Theories regarding Shadow Lady's appearance
So how did Shadow Lady (who's a palette swap Robot Girl version of Chun-Li) came to be?
- She appears to represent a Chun-Li that was captured and experimented on by Shadaloo in the same manner as Shadow was in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and was Reforged into a Minion by forcing and brainwashing her into a Dark Action Robot Girl. It's also possible that M. Bison may have used the same technology on Shadow Chun-Li that was used to create Cyber-Akuma. This could explain why she retains some of Chun-Li's original moves (in addition to a few original ones such as shielding herself in an electric barrier, heat-seeking/homing missiles from her back, Frickin' Laser Beams and capable of turning her hands into a drill)
- Alternatively, Shadow Lady is a Super Prototype in which Chun-Li was captured and replicated with a Doppelgänger that is a Robot Me of the Interpol officer, and programmed with a few of Chun-Li's original moves alongside with the new moves mentioned earlier.
- Here'a another take on Shadow Lady. This
version of her, a Secret Character in the game and a Palette Swap of Chun-Li forcibly turned into a robotic minion of M. Bison.Chun-Li died 15 minutes after giving birth to a baby, so it was unclear as to who the father of the child is, as she was dating Ryu and Dan Hibiki at the same time. It's later revealed that she wasn't properly buried as her body was stolen. In reality, her corpse was picked up, cyborgized, and experimented on for the sake of turning her into a pawn against Interpol. Fast forward 30 years later, she Came Back Wrong as an ultra high-tech cyborg killing machine developed by Shadaloo. When the task was completed, they turned her into a living weapon, complete with a new name and transformed her into M. Bison's right-hand henchwoman. Before her transformation into Shadow Lady, Chun-Li routinely foiled Shadaloo's plans at every turn, so it's apparent that her cyborgization was done in retaliation for her foiling many of their plans. And unlike Shadow (a cyborgified Charlie Nash), who escaped shortly after being transformed, Shadaloo added a Restraining Bolt to her programming so she remains fully obedient to Shadaloo at all times, essentially becoming a Dark Action Robot Girl. Since then, Bison, who had been looking for a potential new test subject for creating a prototype super soldier for Shadaloo after Shadow fled, found this in his arch-nemesis Chun-Li. Shadaloo had vastly improved on the conversion process since then, and it was only fitting that the one constant pain in Bison's side be given this 'honor', and hopefully, turn her into their main pawn against Interpol. Chun-Li's corpse is then captured and turned into a cyborg brainwashed and programmed to obey M. Bison at all times; the Shadaloo leader renames her Shadow Lady. But unlike Shadow, who only received a few mechanical upgrades, Shadow Lady was designed to be a complete robot and be enslaved to her programming. After she is rebuilt and automated as a cyborg, the original Shadow Lady design team was on to something, as they decided to preserve Chun-Li's original body (with some body horror thrown in, it IS her actual skin) even though the body prosthesis is complete: no original limbs from her body remain, with the exception of her brain and skin. That's right, Shadow Lady doesn't even have to "breathe" to function — beneath the skin lies a fusion of circuits and human flesh. Designed to be the ultimate anti-Interpol weapon, she was sent out by the heinous Shadaloo leader to gather information on her former allies so they too could be turned into mindless cyborgs like Chun-Li and Charlie Nash were. It's unknown how much of Shadow Lady's body is organic and how much is mechanical, but it's speculated that most of her body, apart from her brain is full of servos, wires, circuit boards and motors. It's possible that M. Bison may have used the same technology on her that was used to create Cyber-Akuma. Even her iconic Odango Hair are now Robot Antennae, as it's speculated that she is receiving orders from Shadaloo and that she is being controlled via remote control; and being a brainwashed Cyborg, it's highly possible that she speaks in Machine Monotone, Robo Speak and destruction, all with an Computer Voice. And given that she no longer breathes, her face is given a breathing apparatus, making her a female Darth Vader, so expect her voice to either sound metallic or machine-like as well if possible, which is tied to the mask; she's also gone from Raven Hair, Ivory Skin to being an eerie pale-skinned snowy-haired Robot Girl. Shadow Lady's robotic systems include an internal sensor suite, a built-in satellite modem, internal hard-drive storage, holographic projectors, a medical scanner, a bio-tagging and tracking system, a built-in auto-targeting system that allows her to fire missiles from her back, targeting scanners, and anti-gravity systems permitting flight, a built-in Interdimensional Travel Device as well as threat analysis and counter-measure programs. As Shadow Lady, her formerly cheerful personality was obliterated, her body's physiology altered so it experienced no emotion apart from being an soulless and emotionless killing machine and serving as