Juri (Street Fighter)
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Juri (ジュリ), full name Han Ju-ri (한주리), is a fictional character in the ''
Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' series. She made her first appearance in 2010's ''
Super Street Fighter IV is a 2010 fighting game produced by Capcom. It is an updated version of '' Street Fighter IV'' and has been said to mark the definitive end of the ''Street Fighter IV'' series. Having been deemed too large an update to be deployed as DLC, the g ...
''. In the series, she is a South Korean
Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
fighter employed by S.I.N. and an underling to the main
antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...
of ''
Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game published by Capcom, who also co-developed the game with Dimps. It was the first original main entry in the series since ''Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years. The coin-operated arcade game version was ...
'', Seth. Juri originated as a suggestion to introduce a female
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
character in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the development team went through 400–500 ideas before deciding on Juri. She is the first practitioner of
Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
and the series’ first Korean character. Juri has been described as "sultry", "provocative", and "sex-crazed", and she is unique within the series due to her practice of Taekwondo.


Character design

Juri's character concept was created from a suggestion by Yoshinori Ono to introduce a female Korean character into the ''Street Fighter'' series, with the initial design selected from 400-500 ideas, amongst which included an old woman and an ice skater. The final concept was intended to be someone "bad and somewhat erotic," with Taekwondo selected as her martial art over suggestions such as a sports-themed style, due to its lack of representation in the series and feeling that a character that used primarily kicks could be interesting. A
mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
style was also considered, but the team chose to focus on a more iconic fighting style. Ono stated that they were planning on adding a Korean character since soon after ''
Street Fighter II is a fighting game developed by Capcom and originally released for arcades in 1991. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter''. It is Capcom's fourteenth game to use the CP Syst ...
'' became popular in South Korea. However, the South Korean government had a strict limitation against the Japanese language and culture, preventing them from including such a character. '' Tekken'' has had Korean characters since 1995, ''
Fatal Fury ''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system. Games Canon * '' Fatal Fury'' – The first game of the ''Fatal Fury'' series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terr ...
'' has had Korean characters since 1992, so this excuse of the South Korean government limitations might not be accurate. After the release of ''Street Fighter IV'', Capcom Korea demanded to Ono that should another ''Street Fighter'' game be released, that it include a Korean character. While other fighting games had Korean characters already, Capcom Korea and Korean fighting game fans held the sentiment that it didn't matter "unless there was one in the series that started it all." Ono commented that when a new character is introduced, "you want to make them a good guy, you know a 'fighter for justice' or a 'friend of good' so to speak, but this time we decided to go kind of a different route with this character." He went on to describe her as "kind of nasty, she's kind of mean—somewhat twisted in fact." The developers debated which of the game's villains to align her with,
M. Bison M. Bison, also known as the Dictator (for international tournaments), is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'', he is a recurring character in the ''Street Fighter'' series of figh ...
or Seth, before settling on the latter due to her being a new addition to the series. Juri's shirt was modeled after a spider, and left the sides of her breasts exposed at Ono's suggestion. Her pants were designed to give a "silhouette that looks like a Taekwondo uniform." The black trim on her pants was added to set her apart from other ''Street Fighter'' characters who wear similar uniforms. Her colour scheme was originally plain. However, when lined up with other characters, she didn't stand out; as a result, they employed
hot pink Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classificati ...
, a colour not used in any other female character in the game. They added black details to her outfit to make it less "frivolous." A pink crystal, known as the Feng Shui Engine, was added as a replacement inside her left eye after deciding to align her with Seth, in order to more closely tie her character to the organization. The crystal was originally in her stomach, similar to Seth. Other ideas were considered, including having it in one of her palms, one of her legs, or one of her ankles. They eventually settled on putting it in her eye, with design director Kamei commenting that a "big globe in the stomach of a female character wasn't going to look very attractive." He also commented that an eye is a logical place to have an artificial replacement, as well as already being spherical. Initially, Juri was designed to be chubbier and cuter. Gradually the design was made slimmer, though the team noted at some point they had realized they had overdone it and reversed the changes slightly. She was given full legs, and a slender upper body in order to show the contrast. Kamei wanted to make her even more slender, but decided that if she was too small, her kicks would lack impact. Several designs were considered for her face, going through about seven versions before settling on her current appearance, though time constraints played a part in the decision. Attention was paid to Taekwondo users in other fighting games in an attempt to keep the character fresh and original, implementing several actual techniques as a result but altering their appearance to make them different but recognizable, describing it as "her style." Her projectile attacks were modeled after the concept of using ki from one's surroundings, which the developers joking compared to '' Dragon Ball''s
Goku Son Goku is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is based on Sun Wukong (known as Son Goku in Japan and Monkey King in the West), a main character of the classic Chin ...
's "spirit bomb" attack. However, it was noted that her use of ki was different from that by the developers due to coming from a man-made device. Developer Tamamura suggested that in order to make it look unique, they should make it "cotton candy-like." He explained that as opposed to using energy from nature, Juri would "forcibly taking nature’s power, twining it around, and throwing it out." During the development of the game, several developers became fans of hers', with writer Kawasaki describing their fandom as being "I'm gonna use this character! She's so cool!" rather than them liking her just because they made the game. In response to fan complaints that Juri seemed too similar to previous character
Chun-Li is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' video game series. The first ever female playable character to appear in a fighting game to gain mainstream recognition, she first appeared in ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1 ...
, Capcom responded by stating the two were nothing alike, and added that it would be like comparing two other male characters to one another simply because they utilized punches.


