It’s unlikely fighting games would’ve remained a male space-only forever, even without Capcom adding Chun-Li to Street Fighter 2. She wasn’t even the first woman in the genre. But she’s certainly the first one that counts as a properly playable character. Nicki Minaj didn't do a song about the Fan and Shuriken-wielding foes in Yie Ar Kung Fu.

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Since then, Street Fighter has featured a wide range of women, with Street Fighter 6 having the most fatal femmes on its default roster in the series’ history. The likes of Juri, Rose, R. Mika, and Kimberly are no slouches, but who are the strongest female characters in Street Fighter? Based on gameplay, these are some standout examples.

9 Makoto

The Rindōkan Karate Heir

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.
• Highest Tier: A (Street Fighter 3: Third Strike).

The karateka from Shikoku, Makoto, is one of the trickier characters to master in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. To beginners, she’s got neat dash punches, but a dodgy anti-air attack that only hits aerial opponents, and a weak throw where she throttles her opponent before putting them back down. However, with practice, these become some of her strongest assets.

Her Fukiage stuffs jumping attacks and sets opponents up for her juggling attacks, while the Karakusa throw stuns them long enough for her target combos and super arts. One of which, the Abare Tosanami, also knocks her foes into the air for more juggles. Makoto isn’t easy to master, but she becomes deadly in a trained player’s hands. She lost her mojo in Ultra Street Fighter 4, but fans are still hoping she'll make a comeback in SF6.

8 Elena

Warrior Of The Savannah

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 3: New Generation.
• Highest Tier: A (Ultra Street Fighter 4).

Despite first appearing in Street Fighter 3: New Generation, Elena wasn’t the most menacing figure on the roster. In fact, she was mid-tier in all the SF3 games. She wasn't a struggle to play like Remy or Sean, but not an OP monster like Ken or Yun. Then, after a less-than-average return as DLC for Street Fighter X Tekken, Elena wasn’t expected to be anything special when she made the leap to USF4.

However, something happened in that game. The reach of her attacks, while always long, had more advantages. Her overheads were more oppressive. Then, in a game where taking damage charged up the meter for Ultra Combos, her Healing Ultra could undo her opponent’s hard work and prolong the match. Even if they tried to hit her out of it, she could cancel it partway to stop them in their tracks with a combo and still get a little health boost.

7 Juri

Dark Spider

• Debut Game: Super Street Fighter 4.
• Highest Tier: A (Super Street Fighter 4, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter 6).

Out of all the new characters that popped up during Street Fighter 4’s different versions, the one that caught fans’ hearts was Juri. She was a femme fatale that put more emphasis on the "fatale" part. In lore, she’s strong enough to hold Chun-Li, Cammy, and Guile back at the same time. So, the player’s avatar and Bosch in SF6’s World Tour Mode stood no chance. She was pretty tough in gameplay too.

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Juri was quick on her feet, had plenty of options for catching opponents unaware on getting up, and her Feng Shui Engine was one of the best install Ultras in the game. It was enough to put her above Elena’s Healing tactics in USF4, though her combos were harder to learn. SF5 toned her down a lot, but (as of this writing) SF6 brought her back into the game’s top ten competitors with her chaining combos and juggles.

6 Poison

The Rose's Thorn

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 3: Second Impact (cameo), Street Fighter X Tekken (playable).
• Highest Tier: S (Ultra Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition).

Yes, Poison counts. Final Fight characters have essentially been SF characters too since Guy and Sodom turned up in Street Fighter Alpha. That said, she spent most of her time in the series as an NPC. She either hung out in the background of stages or popped up during Hugo’s intros and win poses as his manager. But SFxT needed tag teams, and she and Hugo made a natural duo, even if they weren’t particularly strong in that game.

Yet once they made the jump to USF4, Hugo went to the bottom of the card, and Poison rose close to the top. She was one of the strongest women in the game. Then, in SF5: CE, she was the strongest woman in the game! She had the best anti-airs, and her whip gave her the best range in the game. Only the likes of Luke and Rashid had advantages over her, and skilled Poison players could still show them the business end of her crop.

5 Ibuki

Ninja-In-Training

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 3: New Generation.
• Highest Tier: S (Street Fighter 4: New Generation, Street Fighter 3: Second Impact, Ultra Street Fighter 4).

