Julia Chang

Julia Chang (ジュリア・チャン) is a character in the Tekken media franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment; she was introduced in Tekken 3 (1997). She is the adopted daughter of part-Native American and part-Chinese fighter Michelle Chang, and her storyline typically involves saving her tribe's forest. An alternative version of the character is a luchadora known as Jaycee (ジェイシー), who first appeared in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2011). Julia has been cited as one of the notable examples of Native American representation in the video game industry.

Design and gameplay
When working on Tekken 3, the development team decided it would take place nineteen years after the preceding game, and decided it would be best to retire their existing Native American character Michelle Chang. To this end, they created Julia Chang, who was intended to have the "extra charm" of Michelle, but also a large degree of intellect. While they wanted to emphasize a rebellious aspect with her, they pushed the intellectual part of her design to the forefront to contrast with how other fighters focused on "athetics". To this end, they particularly want her to look attractive while wearing glasses. Julia's conception was challenging, according to Japanese game director Katsuhiro Harada. The character's recognition among fans was becoming harder for the developers to maintain. Throughout the Tekken series, Julia temporarily gains popularity but then suddenly loses it. So the developers came up with the idea of putting more effort into Julia's development to boost her popularity.

First appearing in Tekken 3 and standing 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall, Julia Chang is a young old American woman with brown hair that she usually ties into braids. Julia uses various Chinese martial arts, with many techniques similar to those of her adoptive mother Michelle. Julia normally wears a Native American-styled outfit with a crop top, a short denim skirt, cowgirl boots, and a small Native American feathered headdress inspired by a war bonnet. However, this headdress is absent in Tekken 4, as Julia becomes a member of a reforestation group starting in Tekken 4, where she is wearing a researcher outfit and glasses. In Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Julia appears as Jaycee, wearing lucha libre clothes and becoming a luchadora. Jaycee is, in fact, a wordplay on the name Julia Chang. Jaycee's moveset is noticeably different but contains some of Julia's moves as well. In Tekken 7, Julia appears to be a live streamer to gain funds for the reforestation project.

In terms of gameplay, Julia needs more skill and perseverance to achieve the best results. In addition to her numerous wrestling-style throws, Julia also possesses some quick kicks that can engage into combos. Her several variations of consistent attacks make her tricky to fight against because it takes some practice to predict her next move. Julia can mix up combinations of moves to confuse her opponents. Other properties of her gameplay are that she lacks power, but due to her quickness, she can perform juggle combos easily. She must be played aggressively, as she is sensitive to counter-attacks. Similarly, due to her limited power, she must continuously execute juggle combos on her opponents to inflict significant damage.

In Tekken (main series)
A woman from the tribe of Native Americans, Michelle Chang, adopted Julia as a child from Native American lands, raised her, and taught her martial arts so she could defend herself and her homeland too. Julia studied archaeology in tribal lands. When she turned 18 years old, sudden disappearances of martial artists started to happen. The people knew that it was caused by the "God of Fighting", Ogre, and feared that Michelle's pendant was the reason. Michelle went to Japan to ask an old man, Heihachi Mishima, about her pendant but did not return. Julia doubted Heihachi and entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 3 (Tekken 3) to know the truth. In conclusion, Julia finds Michelle and learns about Heihachi's evil plan.

After the events of Tekken 3, Julia discovered that the rapidly growing global ecosystem would threaten her native homeland and started researching ecosystem restoration techniques. She worked alongside G Corporation, whose high-tech computers were being used to store the research data. However, the research got interrupted when an organization, Mishima Zaibatsu, broke into G Corporation and stole all of their data. Knowing that she needed the data to save her homeland, Julia entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4 (Tekken 4) when she saw a web page about it. She failed to obtain the data and continued her research in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 (Tekken 5), hoping to find the data again.

After finally finding her stolen data, Julia completed her research and went back to Arizona to meet the group that would help her with her reforestation plans. She also met with an old woman who claimed that she could hear the spirits. She helped Julia with the reforestation plans, but just before she left, she gave a warning that two people, Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima, should not fight because it would revive an ancient demon. To stop this from happening, Julia decided to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 (Tekken 6). In Tekken 7, after retiring as a masked fighter, Jaycee. Julia focused on spreading reforestation around the world. However, she needed money, forcing her to return to fighting. She aimed to defeat Kazuya Mishima, believing it would gain global attention and funding for her project.

