in the first two main games in the series, and playing very important roles in the...
from the Dead or Alive series. In KOF: Maximum Impact 2
KOF: Maximum Impact 2
KOF: Maximum Impact 2, released in North America as The King of Fighters 2006, is a 3D competitive fighting game produced by SNK Playmore and released for the PlayStation 2 in...
, one of Mai's second outfit color schemes is exactly Andy Bogard's standard palette, even giving Mai blonde hair. Another of her outfits bears a resemblance to the character Lum Invader
Lum Invader
is a fictional character and the female protagonist from Rumiko Takahashi's manga and anime series Urusei Yatsura. She is often believed to be the main protagonist of the series due to her iconic status. However, Takahashi has stated that Ataru Moroboshi is the main character. She is named Lamu in...
from the manga and anime series Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
(long green hair, clothes sporting tiger prints, and her hairpin even makes it look like she had small horns). This costume is also considered to be a cosplay of Cham Cham from SNK's Samurai Showdown series. The Maximum Impact series' producer, Falcoon
Falcoon
Tatsuhiko Kanaoka, better known by the art-name Falcoon , is a Japanese artist formerly working for SNK Playmore. He has been involved in several iterations of The King of Fighters franchise....
, stated that designing Mai's alternate design was one of the ones he felt "unforgivable", as he felt unsure of fans' reaction to the change. Shinkiro
Shinkiro
Toshiaki Mori , best known under the pen name of , is a Japanese illustrator and conceptual artist currently employed by Capcom.- Biography :...
, an illustrator from The King of Fighters, commented that Mai was the most difficult to draw since he "thought she was going to burst out of her costume", making the series less recommended for children.
Fatal Fury series
Mai stars in Fatal Fury 2 to assist Andy Bogard, with whom she is in love, into facing the new host of the King of Fighters tournament, Wolfgang Krauser. She also plays a supporting role in Fatal Fury 3 and Real Bout Fatal Fury into fighting Geese HowardGeese Howard
is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury fighting games series. Debuting in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, Geese is the local crime boss of the fictional city of South Town. Geese hosts a fighting tournament named "The King of Fighters", in which he faces the...
, the criminal who killed Andy and Terry's
Terry Bogard
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable...
father, Jeff Bogard. The following games from the series, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
, is a 1997 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo platform. It is the sixth installment in the Fatal Fury series and the second game in the Real Bout sub-series, following the original Real Bout Fatal Fury...
and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
is a 1998 fighting game by SNK for the Neo Geo platform. It is the seventh game in the Fatal Fury series and the third game in the Real Bout sub-series, following Real Bout Fatal Fury and Real Bout Fatal Fury Special...
do not contain a storyline, while the 3D game Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
is a 3D fighting video game produced by SNK. The game was released in Japanese arcades on January 28, 1999, though the title screen shows the year 1998. It is part of the Fatal Fury series of fighting games. It was one of the last games released for the Hyper Neo Geo 64 system board. It was ported...
retells the story of Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
is a 1991 head-to-head fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo system and served as the inaugural game in their Fatal Fury series, as well as the first game to depict the fictional "King of Fighters" tournament...
, which originally did not feature Mai.
The King of Fighters series
The King of Fighters series tournament also feature Mai as a regular character participating in the annual tournaments in the Women Fighters Team. Initially, the team is composed of Mai and King and Yuri SakazakiYuri Sakazaki
is a video game character from SNK Playmore's Art of Fighting series. She first appears in the original Art of Fighting being kidnapped by Mr. Big, a criminal from the fictional city of Southtown. The players, Yuri's brother Ryo and his friend Robert Garcia spend the game searching for her...
from the Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
series, but it changes constantly. In The King of Fighters '99
The King of Fighters '99
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle is a head-to-head fighting game by SNK released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform. It is the sixth installment in the companys The King of Fighters series. The game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD and the PlayStation as the final KOF game released...
, the teams were expanded to four members, and so Mai goes to the Fatal Fury Team (composed of Terry, Andy and Joe Higashi
Joe Higashi
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes his first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as one of the three playable characters from the game...
). She returns to the Women Fighters Team in The King of Fighters 2000
The King of Fighters 2000
The King of Fighters 2000 is a competitive fighting game produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the seventh installment in The King of Fighters series for the Neo Geo, as well as the final one produced by SNK before the bankruptcy. The game was ported to the Sega...
for the following games, until she leaves competition in The King of Fighters XI
The King of Fighters XI
The King of Fighters XI is a 2D competitive fighting game produced by SNK Playmore originally released in as a coin-operated arcade game for the Atomiswave platform...
in order to search for Andy who was absent in 2003 (however, Mai appears in the PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
version of the game as a hidden character). In The King of Fighters: Kyo, a role-playing game centered on Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
and settled right in between KOF'96 and KOF'97, Mai is not a playable character, but she provides Kyo with info and help during his trials. Following the unveiling of The King of Fighters XIII
The King of Fighters XIII
is the latest installment of The King of Fighters fighting game series developed and published by SNK Playmore. The game is set after the events from The King of Fighters XI and is also the conclusion of Ash Crimson's story arc, which started in The King of Fighters 2003...
at Akihabara it was confirmed that Mai would make her return to the series along with the other two members of the '94 Women's Team.
