Li Mei is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
About Li Mei
Li Mei debuted in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as an Outworld warrior whose village was enslaved by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Her people were forced to build a temple from which the Deadly Alliance would summon the Soulnado. She attempted to win her village's freedom in a tournament hosted by Shang Tsung, but was betrayed. Her soul was subsequently stolen and placed in one of the Dragon King Onaga's soldiers.
Bo' Rai Cho saved her soul and trained her so that she would join the Forces of Light in the final Battle of Armageddon. Although she was killed in that battle by Hotaru's naginato, Li Mei was brought back to life (along with all of the other warriors who perished) by Raiden's resetting of the timeline. She made a brief appearance in the story mode of Mortal Kombat X, wherein Li Mei and her fellow villagers sought sanctuary in Earthrealm to escape the civil war raging between Kotal Kahn and Mileena. It was she who informed the Special Forces of Kano's return to Earthrealm, and Raiden of Mileena's use of the Amulet of Shinnok.
Combat Characteristics
Being an Outworlder, Li Mei possesses an array of magical abilities, such as being able to shoot fireballs at her opponents. Having been trained by Shujinko and Master Bo' Rai Cho, Li Mei has become a very established and seasoned warrior in the art of kombat.
Signature Moves
- Nova Blast: Li Mei shoots a purple ball of energy at the opponent. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance this special move is called Sparkler (MK:DA, MK:D, MK:A)
- Flipping Heel Kick: Li Mei flips forward in a circular motion, bringing her feet over her head kicking the opponent and then landing back on her feet. (MK:DA, MK:D, MK:A)
- Flying Flurry: Li Mei launches herself forward with a series of punches to the opponent's face. (MK:DA, MK:D, MK:A)
- Carnival Spin: Li Mei spins backward and kicks the opponent in an impossible fashion. (MK:DA, MK:D, MK:A)
Other Moves
- Half Circle: Li Mei implants her foot in the opponent's abdomen and flips them over to the other side. (MK:DA)
- Back Stomp: Li Mei knees her opponent in the stomach, leaps on their back and knocks them away with a dropkick. (MK:D)
Fatalities
- Fatal Kicks: Li Mei kicks her opponent's stomach, lodging her foot in the opponent's innards. She keeps it there for a second before pulling it out, then kicks the opponent's head, causing it to explode. (MK:DA)
- Brutality: Li Mei repeatedly strikes at the torso and head of her opponent very quickly, and then stands, striking a pose. The confused opponent then screams in pain a few seconds later and explodes in a shower of gore. This fatality seems to borrow from the Asian martial arts study of pressure-points. (MK:D)
- Kick Precision: Li Mei walks up to her opponent and with one swift uppercut, knocks her foe's head straight into the air. Li Mei patiently waits for it to come back down before she kicks it hard at her opponent. When the head strikes them, they explode into piles of blood and bone. This is done in a different way than Liu Kang's Shaolin Soccer. (MK:D)
Other Finishers
- Hara-Kiri: Deadly Limbo: Li Mei throws her sword into the air and bends over. The sword falls back down and decapitates her. (MK:D)
Trivia
- In General
- Li Mei is rather notable in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance for having four special moves; most characters have only two or three. She retains all these moves in Mortal Kombat: Deception.
- She is the only normal character to use the "Baji Quan" fighting style, although created characters can use the stance in Armageddon.
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
- Has the same voice actress as Nitara.
- She has the same sais that Mileena has in Mortal Kombat: Deception.
- One of the only three character to possess a "tragic" ending in the game, when she has her soul transferred to a mummified soldier by Shang Tsung. The others being Scorpion and Frost.
- Li Mei, Kenshi, Bo' Rai Cho, and Frost are the only characters to debut in Deadly Alliance to make appearances post-Armageddon.
- However, Li Mei has only made appearances as an NPC thus far.
- Mortal Kombat: Deception
- After offering to train Li Mei, Shujinko foreshadowed her ending in Deadly Alliance by warning her that fighting Shang Tsung and Quan Chi alone would "end in misfortune."
- She has the same fighting style that Bo' Rai Cho had in Deadly Alliance: Mi Zong.
- She has the same voice actress as Jade and Mortal Kombat: Unchained Kitana.
- In Mileena's Deception Ending, Li Mei is shown holding a naginata instead of her weapon in the game, which is the Kunlun Dao. Coincidentally, Li Mei was killed by a naginata in the Armageddon intro video, by means of Hotaru.
- In the character select screen, when Li Mei is locked, she is shown in her alternate costume in her character space.
- Li Mei was given a new facial model in Deception. In Deadly Alliance, her eyes were larger with them being brown in colour, as well as having larger lips. This was altered in Deception, with her eyes being smaller and being green in colour, along with her lips being reduced in size. Her alternate costume in Deception uses some parts of her Deadly Alliance face model.
- Li Mei might have met Kai at some time during his journey in Outworld because in a rare moment speaking to Li Mei she tells of a dark skinned monk, that might have been him.
- Li Mei is described as The Defender of the People of Outworld.
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
- She appears in Konquest Mode attacking Shinnok in the Netherrealm Cliffs. When Taven shows up, he fights off Li Mei. It is not made clear whether this was the real Li Mei, or simply a clone Shinnok created to test Taven's strength.
- She is the first character to die in the opening Armageddon cinematic, by means of Hotaru.
- Mortal Kombat (2011)
- During the beginning of Story Mode, her corpse can be seen, still pierced by Hotaru's naginata.
- In one of the older patches, Li Mei was seen chained in Kahn's Arena in Kitana's place, using her primary costume from Mortal Kombat: Deception/Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Now, if the player chooses to play as Kitana, Tanya's chained in her place.
- Mortal Kombat X
- An older Li Mei appears leading a village of refugees from Outworld in MKX's story mode, serving as an informant to Sonya and the Special Forces.