# Mai Shiranui Mai Shiranui is a fighting game character from SNK's Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series who became a long-running fan-favorite sex symbol and, in 2019, the subject of a viral joke cycle after Masahiro Sakurai said Smash games are 'for good boys and girls.' Her 2023 casual Street Fighter 6 cameo revived the meme with fresh fan art and cosplay. ## Overview Mai Shiranui is a kunoichi fighter from SNK's Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series, easily recognized by her red-and-white outfit, giant paper fan, and the jiggle physics that later games gave her sprite work[1]. Her design leans hard into fanservice, and she picked up a reputation as one of the go-to sex symbols of the 16-bit fighting game era[2]. The character became a meme in her own right around two moments: a 2019 Nintendo Direct joke about her being too risqué for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[3], and a 2023 Street Fighter 6 guest appearance where her relaxed 'casual' pose in dolphin shorts and a tank top went viral. Both cycles leaned on the same joke: Mai is the meme, and the meme is that she is Mai. ## How It Spread Through the late 90s and 2000s she landed on hot-video-game-girl lists, including a #4 slot on GameSpy's Top Ten Babes In Games and an entry on Agree Or Die's 'Hottest Girls Of the 16 Bit Era' rundown[2]. The jiggle-physics animations added in later SNK titles kept her recurring in fan art circles well past her sprite-era peak[1]. The modern meme wave kicked off on November 6th, 2019, when Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai used a Nintendo Direct to explain that Terry Bogard was joining the roster but Mai was not, because Smash is 'for good boys and girls'[3]. Twitter ran with it fast. User @EXDragonith posted a 'No Way Fag' parody about the snub that pulled over 1,900 retweets and 5,900 likes, and @Aevanko posted a Drakeposting edit pointing out that Bayonetta was already in the game[3]. Kotaku covered the pile-on the same week[3]. A second wave hit with Street Fighter 6's Year 2 DLC, when Mai showed up as a guest character. Her character-select pose, sitting in a chair in pink dolphin shorts and a white tank top, spawned a 'Casual Mai Shiranui' micro-meme of fan art and cosplay recreations of the outfit[1]. ## How to Use There is no single template. The 2019 wave typically ran as reaction images or Drakeposting-style edits contrasting Mai's exclusion with the presence of other sexualized Nintendo characters. The 2023 Casual Mai wave is mostly fan art, cosplay, and figure photos recreating the specific dolphin-shorts-plus-tank-top select-screen look[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Mai Shiranui? She is a kunoichi fighter from SNK's Fatal Fury and King of Fighters games, and a long-running fan-service icon who spawned two distinct meme cycles online[1][2]. ### Where did Mai Shiranui come from? She debuted in Fatal Fury 2, released December 10th, 1992, and was modeled on early-90s Japanese idols[1]. ### What does Mai Shiranui mean? As a meme, her name is shorthand for the 2019 Smash Bros. 'good boys and girls' snub joke and the 2023 Casual Mai Street Fighter 6 fan-art wave[3][1]. ### How do you use Mai Shiranui? The 2019 version usually ran as Drakeposting or reaction-image edits about her Smash exclusion, while the 2023 version is mostly fan art and cosplay recreating her Street Fighter 6 select-screen outfit[3][1]. ### Is Mai Shiranui still popular? Yes, her 2023 Street Fighter 6 guest appearance sparked a fresh Casual Mai Shiranui fan art wave, keeping the character in circulation over three decades after her debut[1]. ## References 1. [https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Mai_Shiranui]() 2. [https://agreeordie.com/hottest-girls-16-bits-and-under/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/mai-shiranui]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/mai-shiranui Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library