Mai Shiranui

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First appearance: Fatal Fury 2 (1992)I can’t think of a game character that matches the “sex symbol” description better than Mai Shiranui.This modern female ninja rose to fame as the first female character in an SNK fighter game – but also thanks to her incredible sex appeal.Since arcade gaming was a male-dominated field at the time, this was simply the logical thing to do.That said, it�... read more

Mai Shiranui is a character from both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK (now SNK Playmore).
She was originally not planned to be included in Fatal Fury at all, as her fighting style was created for a different male ninja. When developers shifted their focus to including an idol character into the series, they decided to scrap the Shiranui man for Mai. Her characteristic "bounce" was loosely modified from a kunoichi (female ninja) method of assassination: to be sensual to their unassuming prey before they strike. According to an issue of Neo Geo Freak, her breasts were modeled after Fumie Hosokawa and her bottom is modeled after Ai Iijima; both women were famous idols at the time.

Mai was rated #4 in GameSpy.com's "Top Ten Babes in Games" feature and #5 in Game Informer's "Top Ten Hottest Girls of the 16-Bit era." In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, she was voted as the fifth favorite character with a total of 2,380 votes. Along with the many figures and merchandise that have been made in her image, she has made an outside game appearance in the spin off series Queens Gate.