Personality and attributes

Juri's personality was proposed by Ono to be a strong character, and while laughing compared it to that of a protester. She was originally designed to be a nice person who happens to be consorting with bad characters, but Ono went against this, stating "she can't be a good girl. Surprise everyone and make her a really evil chick." Her quotes were designed to have a lot of double entendres, with writer Kawasaki, citing one quote that while it appears as a compliment of their physique, her opponent may take offense to it. Initially, she was designed to be always smiling, similar to other female characters according to developer Kamei. However, it did not fit, resulting in the team working on other faces, some he describes as "scary." The team eventually settled on a "cool-headed" look. Kamei commented that one of his favourite expressions of Juri's is the one she makes when she appears to be having fun; he adds that this look made him feel like the animators had finally began to understand the character. In designing her eyes, Kamei wanted her eyes to have more expression to them than other characters, commenting that the team "wanted her to tell a story with her eyes." Because of the anger from Korean fans over the lack of a Korean character in ''Street Fighter'', the team decided to make her a strong character. Juri is said to have a warlike and provocative character and enjoys playing around with her opponent while beating them. She has also been described in a similar fashion, including "sex-crazed" and "sultry." Developer Tamamura describes her as a "pleasure-seeker" and a "character who would enjoy fighting."


Appearances

Juri's first appearance in a video game has been in ''
Super Street Fighter IV is a 2010 fighting game produced by Capcom. It is an updated version of '' Street Fighter IV'' and has been said to mark the definitive end of the ''Street Fighter IV'' series. Having been deemed too large an update to be deployed as DLC, the g ...
''. At an early age, her parents were killed by Shadaloo agents, during which her left eye was damaged. Years later, she has become an agent of S.I.N. known as "Spider". She has a ki booster implanted inside her left eye called the . An
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
centering on Juri, produced by Studio Gonzo and '' Afro Samurai'' director Fuminori Kizaki, was included in the Japanese
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
version of ''Super Street Fighter IV''. Although having been fully dubbed in English, the film was not released outside of Asia until its inclusion as part of the ''Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector's Set'' in 2012. Juri appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game '' Street Fighter X Tekken'' with her official tag partner,
M. Bison M. Bison, also known as the Dictator (for international tournaments), is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'', he is a recurring character in the ''Street Fighter'' series of figh ...
. Juri also appears in the crossover tactical role-playing game ''
Project X Zone (pronounced as "Project Cross Zone") is a crossover tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Monolith Soft with assistance from Capcom and Red Entertainment and published by Namco Bandai Games. The game is a follow up to the ...
'', its sequel ''
Project X Zone 2 ''Project X Zone 2'' is a crossover tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Monolith Soft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Despite the game being the sequel to '' Project X Zone'', the plot is a homage to the eve ...
'' and in the mobile puzzle game ''Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits''. Juri appears as a playable character in ''
Street Fighter V ''Street Fighter V'' is a fighting game developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows in 2016. An Arcade game, arcade version exclusive to Japan was released by Taito in 2019. Similar to th ...
''; she was released via downloadable content in July 2016. In 2017, Juri appeared along with Bison and Cammy in ''
Shadowverse ''Shadowverse'' is a digital collectible card game developed and published by Cygames. It was released free-to-play for iOS and Android devices in June 2016. macOS and Windows versions were released in October 2016. ''Shadowverse'' employs an an ...
''.


