5 Kick-Ass Characters That Changed the Industry Forever

The women of gaming have changed the industry for the better, and today we’re sharing the girl power with you to celebrate.

Who doesn’t love a kick-ass character breaking down the walls of our expectations? (Mostly) gone are the days when women only played the role of damsel in distress for our protagonist to save. Developers have dedicated a lot of time to creating more impressive ladies. Now, we can have more fun cracking skulls and taking names.

Chun-Li (Street Fighter)

Chun-Li is the female champion of the Street Fighter series. She made her debut in Street Fighter 2. When she is not busy avenging her father’s death, she is a teacher and caregiver. She’s a real renaissance woman. Chun-Li is a dedicated and awesome officer who believes in protecting the innocent and saving others, what a gal!

Known for her ‘Lightning Kick’, Chun-Li is known as one of the earliest examples of a female protagonist in gaming. She became an example of how women can kick ass just as much as a man can. 

Cammy (Street Fighter)

Cammy also made her first appearance in Street Fighter 2 alongside Chun-Li. A clone that was designed to replicate Chun-Li, she has quite the backstory. Once a deadly assassin, Cammy became an MI6 agent in Britain and was given a new codename: Killer Bee.

Freed from her old life, Cammy became a polite and respectful woman. Eventually, she became best friends with Chun-Li – talk about girl power! With her muscular build and interesting attire, Cammy showed the world that she could be captivating as well as deadly. She’s quick and unbelievably strong, a true force to be reckoned with in the arena. 

Ling Xiaoyu (Tekken)

The Dancing Phoenix – Ling Xiaoyu – more than makes up for a lack of physical strength with her quirky personality. In Tekken 3 at 16 years old, she became an incredible fighter due to her martial arts skills and graceful movement. Not only that, Xiaoyu has aspirations of opening her own theme park – now that’s a dream come true.

Although Xiaoyu is sometimes naive, she has proved that she isn’t the little girl other people make her out to be. She is a caring and determined woman, working to bring her best friend back from the brink of evil. Xiaoyu is one of Tekken’s best kick-ass characters for those reasons.

Michelle Chang (Tekken)

Michelle, known as the Wandering Female Fighter, made her debut in the first Tekken game. Initially, she vows to avenge her father’s murder, only before returning home and realising the true value of family. A compassionate and determined woman who is protective of her family, she dominates the arena with her brutal fighting style.

Michelle was one of the most striking kick-ass characters of the Tekken series before being replaced by her daughter in Tekken 3. With her family values and respect for nature, she remains one of the strongest women in Tekken. We hope to see her return to the series in the future.

Symmetra (Overwatch)

Unlike the other kick-ass ladies on our list, Symmetra (Satya Vaswani) defeats her enemies with her intelligence – now that’s power. Satya Vaswani has hopes and aspirations of creating a perfect society, literally bending reality and manipulating light itself in her architecture. The developers of Overwatch have said Satya is on the autism spectrum and suffers from OCD.

In a match, Symmetra can become your most powerful enemy or teammate. With her long-range weapon and ability to create lethal turrets, she can finish off a team in seconds. Although a woman to be feared, she is one to be in awe of with her intelligence and skill.