Other games
Mai is present as a playable character in every game in the SNK vs. Capcom crossover series (as a rival to Street Fighters Chun-LiChun-Li
is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
), as well as in the off-shot fighting games SNK Gals' Fighters
SNK Gals' Fighters
SNK Gals' Fighters is a 2-dimensional 1-on-1 versus fighting game which appeared on the Neo Geo Pocket Color in 2000. It featured female characters from various SNK franchises, where the characters compete in the aptly named The Queen of Fighters tournament, organized by a mysterious "Miss X", with...
and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, the mobile games SNK Beach Volley～GAL'S ATTACK～ and Neo Geo Tennis Coliseum, four games in the dating simulation series Days of Memories
Days of Memories
Days of Memories is a series of dating sims that SNK Playmore has been making for cell phones since 2005. They have recently released a compilation of the first three games for the Nintendo DS, with new graphics and an extra viewing mode.-Summary:The games are dating sims starring SNK, ADK, and...
(first, fifth, eighth and ninth), the quiz game Quiz King of Fighters, the shooting game The King of Fighters Sky Stage, and many minor mobile games (such as The King of Fighters Mahjong, The King of Fighters Volleyball, The King of Millionaire, KOF Gals Mahjong, SNK Beach Volley Gal's Attack, SNK Gal's Open ~Cutey Shot~ and SNK Gals Island Dokidoki Puzzle Shock!).
Mai appears as a roulette character in several pachinko
Pachinko
is a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
game machines (including Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf, Garou Densetsu Special, The King of Fighters, The King of Fighters 2 and Maximum Impact). She also made cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s in character endings for both Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown, known as in Japan, is a competitive fighting game produced by SNK for their Neo Geo arcade and home platform. In contrast to other fighting games at the time which were set in modern times and focused primarily on hand-to-hand combat, Samurai Shodown is set in feudal-era Japan ...
and Art of Fighting 2, as well as in Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo Geo CD
Neo Geo CD
is a game console from SNK that was released in 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent, in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the second console of the Neo Geo family. The system was originally priced at US$300 new. The unit's 1X CD-ROM drive was slow, making loading...
version only) and The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise. In the North American release of Art of Fighting it was implied that Eiji Kisaragi has feelings for her, but the original Japanese version contains nothing of the sort canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
-wise. Being a character featuring in Queen's Gate erotic gamebook series, she also appears as a playable character in Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai
, also known as the Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Namco and Bandai. It has interests in toys, video games and arcades, anime, and amusement parks. The new entity was founded on September 29, 2005...
SRPG Queen's Gate: Spiral Chaos for the PSP by Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai
, also known as the Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Namco and Bandai. It has interests in toys, video games and arcades, anime, and amusement parks. The new entity was founded on September 29, 2005...
.
Gameplay
According to Sega Saturn MagazineSega Saturn Magazine
Sega Saturn Magazine was a monthly UK magazine dedicated to the Sega Saturn. It held the official Saturn magazine license for the UK, and as such some issues included a demo CD created by Sega, called Sega Flash, which included playable games and game footage...
, Mai "is one of the easiest characters to master and also has a huge range of pyrotechnically astounding special moves" in Real Bout Fatal Fury.
In film
Mai makes her first animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
appearance in Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
is an anime TV Special based on the Neo Geo SNK video game, Fatal Fury 2 and is a sequel to the previous TV movie, Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf. The movie was directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi and once again features character designs by Masami Ōbari...
, where she follows Andy on his travels to find Krauser in Germany, where she is approached and later attacked by Laurence Blood. Andy defeats Blood and rescues Mai. In Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
is a 1994 Japanese animated feature film based on the SNK video game series Fatal Fury originally released in Japan on July 16, 1994. It was directed by character designer Masami Ōbari and follows the same continuity as the preceding two TV specials, Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf and Fatal...
, Mai is present with Terry, Andy and Joe when the quest to find the Armor of Mars and stop the would-be conqueror Laocorn Gaudeamus is given to them by Sulia, Laocorn's sister. As usual, she tags along mostly as an excuse to spend time with Andy. She also has a minor role in the original net animation The King of Fighters: Another Day
The King of Fighters: Another Day
The King of Fighters: Another Day is an animated series based on the popular fighting game series The King of Fighters. It was produced by Production I.G, and revolves around the plot of the 3-D version titled The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, along with some touches of the current 2-D series...
.
