is a fictional character in the ''

Tekken is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations. The ...

'' series of

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

s by

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

, where she was introduced in the original ''

'' in 1994. A young woman of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and Native American descent, Michelle possesses a mysterious pendant allegedly capable of controlling evil and powerful spirits. The pendant has caused many problems in Michelle's life, including her father's killing by

Heihachi Mishima is a Character (arts), fictional character of Bandai Namco Studios, Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, serving as its main antagonist. Introduced as the boss character from the first ''Tekken (video game), Tekken'' video game from 1 ...

's men when he failed to retrieve the treasure, as well as her mother and even her own kidnappings in later years. She later becomes the adoptive mother of

Julia Chang is a fictional character in the ''Tekken'' series of fighting games by Namco, where she was introduced in ''Tekken 3'' in 1997. She is the adopted daughter of part- Native American and part-Chinese fighter Michelle Chang, and her storyline typi ...

, who masters her mother's discipline. Michelle is dropped from the canonical games after ''

Tekken 2 is a fighting game, the second entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released in arcades in 1995, and for the PlayStation in 1996. The original arcade version of the game was released in ''Tekken 5''s Arcade History mode for the PlayStation 2, ...

'', but continues to appear in the series' spin-offs. She has also appeared in other media related to the series, including animated films and comics.

Design and gameplay

Michelle debuted in the ''

'' series at the age of 18, which, alongside

Anna Williams Anna Williams may refer to: * Anna Williams (poet) (1706–1783), writer and friend of Samuel Johnson * Anna Maria Williams (1839–1929), New Zealand teacher and school principal * Anna Wessels Williams (1863–1954), pioneering female doctor an ...

, made her the youngest human character to debut in the series until

Ling Xiaoyu Ling Xiaoyu (; ja, リン・シャオユウ, translit=Rin Shaoyū) is a fictional character from the ''Tekken'' franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Following her debut in ''Tekken 3'' (1997), she has appeared in every subsequent game in th ...

, who debuted in ''

Tekken 3 is a fighting game, the third entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released to the arcades in 1997, before being ported for the PlayStation in 1998. The arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of ''Tekke ...

'' at the age of 16. She is 20 years old in ''

'' and chronologically would be 41 as of ''

Tekken 6 is a fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Games. It is the sixth main and seventh installment in the ''Tekken'' franchise. It was released in arcades on November 26, 2007, as the first game running on the PlayStation 3-based ...

''; however, due to her never making a canonical appearance since ''Tekken 2'' (aside from a cameo in her daughter

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g. ...

's ending in ''Tekken 3''), she appeared in ''

Tekken Tag Tournament is a spin-off of Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series. It is the fourth installment in the ''Tekken'' fighting game series. ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' was released as an arcade game in 1999, before becoming a North American and European launch ...

'' and ''

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' is a sequel to the ''Tekken'' fighting game series. It was released for the arcades in September 2011. It received an update, subtitled ''Unlimited'', on March 2012. A console version based on the update was release ...

'' in her ''Tekken 2'' appearance, making her physically comparable to her daughter, Julia, who too appeared in both games and is around 20 years of age as of ''Tekken 7''. During an early development of ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'', some of Michelle's

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

was done by the series producer

Katsuhiro Harada is a Japanese game producer, director, and general manager from Bandai Namco Entertainment, best known as the former producer (now Michael Murray ) and current director of the popular fighting game series ''Tekken.'' Biography Harada was born ...

. On

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, Harada complained about the "

spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...

" from fans demanding to bring back Michelle and

Jun Kazama is a fictional character from the '' Tekken'' fighting game series, who made her debut in ''Tekken 2'', her first and only canonical appearance until the confirmation of her return in ''Tekken 8'' when she was revealed as a character during a ga ...

, even after they were both confirmed to return in this game. Michelle utilized a variation of Kenpo called "Chang kenpo" mixed with

Xingyiquan Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements ...

. Her style and moveset were later adopted by her adopted daughter and substitute in the series, Julia. She still used the same fighting style in ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'', but she gained several unique moves to differentiate herself from both Wang and Julia. According to

Prima Games Prima Games is a publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. Formerly, Prima was an imprint of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Penguin Random House, and produced print ''strategy guides'', featuring ''in-depth walkth ...

' guide to the original ''Tekken'', "though she does not have the awesome power of the heavy hitters, Michelle can tear through her enemies with fast counters and spectacular juggles. Michelle is next to unbeatable once you have mastered her ability to evade attacks and counter with lingering juggles." Similarly, a '' Hyper'' guide to ''Tekken 2'' states that Michelle was often underestimated due to her lack of flashy moves, but for those who learned using her properly she could become one of the most deadly characters in the game. In ''Tekken Tag Tournament'', Michelle is extremely fast; she is supposed to be played very aggressively as her

combos Combos, officially called Combos Stuffed Snacks, are cylindrical tubes of cracker, pretzel, or tortilla, available with various fillings. History Combos Snacks, created in the early 1980s, are a snack food distributed by Mars, Incorporated, and ...

hit all levels, causing problems for the opponents to block them all. She is also able to perform devastating counters and has a large number of moves that can start juggle combos. However, she can be a very difficult character to play.