Gameplay

Juri's fighting style focuses on the "power and range" of kicks. As a practitioner of Taekwondo, she fights almost exclusively with her feet and rarely strikes with her hands. She has been described as "agile and quick, but with low stamina." ''Street Fighter'' player
Justin Wong Justin Wong, occasionally shortened to just Jwong, is a formerly American and now Canadian professional fighting game player. Wong has won more EVO titles than anyone else with nine tournaments won: seven for '' Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of ...
described her as a unique character, comparing her to a "''
Guilty Gear is a series of fighting games by Arc System Works, created and designed by artist Daisuke Ishiwatari. The first game was published in 1998, and has spawned several sequels. It has also adapted to other media such as manga and drama CD. ''Gu ...
'' type of character," citing her dive kicks in part for this.
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editor Heidi Kemps commented that she is a character who is "geared towards competitive players who enjoy screwing with their opponents' minds just as much as they enjoy slugging them in the face." GamesRadar also described her as a character who "functions best when she’s on the offensive and shutting down opponents before they can even get into position." Developer Okada described her as a "hectic character," a quality that the developers had decided on from the beginning. She was created with the intention of making players see her as a character with potential; Okada commented that he wanted to instill a feeling of "If I keep playing with this character, I bet I could do some really cool stuff" in players. Developer Tamamura commented that players of
Yun and Yang and are a pair of fictional characters appearing in the ''Street Fighter'' fighting game series. The characters are twin brothers known collectively as the that made their debut in the original '' Street Fighter III''. Appearances In their bac ...
from '' Street Fighter III'' would enjoy playing with her. Seth Killian, Capcom Special Advisor to ''Super Street Fighter IV'', described Juri as "one of the most versatile characters." He commented that she is a threat from mid-range as well as further away because of her dive kick, but theorized that characters like
Zangief , based on Russian Зангиев, often called the , is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. Considered to be the first controllable fighting game character whose moveset is centered on grappling, he made his first appeara ...
, Ryu, and Sagat would give Juri trouble due to their mobility and hard-hitting attacks. Juri has a number of special techniques; all of which utilize quarter-circle, shoryuken, and similar motions. These include a quick flip kick, a dive kick, and a technique called Fuhajin kick, which allows fireballs to be fired from her feet. These fireballs can be controlled by the strength of the kick input; depending on it, the fireballs will travel at different angles. Players may also store fireballs by holding down the kick button. 1UP.com editor Richard Li compared this mechanic to Gilgamesh's from '' Fate/Unlimited codes''. Players may store three sets of fireballs by holding three buttons to charge them, choosing to release them in tandem or one-by-one. GamesRadar editor Brett Elston commented that while her dive kick was "so much fun that it’s almost irresistible," it "shouldn't be your first choice every time you get into the air." He adds that the move is so overused by Juri players that players can beat them without attacking. Juri's special attacks include the Senpusha wheel kick and the Shikusen triple air kick. Her ultra attacks include the Feng Shui Engine, which allows her normal attacks to chain upwards for a short time; and the Kaisen Dankairaku. In one of her ultra moves, she was intended to kiss the opponent's cheek, but this was toned down. Okada commented that other ideas were so extreme that the game would have needed a higher content rating. She also has a pinwheel kick attack, which acts as an "offensive chip damage" attack. In discussing the pinwheel kick, developer Tamamura commented that females in fighting games typically have attacks with several hits to them, describing this move as an example of how she likes to show off. A dodge technique was implemented as a means of reflecting her personality, with developer Okada stating that it is a move that "puts her opponent off balance." He goes on to describe her as "one of the fastest and trickiest characters in Street Fighter history."


