Bruce Lee is possibly the greatest martial artist of all time. Even though he died suddenly in 1973, he’s influenced martial arts in popular culture for decades since. Even though video games didn’t become really popular until years after his death, and fighting games didn’t find their groove until the early 90′s, Bruce Lee is one of the biggest names you’ll see in the entire fighting game genre, even if you don’t actually see his name.
Nearly every martial arts fighting game series has a Bruce Lee. They don’t even try to hide it. They intentionally make a Bruce Lee lookalike that’s more shameless than The Clones of Bruce Lee or any other Bruceploitation movie. Sadly, they’re almost never the main characters, but they’re still there, waiting in the background for a player to master him and use him to drive his friends to a choking rage.
Here are the biggest Bruce Lees of gaming.
Fei Long (Street Fighter)
The who: Added in Super Street Fighter II. He’s a transparent Bruce Lee clone: a martial arts master who stars in action movies, and… has basically no other traits. He makes Johnny Cage look like Jean Valjean.
The good: Looks like a carbon copy of Bruce Lee from Enter the Dragon.
The bad: Only appeared after Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers as one of the Three Other Lame Characters Who Debuted Along With Cammy.
Marshall Law (Tekken)
The who: A martial arts master who keeps competing in the King of Iron Fist tournament and… keeps losing.
The good: Looks and fights like Bruce Lee. One of the first Bruces of the 3D fighting genre.
The bad: Keeps sucking in the actual tournament. Grew that creepy pedophile mustache in Tekken 4. Hangs out with a guy with Bart Simpson hair.
Liu Kang (Mortal Kombat)
The who: Shaolin monk who became the “hero” of the series. Until he died. Them came back as a zombie. Then killed everyone. Then the series rebooted, and now he looks like Bruce Lee as drawn by Rob Liefeld.
The good: Basically the main character of the series. His one-inch punch can go through your chest and light your heart on fire.
The bad: Bruce in looks only. Looks like Bruce just because Boon and Tobias decided against a stereotypical bald Shaolin monk.
Jann Lee (Dead or Alive)
The who: See: Fei Long. See also: Boring.
The good: Total Bruce in both fighting style and look, down to the yellow Game of Death jumpsuit as an alternate costume.
The bad: In a game series with tons of jigglies and Ryu Hayabusa, no one will ever pay attention to him.
Li Long/Maxi (Soul Calibur)
The who: Long ago, a Chinese assassin in a funny hat tried to kill a pirate lord. He “died.” Then a Japanese pirate said, “I want to fight with nunchucks just like this guy!”
The good: Two of the only Bruces to use nunchucks in their games.
The bad: Out of place in a weapons-focused game, even with nunchucks. Both characters dress like Kung Fu pimps.
Rock Lee (Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Shippuden Tenkaichi Shonen Jump 5 Kai)
The who: In 1939, a puppeteer named Andre Toulon was attacked by Nazis and- wait, no. he only looks like a puppet. Nevermind. Rock Lee’s the guy in Naruto who doesn’t have any magic ninja powers but can still beat the crap out of people.
The good: Arguably the strongest fighter, since he’s also a ninja and is defined using the Anime Scale of Martial Arts Power, which means things can get utterly freaking ridiculous very quickly.
The bad: Anime games might not count. Looks more like Bruce Lee’s ventriloquist dummy than Bruce Lee.
The good:
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