In the live-action movie The King of Fighters
The King of Fighters (film)
The King of Fighters is a film loosely based on SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters series of fighting games. It stars Sean Faris as Kyo Kusanagi, Maggie Q as Mai Shiranui, Will Yun Lee as Iori Yagami, and Ray Park as Rugal Bernstein.-Plot:...
, loosely based on the game series, Mai was played by Maggie Q
Maggie Q
Margaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
, bearing little resemblance to the video game character. As in the case of the rest of KOF characters in the film, her appearance, biography, and personality were re-designed from scratch.
Merchandise
A large number figures, hardcast or otherwise, was made in her image by Aizu Project, Max Factory, Daiki, and more. There is also a Cy GirlsCy Girls
CY GIRLS is an action figure series by Takara Tomy and Blue Box Toys under the brand bbi collectible , featuring an elite unit of female crimefighters, combining the elements of both a doll and an action figure...
action figure. A third-party company has also made a custom Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
controller designed to play for PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
consoles, which has been decorated with Mai-related imagery.
Mai is also a featured character in one of the Queen's Gate gamebooks, published by Hobby Japan
Hobby Japan
HobbyJAPAN CO. is a Japanese hobby magazine and publishing company, specializing in roleplaying, war, and tabletop games, as well as action figures, toys, and artbooks for successful anime, manga and light novel franchises.- Role-playing games :...
as part of its Queen's Blade
Queen's Blade
is a series of visual combat books published by Hobby Japan based on the licensed works from Flying Buffalo's Lost Worlds. First published in 2005, it features sexually suggestive depictions of an exclusively female cast of characters. The overall plot of the game revolves around a tournament...
erotic system, and has a number of cards (including a starter deck) in the Universal Fighting System
Universal Fighting System
The Universal Fighting System is a collectible card game originally designed by Sabertooth Games. The themes of the cards are drawn from a multitude of licensed gaming universes, principally Fighting game licenses...
collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
.
Popularity
Japanese Gamest magazine named Mai her as one of the best characters in video gaming for five consecutive years in their annual awards, placing her at second place in 1994, tenth in 1995, 21st in 1996, 28st in 1997 and 25th in 1998. She was also awarded the title of Hottest Game Babe of 1994 by EGMElectronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
. In a retrospective article "Game babes: A history", GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
commented in 2007 that "gaming magazines were abuzz with commentary on what Mai's bobbing bosom meant for the industry - it was like witnessing (half-naked) women entering the workplace for the first time." (An example of this was the review of Fatal Fury 2 by VG&CE, commenting that "if Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
s Chun Li
Chun-Li
is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
turns you on, you're bound to be tittulated by the sight of Mai Shiranui, who jiggles through the battle wearing next-to-nothing from the waist down.") Mai is also noted to be popular in the cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
community, including a homage video Queen of Fighters 2005 released by the pornographic actress Misa Nishida. In 2009, SNK Playmore's decision to not add to her in any form in The King of Fighters XII
The King of Fighters XII
is the twelfth installment of The King of Fighters series. SNK Playmore announced that it is abandoning the Atomiswave system and is moving its most popular game franchises to the Taito Type X2 arcade system. KOF XII uses newly-drawn 2D sprites on 2D backgrounds...
has disappointed and even upset many fans.
Critical reception
Mai was ranked tenth on the list of Top Ten Fighting Women by EGM in 1993, and as fourth on GameSpyGameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's list of Top Ten Babes in Games in 2003. In 2009, MSN
MSN
MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
included her as fifth on the list of Gaming's Hottest Babes, commenting that "the developers may have created a character that will upset every feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
out there, but the guys ain't complaining". In 2010, Complex featured her in the lists of The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games and The 10 Hottest Video Game Girls. Mai was also included on several lists of video games' top ninja characters, including by CrunchGear in 2008 (ranked seventh) and Wild Gunmen (ranked ninth) and PC World
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
in 2010 (ranked sixth).
UGO.com ranked Mai sixth on the list of Top 50 Videogame Hotties in 2010 (calling her the "Chun-Li
Chun-Li
is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
of the SNK universe" and stating their preference for her over the Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
character), and in 2011 named her as one of the Top 11 Girls of Gaming at number seven (describing her as "an unapologetic sex symbol" and a mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
for both the King of Fighters series and SNK as a whole); also in 2011, UGO also featured her on the lists of 25 Hot Ninja Girls and Fighting Games' Finest Female Fighters. GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
placed Mai as sixth on the list of Top 50 Hottest Game Babes in 2008, and featured her three times in the Babe of the Week series in the galleries Outrageous Boobs, Asian Beauties and the special gallery Mai Shiranui, as well as in the 2007 article Boobs Through the Years, adding: "when it comes to 2-D breasts, no character tops Mai Shiranui". In 2010, PopCrunch ranked her as fourth on the list of 10 Hottest Video Game Babes Ever.