Merchandise and reception

A resin statue of Juri was created by
SOTA Toys SOTA Toys, or State Of The Art Toys, is a developer, manufacturer, and wholesaler of collectibles based on licensed properties from companies such as Capcom and NBC Universal, Universal. Formed in 2000 by Jerry Macaluso, they have created and manu ...
and made available for the release of ''Super Street Fighter IV''. Since appearing in ''Super Street Fighter IV'', Juri was well received by critics. The Escapist described Juri as "jarring", praising Capcom for trying to take risks with the character design but at the same time questioning how well the character meshes with ''Street Fighter IV''s main cast. In describing Juri,
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
editor Martin Robinson called her "quite awesome" and "''SSFIV''s best. IGN editor Ryan Clements stated that he was most excited to try out Juri, attributing this to his "recent fascination with K-pop." He called her an "excellent addition to the roster" after playing a few rounds with her. ''Street Fighter'' player Justin Wong described her as "very unique", comparing her to ''
Fatal Fury ''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system. Games Canon * '' Fatal Fury'' – The first game of the ''Fatal Fury'' series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terr ...
'' character
Kim Kaphwan Kim Kap-Hwan (, ''Kimu Kaffan'', sometimes written as (''Kim Kap-hwan'')), usually written as Kim Kaphwan, is a fictional character in both the ''Fatal Fury'' and ''The King of Fighters'' series created by SNK. He is credited as the first ever ...
.
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
editor Ricardo Torres similarly compared her to Kim Kaphwan, also comparing her to fellow ''Street Fighter'' characters
Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
and
M. Bison M. Bison, also known as the Dictator (for international tournaments), is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'', he is a recurring character in the ''Street Fighter'' series of figh ...
. He also described her as an "amazingly flexible and sensibly dressed vixen."
G4TV G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
editor Matt Keil called her Taekwondo-inspired play style "fascinating," calling it "almost reminiscent of a ''King of Fighters'' character." ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' editor Dan Ryckert called Juri his "personal favorite," citing her fighting style. GamesRadar Michael Grimm chose
Alisa Bosconovitch , lead=yes is a video game character from the '' Tekken'' series developed by Namco Bandai Games, first appearing in '' Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion''. Created by Dr. Bosconovitch, Alisa is a gynoid with detachable body parts. She and Lars Alex ...
from the '' Tekken'' series as an opponent he would like to see Juri battle, commenting that Juri may be at a disadvantage since Alisa is an android and Juri a human. On the other hand, Dave Cook from Now Gamer listed
Hwoarang is a fictional character from the ''Tekken'' fighting game series released by Namco Bandai Games. Hwoarang first appeared in ''Tekken 3'' and he has returned in all subsequent games. He is the Taekwondo student of Baek Doo San, and entered the th ...
as the opponent he wanted Juri to face as both have similar traits such as being Tae Kwon Do kickboxers. ''
GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' editor Heidi Kemps commented that "after spending time with her, I think I've found my new favorite Street Fighter IV character."
GameDaily GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States. It was 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 ...
editor Chris Buffa described Juri as a "wonderful addition." Similarly, GameZone editor Dakota Grabowski gave "much love" to the addition of Juri to the ''Street Fighter'' universe. Hardcore Gamer editor Nicholas J. Martin praised Juri for bringing a "unique mix" to the series.
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placed Juri at #13 on their list of Top 50 Street Fighter Characters", stating "Juri is a fast and agile cyberneticaly enhanced fighter and during the course of Super Street Fighter IV". 1UP.com listed Juri as one of the characters they wanted to see in '' Street Fighter X Tekken'', adding "Juri is arguably one of Capcom's best fighting games character designs to date and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to see her in more games". ''
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' ranked Juri as the "31st-most dominant fighting game character", stating "The Juri equation is simply Taekwondo + extra perverted creepiness + dat eye = Purple Swag Madness!" WhatCulture ranked Juri as the "10th-greatest female fighting game character of all time", commenting, "Arguably the greatest new addition to the Street Fighter family with the release of IV, Juri's leg-centric combat style fused with some handy psycho powers courtesy of M. Bison make her a joy to play." While she is popular in North America and Japan, she has not proven to be "that popular" in Korea; ''Street Fighter'' developer Yoshinori Ono commented that he had received angry mail reading "Koreans don’t have hair like that!" He responded by saying that ''Street Fighter'' characters are generally not accurate to their respective origins, such as
Blanka also known by his birth name Jimmy (ジミー Jimī) is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' fighting game series. He first appeared in the 1991 video game '' Street Fighter II'' as one of eight playable characters, and was subs ...
and
Dhalsim is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. He made his first appearance in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1991. He sometimes goes by the alias "long-arm" and his fighting ability includes stretching his limbs. ...
. In GamesRadar article for ''Street Fighter X Tekken'', they stated "Quite the femme fatale, Juri is a sensual villain who uses her augmented power to make herself the most evil woman in the Street Fighter universe." Additionally, GamesRadar named Juri as one of the best new characters of 2010, stating "Juri's overall aesthetic appeal is quite strong even if you don’t spend hours a day honing mixups and perfecting your FADCs. Her bare stomach is an obvious center of attention, but we're more taken in by the violet colors, lens-flaring robo-eyeball and her spiderlike top that slithers across her shoulders." A Character Popularity Poll made by
Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
in late 2017 revealed that Juri is the third most popular character in the ''Street Fighter'' franchise, only beaten by Sakura and
Makoto is a unisex Japanese name although it is more commonly used by males. As a noun, Makoto means "sincerity" (誠) or "truth" (真, 眞). People Given name * Makoto (musician) (born 1977), drum and bass artist *Makoto (Sharan Q) ( まこと), ...
.


References

{{Portal bar, South Korea Capcom protagonists Capcom antagonists Cyborg characters in video games Female characters in video games Female characters in anime and manga Female video game villains Fictional assassins in video games Fictional female martial artists Fictional South Korean people in video games Fictional mass murderers Fictional characters missing an eye Fictional taekwondo practitioners Street Fighter characters Video game bosses Video game characters introduced in 2010 Woman soldier and warrior characters in video games Video game characters who can move at superhuman speeds Video game characters with superhuman strength