Lee Chaolan

An orphan from China, Li Chaolan, was adopted by Heihati Mishima, after which the main goal of his life was to defeat Heihati's own son, Kazuya Mishima, in connection with which he took part in various “King of the Iron Fist” tournaments throughout the Tekken series ^[1] . Heihati planned to make him an opponent for Kazui, who, in his opinion, was not strong enough to lead Mishima Zaibatsu ^[2] . Lee studied in the United States, along with Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law . After Kazuya took control of the company, Lee became his secretary, and also controlled Kazui’s bodyguards and watched Dr. Boskonovich’s experiments, while at the same time thinking about taking Zaibatsu from his brother. Subsequently, he was expelled by Heihachi, who strictly prohibited intervention in the affairs of Mishima Zaibatsu, threatening Kazui’s fate ^[2] , and also renounced him, which forced Li to leave the fight and pursue a career in robotics.

Lee returned to Tekken 4 as a successful businessman, becoming the CEO of his own robotics company. Upon learning that the G Corporation competing with Mishima Zaibatsu was attacked by the Tekken Force, Lee took part in the fourth King of the Iron Fist tournament, playing under the pseudonym Vailolet, to hide his identity ^[3] , hoping in passing to try out a new experimental model codenamed Combot ^{[ 1] [4]} . However, he was quickly defeated by Kazuya, whom he considered dead, and then learned that someone else controlled Zaibatsu in the absence of Heihati. Assuming it was Kazuya, Lee joined the fifth King of the Iron Fist tournament in Tekken 5 , wanting revenge on him, however, learning that his organization was backed by Heihati's father, Jinpati Mishima , Lee lost interest in the tournament and returned to his business ^[1] . After Kazuya became the official head of G Corporation, Lee took part in the next King of Iron Fist tournament to try again to fight him. In Campaign mode, he teamed up with Julia Chan , Lars Alexandersson, and the android daughter of Doctor Boskonovich, Alisa , in the name of a common goal to stop Kazuy and Jin Kazama , however he and Lars did not know that Alice was created to protect Jin, because why she had to attack Lars. After the destruction of Alice, Lee promised Lars to restore her body at the expense of his company ^[1] . In Tekken 7, Lee managed to fix Alice, but her system was damaged, which is why she attacked him. Defeating Alice, Lee sent her for a second repair. While Alice was completely restored, Lars delivered Jin Kazama's unconscious body to Violet Systems. Subsequently, Li prevented the abduction of Jin by Mishima Zaibatsu units led by Nina Williams . When Jin came to his senses, he teamed up with Lee, Lars and Alice, promising to put an end to the war unleashed by him and stop Kazuyu.

Lee also appeared in non-canonical games in the Tekken Tag Tournament , Tekken Tag Tournament 2 , Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, and Tekken Revolution series .

Design and gameplay

In the first part, Tekken Lee wore a simple purple vest and black pants, the color scheme of which was regularly used in the character’s clothes in subsequent games ^[5] . In Tekken 4 he was dressed in more formal clothes: a purple shirt, a white vest and pants of the same shade ^[4] . The first Lee suit from Tekken 5 was a recreated outfit from the first part, complemented by a mesh shirt and a black collar ^[6] . An alternative costume from Tekken 5 was designed by the mangaka and character designer Ryoji Minagawa ^[7] . Until Tekken Tag Team Tournament 2, Lee wore a black leather vest with a unicorn embroidered on his back ^[8] . In Tekken 7, he was wearing a suit with a tie over a long purple coat ^[9] . Throughout the series, Lee’s constant feature was his silver hair, dyed purple when he performed under the name Vileat, wearing a purple shirt with open chest and sunglasses ^[3] . In response to a fan tweet about Lee’s inclusion in Tekken 7 , the producer of the series, Katsuhiro Harada, joked that the developers had to add “130 characters” to satisfy fans' requests ^[10] .

According to GameSpy , the non-circular arenas in Tekken 4 and Tekken 5 are an inconvenience for players playing for Lee, ranking him as “the fastest characters in the game” with “good combo hits ” ^[11] . Regarding the game for Lee in Tekken 6, the site stated: “Lee makes the best use of Okizemé,” noting that “his attacks are designed for medium range and similar level of damage” ^[12] . In 2013, 1UP.com wrote: “Playing with your opponent’s mind is one of Lee’s features. When performing juggling , you have the opportunity to control your opponent by staying on the ground, rolling back or coming back ” ^[13] . In Tekken Tag Tournament 2, there is a “Battle Laboratory” mode in which the player controls the actions of the Combot robot under the direction of Wilat and encounters many bizarre opponents ^[14] .

Other appearances

Lee appears in the anime film Tekken: The Motion Picture as one of the main antagonists. Heihati plans to transfer control of Mishima Zaibatsu Kazuya if he succeeds in winning, while Lee expects to remain the only heir, and therefore hires the killers Nina and Anna Williams to get rid of his brother, but they repeatedly fail. During the tournament, Lee checks out new experiments on the participants: scientists under his leadership create humanoid dinosaurs, code-named Rex (based on Alex ). His plan fails when Kazuya kills genetically modified creatures before scaring the latter off. Lee blocks his brother’s path at the gate to the Mishima Tower, but Kazuya defeats him with one blow, after which Heihachi punishes him for being useless. Obsessed with a thirst for power, Lee enters the tower and kills all security personnel, and then activates the self-destruction mode. The explosion causes a chain reaction that destroys the entire island, including Lee himself ^[15] . In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Shinichiro Miki , and in the English version by David Stoki.

In the animated film Tekken: Blood Vengeance, Lee is a minor character, acting as a wealthy and eccentric teacher at Kyoto International School ^[16] . Li helps Lin Xiaoyu , Alisa Boskonovich and Panda by providing shelter in his mansion, most of which was subsequently destroyed during the confrontation between the Williams sisters ^[17] . In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Retaro Okiayu , and in the English version by Kaji Tang.

In 2008, News.com.au ranked Lee among the 10 sexiest characters from computer games, putting him in third place ^[18] . In 2012, Complex ranked him as the most exalted character in fighting games, commenting: “The adoptive son of Heihati and the man who invented the looted style from other martial arts” ^[19] . Tom Gulter of GamesRadar spoke about Lee’s adoption by the Mishima family: “It seems to me that the entire Tekken storyline would not be such if someone had just given young Heihachi some good parenting literature” ^[20] , commenting: “I I doubt that you will think that he is a fighter when you see a guy wearing a tight-fitting openwork T-shirt under a purple leather jacket ” ^[21] . Gavin Jasper from 4thletter placed the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending Lee, in which, dressed in a tuxedo, carefreely eliminates a group of soldiers, walking along the territory of the robotics laboratory with his assistant, to the 125th place in his rating of “200 video game endings” adding: “When people describe someone as a“ boss, “they really compare him to Li Chaolan.” ^[22] Mike Louis of the International Business Times said that the inclusion of Lee in Tekken 7 will be the "highlight" of the game ^[23] . Complex Rich Knight placed Lee's appearance on Tekken: Blood Vengeance in 5th place on the Tekken series insanity list in 2012, commenting: “Lee is probably one of the strangest characters we've ever seen since he periodically extends his thumb up and calls young girls his “pussies” ^[24] . Charles Webb of MTV.com described Lee’s mansion from the movie as “defining coolness.” ^[25] In an official poll conducted by Namco, Lee was among the ten most anticipated characters in the Tekken series for the upcoming Tekken X Street Fighter game , gaining 9.28% of the vote. ^[26]

• Lee page on Tekkenpedia site