Mai Shiranui

Mai Shiranui is a character from the Fatal Fury and the King of Fighters series. She made her debut in Fatal Fury 2 as the last Shiranui ninja heiress and the girlfriend of Andy Bogard. She is proud of her charm and beauty as a kunoichi. Her nickname is "The Alluring Ninja Girl".

Name: Mai Shiranui Birthdate: January 1st Age: 18 Birthplace: Japan Height: 165 cm Weight: 48 kg Blood type: B Family members/relatives: Hanzo Shiranui (grandfather, deceased), Unnamed grandmother, Andy Bogard (Boyfriend) Occupations:Shiranui ninja, heiress and leader of Shiranui clan, Kunoichi Likes: Her grandmother's keepsake ornamental hairpin, flower arrangement, traditional Japanese dance, dates/passing time with Andy Dislikes: Spiders Hobbies: Cooking (making boxed lunches and traditional Japanese New Years' dishes) and shopping Favorite food: Rice cake soup, sweet-red-bean-covered rice ball dumplings Forte in sports: Japanese badminton Special skills: Japanese dressmaking Favorite music: Heavy metal Measurements: B89-W54-H90 Weapon: Kacho Sen (Butterfly Fan) Fighting style: Shiranui-ryuu Ninjutsu Mai is a very beautiful woman, with fair skin, long brown hair tied into a tight, high topknot style, accompanied by a waist-length ponytail with parted bangs and amber eyes. She is well-known for her well-endowed body.

Her main outfit is a red and white sleeveless kunoichi dress (a traditional garb of her family's), with red tassels at the back that are fastened to an obi around her waist. Her dress exposes her legs and cleavage. She has circular white ropes secured around her shoulders, with red and black colored tabi for footwear. Mai is also usually seen wielding a traditional white Kachō Sen, or "butterfly fan", as her primary weapon. Mai is a very cheerful, confident and temperamental girl. She tends to also be somewhat of an airhead and admires any kind of beauty or attractiveness, which sometimes comes across as being vain. She also at times compares attractive boys who flirt with her or acknowledge her beauty to Andy, acknowledging their attractiveness but ending with a comment saying they're 'not as cute as Andy', or, in her later years, outright laughing off their immature advances.

Like many girls, she has dreams of getting married to her Prince Charming — she found her own Prince in Andy Bogard, and self-proclaimed herself his fiancé, which at times has creeped out Andy himself. Within the Fatal Fury series, he mostly tries to ignore her advances as he views her like a younger sister but has a hard time adequately returning platonic affections due to her persistence.

Another notable example of this within the King of Fighters series is her intro with Andy in KOF '97, proposing to Andy outright in a wedding dress, or scaring Andy with a mock child doll in KOF '99 and 2001. Despite this, Andy mutually acknowledges her love but prefers to keep quiet about it, mostly due to his own stoicism and focus on training.

Although her peppy fighting persona suggests otherwise, Mai is actually a traditional and ideal Japanese beauty (Yamato Nadeshiko). However, her pride as a Shiranui ninja and infatuation with Andy usually keeps her from fitting the mold 100% of the time.

Despite her complex relationship, Mai has shown her support for the women's team and their notorious reputation for years and enjoys working with her teammates. As for Andy's older brother Terry, Mai admires him, although she gets skeptical when she feels he's hiding something about Andy. Mai shows deference towards Joe but she feels his silly habits are a little annoying.

In Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Mai has matured considerably. While she still retains her cheerful essence and pride in her lineage, her attitude now reflects a woman who is more serene and focused. Unlike previous stages, where her motivations were often impulsive or solely centered around her relationship with Andy, here she acts with her own professional agenda, evolving from an impulsive young woman to establish herself as a mentor and maternal figure for the new generation of fighters. She shows deep empathy for the internal conflicts of others, advising the youth and defending the importance of family bonds with conviction (This is seen when she firmly reprimands Gato for his cold attitude toward his sister, Hotaru).

Her role as the leader of the Shiranui clan also highlights her strong sense of compassion and responsibility. After defeating a kunoichi consumed by a desire for revenge against the Shiranui, Mai chooses to break the cycle of hatred that has defined the ninja world for generations. Acknowledging that her own clan committed grave atrocities in the past, she spares her former enemy and extends a helping hand instead of taking her life, inviting her to join the Shiranui in building a better future. In doing so, Mai demonstrates her determination to reform her clan's legacy and her belief that ninjas should use their abilities to protect others and fight evil, rather than perpetuate old grudges.