Appearances

In video games

Michelle Chang is a

- Native American woman (her father was from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and her mother is a Native American from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

) and the foster mother of

. Michelle's father had been ordered by Heihachi to search for an ancient treasure of the Native Americans; a pendant allegedly capable of controlling powerful spirits, which is owned by Michelle. When he failed to retrieve it for Heihachi, the latter ordered his men to murder him. This fact is presented by Michelle's mother when she turns eighteen; she thus sets out to enter The King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to take revenge against Heihachi. Michelle encounters and defeats Kunimitsu, a female ninja treasure hunter that was seeking the pendant, and secures the amulet. She promptly withdraws from the tournament; as she has achieved what she then realises should have been her main goal, and although she does not win the tournament, Michelle is still satisfied that another fighter (

Kazuya Mishima is a fictional character in Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, first featured as the protagonist in the original 1994 game and later became one of the major antagonists and antihero of the series. The son of worldwide conglomerate ...

) defeated Heihachi. In ''

'', Michelle's mother has been kidnapped by Ganryu, who is working for Kazuya, who desires the pendant. She has entered the tournament to rescue her mother. Michelle meets Ganryu and battles him. After defeating Ganryu, she rescues her mother and returns home. However, unknown to her, Ganryu has fallen in love with her. A couple of years later, Michelle discovers an abandoned baby girl nearby her village. She adopts the infant, names her Julia, and loves her as if she were her own daughter. When Julia grows into a teenager, Michelle teaches her

Chinese martial arts Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. Th ...

such as

xingyiquan Xing Yi Quan is classified as one of the internal styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements ...

. Michelle's tribe grow worried when various martial artists around the world disappeared, allegedly because of the awakening of

Ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...

, whose legends have been passed on within the tribe. They fear that Michelle's pendant is the suspect. Michelle departs for Japan to ask Heihachi why he sought her pendant before, but she fails to return. Julia has entered the tournament to rescue her mother. She appears in Julia's ending, being reunited with her adopted daughter. Her further fate has never been canonically resolved within the games.Tom Goulter
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 roster - Meet all 55 fighters
GamesRadar, September 4, 2012. She appears as a playable character in ''

'' and is one of the console-exclusive returning characters via free

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...

(DLC) in ''

'' (first introduced as

pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...

bonus from

GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...

).Tekken Tag Tournament 2 DLC Characters Video.
Retrieved on May 21, 2012. In her ''TTT2'' ending movie, Michelle dons a mask to team-up with Jaycee (Julia) in

lucha libre Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

professional wrestling, although fans may call her M.C, similar to J.C.

In other media

Michelle appears in the anime film '' Tekken: The Motion Picture'' with a bigger role than most of the other contenders. Before the tournament, she attempts to kill Heihachi with a

tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...

, but Heihachi breaks the axe with his teeth and welcomes Michelle's challenge if she makes it to the tower. Michelle encounters and defeats Ganryu, but is beaten by Kazuya to the point that she begs him to let her face Heihachi and take revenge for Heihachi burning down her village and inadvertently killing ''both'' her parents. Kazuya, knowing that Michelle will be killed, refuses. Michelle continues to attack Kazuya relentlessly until he beats her into submission and nearly mercy-kills her, but is stopped by Jun's intervention. She is later found and rescued from the crumbling island by Paul Phoenix. She is voiced by Narumi Hidaka in the original Japanese version and by Jessica Robertson in the English dub. Michelle also appears in the comics ''Tekken Saga'', ''Tekken 2'', ''Tekken: Tatakai no Kanatani'', and ''Tekken Forever''.

Reception

According to Liz Faber's book ''Computer Game Graphics'' (1999), "Michelle Chan, a 'superbabe' who cuts a nice line in denim hot-pants in ''Tekken'' epitomizes the racially diverse characters that populate the modern

ideo IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environ ...

games."Liz Faber, ''Computer Game Graphics'', page 15. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' "Game Theory" columnist JC Herz claimed that Michelle, having an Asian name but ambiguous features, is "such a confused mixture of signs" that she "represents a perfect metaphor of video games themselves." A 1997 article in ''Game On! USA'', highlighted her, Chun Li,

Mai Shiranui (alternatively written しらぬいまい) is a fictional character in the ''Fatal Fury'' and ''The King of Fighters'' series of fighting games by SNK. She has also appeared in other media of these franchises and in a number of other games since ...

, and

Jill Valentine Jill Valentine is a character (arts), character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced as one of two player characters in the original ''Residen ...

as the female "video game characters who have marked the near absurd level of popularity." In 2008, ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'' listed Michelle as one of the "female vixens that are equally tough and certainly hot", representing ''Tekken'' along with

Nina Williams is a fictional character from Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series. A cold-blooded Irish professional assassin, Nina made her first appearance in ''Tekken'', the original game in the series. She also starred in her own spin-off game, '' Dea ...

and

Christie Monteiro is a fictional character in the '' Tekken'' video game series of 3D fighting games. A fighter of Afro-Brazilian nationality, Christie uses the Brazilian fighting style of capoeira. She is the granddaughter of a legendary capoeira master who tau ...

. ''

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 ...

'' featured Michelle among the 50 "hottest women in video games" in 2010,The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games
Complex.com, November 8, 2010. and ranked her as the 13th "best looking sideline chick in games" in 2011. Andrew Bridgman from

Dorkly CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

listed her as one of the most stereotypical Native American characters in fighting game history, ranking her at seventh place, tying with her daughter Julia. Andrew Rivera from ''Complex'' compared her to 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 character

T. Hawk , commonly known as T. Hawk, is a fictional character in the ''Street Fighter'' series. He made his first appearance in the 1993's ''Super Street Fighter II'' as one of the four new characters introduced in the game. In the series, he is a Native ...

. In an official poll by Namco, Michelle was the 26th most requested ''Tekken'' character to be added to the roster of ''

Tekken X Street Fighter (pronounced "Tekken Cross Street Fighter") is a crossover fighting game that was being developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was supposed to cross the universes of Namco's ''Tekken'' and Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' into one game, creating ...

''.

References