Other appearances
Julia is featured as a playable character in non-canonical Tekken series' tag team-based games such as Tekken Tag Tournament and in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, where she is known as Jaycee. She can be chosen as a playable character in the spin-off games of the Tekken series, such as Tekken Card Challenge, Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, and Tekken Revolution (under the alias Jaycee). She can be seen on a poster in the Death by Degrees action-adventure game. Julia also appears as a playable character in the crossover game Street Fighter X Tekken. The 2023 fighting game Street Fighter 6 references Julia by featuring a character with the same name who resembles her. Video games aside Julia has been featured in some comics related to the Tekken series, including Tekken: Tatakai no Kanatani, Tekken Forever, and Tekken Comic.

Julia also appears in the 2022 six-episode anime Tekken: Bloodline, where she is voiced in Japanese by Seiko Yoshida, while in English she is voiced by Jeannie Tirado. Tekken: Bloodline is based on the events of Tekken 3. Julia appears to be among the participants who received invitations to the King of Iron Fist tournament. She enters the tournament to find her mother's stolen pendant from the tournament's host, Heihachi Mishima. During the tournament, she confronts Heihachi for the pendant. Another participant, Jin Kazama, intervenes to protect Julia from Heihachi. Jin promises Julia that he will give her the pendant back after the tournament.

Promotion and reception
Action figure company Kazya released a 1/7-dimensional garage kit action figure made of resin material, which was based on Julia's Tekken 3 appearance. This figure was released on August 20, 2000. A resin garage kit figure of Julia from her Tekken 4 iteration was manufactured by BROVO COMPANY, circled by Heihachi Zazen, and sculpted by Honda Heihachi. It was released during Wonder Festival 2003 in the winter season. Diamond Select Toys produced a 1.95-inch Julia PVC action figure based on her Street Fighter X Tekken design. It was released on December 30, 2012. A prepainted 1/7 scale PVC figure of Julia as Jaycee from Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was sculpted by Busujima Takamaki, illustrated by the graphic artist Yamashita Shunya, and manufactured by Kotobukiya. It was released on February 15, 2013 in Japan. Japanese illustrator Mutsumi Inomata designed one of Jaycee's alternative costumes for Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

There has been some negative criticism regarding Julia's debut in Tekken 3. Specifically, the video game magazine Next Generation criticized her, alongside fellow Tekken character Ling Xiaoyu, on how they both comply with different yet equally depressing "cute schoolgirl" stereotypes. Julia has been one of the most popular characters among the professional players of Tekken 4. In September 2012, professional Tekken player Rene "KOR" during an interview with Prima Games said that Julia was one of the most challenging characters for him to compete against in Tekken 5, reasoning that he does not like fighting against fast characters. In a September 2013 article, Kevin Wong of Complex magazine discussed Julia's physical appeal, describing her as the ideal video game crush for thoughtful individuals due to her smart and seductive appearance. Kevin characterized Julia as the "crunchy hippie girl" who would attract anyone to a protest rally just to ask her number. Before later being added as DLC, Julia's absence from Tekken 7 was met with widespread disappointment. In December 2018, when Japanese video game director Katsuhiro Harada revealed Julia as a downloadable content (DLC) character for the second season of Tekken 7, a professional Tekken player, Seong-ho ‘Chanel’ Kang, got excited and rushed to hug Harada on stage for Julia's inclusion in the game.

Julia has also been discussed as a representative of Native Americans. She faced criticism for wearing a feather headband during the period of Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 releases from a Native American enthusiast who complained that it promoted stereotypes and not how Native Americans represent themselves. In the study "Representation of Native Americans: From Literature to Video Games", English professor Samuel Martínez Linares, when explaining Julia and Michelle, argues that the portrayal of these Native American characters in video games lacks authenticity. Linares discusses the absence of accurate representation of tribal characteristics that would help players understand the significance of choosing a Native American cultural background for their characters. This lack of fidelity to Native American culture lessens the player's ability to truly connect with and appreciate the richness of their heritage. Linares also mentioned how both characters share a resemblance in their physical appearance, which could lead to confusion, and criticized their inappropriate attire for their Native American background.