During battles, she still shows her sex appeal like shaking her butt and changing her ninja garb into a kimono mid-fight and letting the kimono fall off her body to show her nude body.

Her catchphrase is "Nippon Ichi". (Best in Japan) Mai Shiranui is the granddaughter of Hanzo Shiranui, master of Ninjitsu and Koppoken. Mai learned from her grandfather the secrets of Ninjitsu. She had met Andy Bogard, during this time, who had come to train under her grandfather. Mai then had to take alternate courses from her grandfather's friend, Jubei Yamada, in Ninjitsu. At first, Mai was uninterested in Andy and only thought of him as another callous man only interested in his training. It wasn't until he gave her a present on her birthday that she saw him in another light and eventually fell in love with him, though this confuses him greatly.

She spends much of the series endlessly pursuing Andy and fantasizing about various daydreams about their wedding.

During nearly every King of Fighters tournament, Mai pesters Andy to enter and form a team with her. Upset at his refusals and choice to join a separate team, she forms an all-women team with the help of Yuri and King. In the following years, her teammates change, but she remains firm to enter the tournament to help encourage King and her fellow team members and to prove to Andy the error of his ways. In The King of Fighters 99, she is finally able to join the tournament in the same team as Andy. However, the following tournament was asked to step out to allow Mary to investigate a case. Denied again, she is angered by the request and joins the Women's team again and has remained a reoccurring member ever since. In the various team endings, she is often celebrating the team's victory at King's bar or fantasizing about Andy. Mai employs the Shiranui-ryuu style of ninjutsu, blending traditional ninja techniques with the elegance of Japanese dance. Her combat is further enhanced by her mastery of paper fans, which she wields in a variety of intricate attacks and combinations.

A formidable hand-to-hand fighter, Mai uses throws and powerful elbow strikes capable of breaking defenses and incapacitating foes. Her strength allows her to lift and throw opponents heavier than herself, showcasing her physical prowess. Fire is integral to her combat, as she imbues her attacks and fans with flames or cloaks herself in fire.

Her ninja training grants her stealth, climbing ability, and aerial control, enabling her to float, glide, and shift direction mid-air. She can also create "Bunshin" shadow images of herself and her weapons, disorienting opponents.

Mai's attire serves both form and function. Its revealing design is supposed to distract male opponents, giving her a strategic edge. She can change outfits instantly with a gesture, and her garb's tassel can be set ablaze to strike enemies.

Her techniques includes:

Shiranui Gorin: Mai grabs the opponent by their shoulders, flips over them and throws them overhead.

Fuusha Kuzushi: Mai catches her opponent midair and slams them onto the ground with a falling knee drop.

Yume Kachou: Mai grabs the opponent, flips over and spins like a drill as she crashes to the ground, driving a pair of open fans into her opponent's middle.

Kachousen: Mai throws a fan at her opponent.

Ryuuenbu: Mai spins around, whacking her opponent with the end of her belt, which has been set alight.

Yusura: Mai dives down butt-first at her opponent.

Hakuro no Mai: Mai takes out two fans to strike her opponent while spinning around.

Hishou Ryuuenjin: Mai does a backflip kick engulfed in flames.

Kagerou no Mai: Mai puts her hands together and creates a pillar of flames around her.

Gekka Botan: Mai jumps on her opponent and lands on their shoulders, creates ethereal clones that barrage her opponent, then the real Mai explodes them.

Chou Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi: Mai does a cartwheel, then launches herself for an elbow strike at her opponent while on fire. The aerial version has Mai fire forwards without the cartwheel.

Ouran no Mai: Akasuzumi: Mai swings down her fan in her front hand, scattering cherry blossom petals in its wake. If it connects, Mai rapidly changes into her classic outfit, then performs a multi-rotating Ryuuenbu to knock her opponent up into the air. While they're spinning out, Mai throws a pair of closed fans up at them as a decoy for a substitution jutsu, appearing above her still-flying opponent to finish them off by swinging her fan down to create a wave of flames that sends her foe crashing back to the ground. </Abilities and techniques>