Before Kimberly raced onto the scene, Ibuki was SF’s premier ninja girl. She’s the archetypal quick and nimble character, with combos for days to make up for her lack of power. Her skills were enough to put her just behind Poison in USF4, but SF5 sent her down to lower-mid status behind perennial jobber Birdie. So, why is she placed so highly?

It’s because of her debut in SF3: NG. Ibuki was outright broken in that game due to an oversight where she could infinitely juggle her opponents. It wasn’t hard to do either. Once they were airborne, players just had to hit their heavy kick at the right time each time until they won. Even when this was fixed for SF3: Second Impact, her Hashinshō super art could still set her foes up for some deadly juggles. No wonder it was taken out for SF3: Third Strike.

4 Karin

Rich Schoolgirl

• Debut Game: Street Fighter Alpha 3.
• Highest Tier: S (Street Fighter Alpha 3).

Tiers for Street Fighter Alpha 3 can be tricky to determine, as it introduced the ISM system. Like Capcom Vs SNK’s Grooves, a character could be better or worse depending on what ISM they used. Most of the time, V-ISM characters were superior as they essentially gave everyone install supers via its Custom Combos. If players knew their character’s normal attacks well, they could chain them together into a more powerful combo than any super move.

3:05

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Case in point: Karin, the Ken to Sakura’s Ryu. She was a tricky character already, with chaining specials that kept opponents guessing, and counters that set them up for midair strikes. With V-ISM, she could catch her foes in looping throws and strikes that they could do nothing about. These weren’t easy to learn, but once mastered, they made her one of SFA3’s deadliest fighters.

3 Sakura

Blossoming Flower

• Debut Game: Street Fighter Alpha 2.
• Highest Tier: S (Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom Vs SNK 2).

It’s interesting how people learn martial arts in the SF universe. Sean spent most of his time around Ken and still needed a full super bar to pull off one Hadōken. Sakura spars a few times with Ryu, gets some sage advice from him, and ends up as one of the best shotos in the series. Her debut in Street Fighter Alpha 2 put her around A-Tier, and she’s in SFA3’s top ten.

Her weakest outings have been her last few 3D appearances, where she went from mid in USF4 to a much lower tier in SF5: CE. For some, this is unfortunate, but for those with long memories, it’s a fitting punishment. In Capcom Vs SNK 2, if Sakura players chose A-Groove (i.e. SFA3’s V-ISM), they could chain her Shououkens in a constant barrage until they popped their opponent’s defense. Don’t be fooled by her looks: Sakura can be a menace.

2 Cammy

Killer Bee

• Debut Game: Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers.
• Highest Tier: S (Capcom Vs SNK 2, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, Street Fighter 6).

That said, despite those tactics, Sakura isn’t CvS2’s strongest female character. According to top player BAS, Cammy has the edge over her, and she doesn’t even need Custom Combos. Just her long, poking normal attacks, strong overheads, mix-up game, and her usual super moves. Not bad for someone who, back in SSF2 and SSF2T, ranked pretty low. Gameplay-wise, this was the start of Cammy’s rise to power.

She was already one of the series’ most iconic women. The 3D games just gave her more strength, as she stood out in SFxT, became a tough competitor in SF5 and became the strongest woman in USF4. As of this writing, she’s also the strongest woman in SF6, which gave her one of the best Level 3 supers in the game on top of her deadly variety of attacks.

1 Chun-Li

The First Lady Of Fighting Games

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior.
• Highest Tier: S (Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Street Fighter X Tekken).

Ultimately, as predictable as it sounds, Chun-Li is arguably SF’s strongest woman overall. She called her shot in her debut ("I'm the strongest woman in the world!"), where she was top-tier with her keep-away game. Then she rose to the top again in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Her fast walk and chargeable super meant she could break it out at any time she got up close. She stood strong in SFA2, SFxT, and SF5: CE.

But her entry wouldn’t be complete without talking about her appearance in SF3: Third Strike. The hard work players put into Makoto and Ibuki could be all for naught if they were left open for her Hoyokusen super art. It could travel across half the screen, do heavy damage with its pummeling kick barrage, and launch foes into the air ready for some deadly juggles. If players can't avoid it or do some Daigo-level parrying, they'll fall to Chun-Li.

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