Crimson Viper

Appearances

Crimson Viper made her debut appearance in the 2008 Street Fighter IV as an American double agent posing as a S.I.N. worker but actually a CIA agent undercover. She wears a S.I.N form-fitting suit which enables her to perform electrical, seismic, and pyrotechnic moves. Her fighting style greatly revolves around baiting, fakes, high jump cancels, and rushdown. Because of this, she has one of the steepest learning curves in the game. It is said she is motivated by her daughter Lauren, as well as money. In Street Fighter V, Viper appears in M. Bison's story mode and serves as the main narrator of events while spying on the dictator.

Crimson Viper also appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting games Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. She is also a boss character in Street Fighter X Mega Man. In Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Maya is played by Moon Bloodgood.

Development

While previous Street Fighter titles relied almost solely on Capcom's Research and Development branch, the development team instead allowed other branches of the company to give input on the design of new characters, due to the influx of fan requests from outside Japan. Viper was designed based upon marketing research on what sorts of characters an American audience would enjoy playing, and tailored her towards Western tastes as an experiment to see how audiences would receive the character. Street Fighter IV executive has described her as the most "unorthodox" of the four new characters introduced in the title, emphasizing this aspect as one he felt would appeal to American players, and was his favorite character when the game was early in development. In response to claims that the character resembled one found more commonly in SNK developed games, Ono retorted that the resemblance was unintended, and that she was created from the best parts of several proposed designs during early development. He went on to state that she was also an attempt to create a character with a "cool" design, which he feels are predominant in SNK titles.

Designed by Daigo Ikeno, Viper was designed around the concept of a 20-year-old single mother. Visually, she resembles Sharon, a redheaded special agent from Street Fighter EX 2.

Reception

VideoGamer.com described Crimson Viper as looking "ridiculous", adding that she resembled "an SNK character lost in a Capcom game". Anime News Network felt the character fit comfortably in the "Street Fighter mold", though noted regardless she still looked more appropriate for the King of Fighters series. Eurogamer felt similar sentiments, though noted that the contrast did not quite fit with the game's aesthetic. A reviewer for the New Straits Times described her as the best of the new characters, praising both her appearance and attack arsenal. GamesRadar stated that while her attacks made her feel out of place in the title, "that's why she adds so much to the game". IGN AU praised the character, stating approval for the variations of her attacks. AJ Glasser from Kotaku listed her as one of the worst mothers in video games, placing as the worst one from fighting games. UGO Networks ranked C. Viper at #21 on their list of "Fighting Games' Finest Female Fighters", commenting on how she shoves her tie between her breasts and her bright red bouffant. In 2013, she was listed as the second "fiercest female in today's fighting games" by Gamenguide, calling her "swift and deadly". The Guardian ranked her as the 20th top Street Fighter character in 2010, with writer Ryan Hart saying "She's on the list for her technical combos".