Street Fighter: Remember when Jackie Chan cosplayed as Chun Li?

Capcom’s 'Street Fighter' has always been beloved by gamers for its vast cast of original characters, learning their moves, their combos, and choosing whatever fighter suits your play style. Also settling on who to pick as your go-to main, whether it’s the bandana-wearing black belts Ryu and Ken, the dash-punching pugilist Balrog, the yoga-loving monk Dhalsim, the all-American soldier Guile, the palm-rushing sumo wrestler E. Honda, the electric abomination Blanka, the wolverine claws of Vega or the raw might and villainy of the series main antagonist, M. Bison.

But one stands out as the true Kempo master of the franchise and fan favourite. She is one of the fastest, hardest-hitting, as well as one of the first female fighters to be introduced next to Cammy – Chun Li. Hailing from China, she mastered the art of Chinese Kempo to avenge her father, who was murdered in cold blood by M. Bison; she enlists as an officer of Interpol, entering the competition to not only best her enemies, but to stop Bison’s plot to become the world’s strongest man and uncontested dictator of the earth.

In gameplay, her combos can be utterly devastating in the hands of an experienced player. One of such move to end a combo is the 'Spinning-Bird Kick'; by crouching and releasing whilst pressing the roundhouse kick button, she can perform a helicopter kick into her opponent. If timed correctly, you can melt the opponent's health bar within only seconds. Another reliable move is her 'Lightning Kicks', able to dish out severe amounts of damage with a barrage of kicks. But if you need to deal with someone who likes to button-mash up close and personal, bear in mind she has a projectile attack as well, her ‘Kikoken’ fireball can be launched like Ryu’s iconic ‘Hadouken,’ which can keep try-hards at bay.

Chun Li has been a staple of the series alongside the poster boy Ryu, being featured in every instalment of the series since 'Street Fighter II' in arcade cabinets and 'Street Fighter II: Turbo' on the SNES. She was also included in some of the 'Marvel VS. Capcom' games, having great counter attacks against the Gizmos and sorcery of Doctor Doom. But there have been some pretty niche interpretations of the character, such as Saturday morning cartoons, TV advertisements, and live-action movies.

This brings us to the subject of the title, Jackie Chan dressed in drag. This originates as a scene from the Chinese produced, action-comedy kung-fu movie, 'City Hunter'. Released on January 16th, 1993, produced by Chua Lam and directed by Wong Jing of ‘Orange Sky/Golden Harvest’ production company. City Hunters is a live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga series of the same name, written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo.

The plot of the film revolves around our protagonist detective's Ryo Saeba (Jackie Chan) and Kaori Makimura, hired to investigate the disappearance of Shizuko Imamura, the missing daughter of the CEO of an influential Japanese newspaper. Kaori leaves in the middle of investigating, finding Ryo's indifference to her love for him and his flirting with other women to be upsetting. Shizuko escapes in disguise when Ryo spots her at a skate park and starts to chase after her.

Shizuko embarks on the ‘Fuji Maru,’ a deluxe cruise ship to escape. While Ryo slips inside to pursue after her, Kaori boards the ship with her creepily amorous cousin. Police Officer Saeko Nogami and her partner are set to pursue the terrorist band led by the ringleader 'MacDonald' (Played by Richard Norton) as they hijack the ship and abduct the wealthy passengers as hostages. With Ryo, Kaori and her cousin, coincidentally, are there at the wrong time and place.

The context behind the Street Fighter scene is not only bizarre but an outright fever dream: Macdonald's accomplice, Kim (played by Gary Daniels) kidnaps Kaori and holds her captive. When Ryo breaks in, both men struggle before MacDonald and his men intervene and capture Ryo. He is then brought before a firing squad the next morning. Shizuko, Saeko, and her partner try to stop the execution but are cornered by MacDonald's goons.

Ryo escapes only to be ambushed by Kim in the ship’s arcade, with his hands still bound, he gets thrown into a Street Fighter II arcade cabinet, which electrocutes him half to death. As a result, he begins to hallucinate, believing Kim to be the fighter Ken from the videogame. Ryo defeats him as Chun-Li after failing to beat him as E. Honda, Guile or Dhalsim.

Jackie Chan dressed as several Street Fighter characters is an unbelievably goofy idea, that no one would believe you didn’t show them proof. Him dressed as Chun-Li has also been the subject of many fan art of him, striking a kung fu stance with hair buns and spiked bracelets. His costume’s resemblance was highly detailed and accurate to the games; going as far as to say that he suited it!