Yun and Yang

Yun (ユン) and Yang (ヤン, Yan) are a pair of fictional characters appearing in the Street Fighter fighting game series. The characters are twin brothers known collectively as the Lee Brothers (リー兄弟, Rī Kyōdai, Chinese: Lǐ Shì Xiōngdì)^[1] that made their debut in the original Street Fighter III.

Appearances

In their backstory, Yun and Yang were separated from their birth parents when they were young. They were raised by an adoptive grandfather who runs a restaurant in Shanghai and have eight underground bosses as godfathers. By the time of Street Fighter III, the two brothers are the leader of their local town. Yun, the elder of the two, is described as being more responsible, while his younger brother Yang is calmer and more analytical.^[2]

In Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Yun and Yang set off to fight a mysterious organization (Gill's group, the Illuminati) threatening to take over their village.^[3] In their respective endings, Yun and Yang end up driving away Gill from their home town and the two return home to be greeted by their female friend Houmei and her younger sister Shaomei, who both harbor a respective crush on Yun and Yang.

After the Street Fighter III series, Yun appeared as a playable character Capcom vs. SNK 2, in the portable versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 for the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable and in Capcom Fighting Jam. They later appeared as playable characters in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

The twins later made a cameo in Chun-Li's introductory cutscene in the console versions of Street Fighter IV and in again in her ending in Super Street Fighter IV. They also made a cameo in the Half Pipe stage in Street Fighter X Tekken.

Design and gameplay

Yun wears a blue baseball cap with a yellow visor, a sleeveless white cheongsam, yellow wristbands, and black pants and sneakers, while Yang wears a sleeveless salmon cheongsam, yellow wristbands, black pants and sneakers. Yun and Yang have an identical moveset in Street Fighter III, in which Yang is selectable as an alternate version of Yun; in 2nd Impact and 3rd Strike, Yang is a distinct selectable character with his own techniques and abilities and ending. Only Yun is as a playable character in Capcom vs. SNK 2, with Yang assisting in some of his special moves and super combos; this version of Yun appears again in the portable versions of Alpha 3 and in Capcom Fighting Jam.

Reception

The characters were mostly well received. GameDaily ranked them at number 20 on their 2009 list of best Street Fighter characters, adding that they both are equally useful.^[4] They were ranked at tenth place on UGO.com's 2010 list of best Street Fighter characters.^[5] They were also ranked at number 11 on the list of the best Street Fighter fighters by The Guardian that same year, noted for their gameplay uniqueness.^[6] IGN included Yun and Yang among the characters they wished to see in Street Fighter IV.^[7] 1UP.com listed Yang as one of the characters they wanted to see in Street Fighter X Tekken as "Yang is long overdue to show up in a new Capcom fighting game."^[8] On other hand, GamesRadar included Yun among the worst Street Fighter characters ever, commenting that "You would think that being a Kung-fu master, skateboarding, and wearing a hat would make you cool. Actually it makes you look like a complete tool. Weird."^[9]

Yun has been used to win the 3rd Strike tournament at the Tougeki – Super Battle Opera in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012, and the Super Street Fighter IV tournament in 2011 and 2012. He was also used to win the 3rd Strike tournament at the Evolution Championship Series in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2009.

References