M. Bison's right-hand; and in essence, she is essentially a completely different person inhabiting her body and mind, and serves as nothing but a weapon against Interpol — she has all the moves, the beauty and the sexyness of Chun-Li, but she is now Shadow Lady, so she's only following the orders of M. Bison, making her more of an Emotionless Girl who's only programmed to follow orders, thus making her more machine than human. Her long, silky brunette hair and clear eyes, combined with a fit and healthy looking figure, gave her the appearance of a beautiful human woman in her early twenties. Her voice was cool and even, with no discernible accent, albeit more metallic because of the breathing apparatus installed. Shadow Lady's lungs breathed air and her heart pumped blood, although, like all her organs, they were entirely synthetic, consisting of bio-fibers. Her bone structure was constructed of high-strength, polymer-covered alloys, and thousands of micro-gyros embedded in her joints gave her a perfect sense of balance. Both her bones and organs appeared entirely human when scanned, as did her flawless white skin. The skin was the only truly organic part of Shadow Lady's body, cloned from genuine human skin specifically for her. Her muscles, however, would not fool scanners—in order for them to provide her with greater strength, they were made of a material that scanned as an unknown tissue. One of the few ways that she could be seen to differ from humans was that her body temperature was ten percent cooler than was considered normal, cold enough to kill a human. Her processor was extensively modified by Shadaloo scientists, their biggest contribution to her development, to allow her to keep track of all the duties Bison would require of her. Positronic Human behavioral programs allowed her to act human — she could eat, drink and perform any other function needed to pass for a normal woman. She was also capable of emulating all of the "more intimate" functions of a human woman, and Bison occasionally made use of her abilities in that regard. The processor was also loaded with pre-programmed tactical assessment data, combat, espionage and assassination techniques. Shadow Lady's processor is so sophisticated compared to Shadow's. Shadow Lady's eyes hid advanced sensors, providing her with infrared, low-light and telescopic vision, while her locked-access memory recorded input from her sensors, including audio recording. She also had an integrated, encrypted and embedded comlink for secure communications - in essence, Shadow Lady was now programmed to be an assassin-droid. She also had the ability to record any visual or auditory sensor data she encountered and a vocabulator capable of translating thousands of languages. Upon completion, her programming was complemented by extensive exercise to tone her muscles and combat training to ensure that she had all the skills required, including the use of a variety of weapons, though she would rarely need to use them. With her training complete, Shadow Lady's speed, combat skills and stealth capabilities made her the ideal assassin for Shadaloo. In a short period of time, this what-if version of Chun-Li goes from a strong-willed woman to a completely submissive gynoid working for one of the most notorious gaming bosses. What's sad to see that if her child (who may have been grown up by now) decides to fight her, they don't know that their mother has been revived as a brainwashed, mechanized, cyborgized and roboticized machine. Also, neither Ryu nor Dan are aware that their former date has been revived as a Brainwashed Robot Girl. All in all, while Chun-Li is back again, she's now more of an Empty Shell, with no record of her old memories as they've been overridden with pre-programmed directives ordering her to be an emotionless and ruthless Robotic Psychopath and assassin for Shadaloo, essentially condemning her to a Fate Worse than Death via Death of Personality, Loss of Identity and Cybernetics Eat Your Soul. Even if her allies ever managed to revive her, she would have to deal with the guilt of being a tool for Shadaloo, not to mention the fact that being a minion for Shadaloo wouldn't magically go away overnight should she become a good person again. Aside from retaining a few moves from her non-cyborgified variant, she has built-in high tech weaponry, and all of this arsenal is built-in to her robotic body, like the T-X from the Terminator series; this also showcases her brainwashed and robotic nature. Shadow Lady shoots homing/heat-seeking missiles from her back, thrusts forward with a drill, encases herself in a electric barrier (that also deflects attacks and stuns opponents), miniaturized Vernier thrusters in her feet that enable her to jump much higher (and allow her to kick more rapidly, and possibly, serve as Rocket Boots) and fires a large beam (Big Bang Laser) from her palms. It's also been implied that deep down, the old Chun-Li is still there on some level, and is at least partially aware of what she has done. In her ending however, she manages to overcome Shadaloo's brainwashing, regain her original memories as Chun-Li, and join forces with Shadow in taking down Shadaloo. Despite this, she retains her robotic parts even after the brainwashing broke.
