Character
Overall
Lee has been a constant fan favourite for years. He's upbeat, full of himself and charismatic. His showy behaviour is hard to dislike, and this behaviour is a result of his childhood & upbringing. Although for casual fans that like him, it's probably entertaining to play/watch a flamboyant character. He's pretty extroverted and forthcoming with an infectious way with gestures and speech. He's popular with women (both canonically and IRL!) but I'll go more into that later.
Back in T1/T2, Lee was seen as more mysterious and serious. His theme was AWESOME btw. Anyway, though the change of direction is huge, I think ultimately it fits his character. Still, I can understand those who preferred his less goofy self.
The fandom page also has a fantastic analysis of his character; if you want another angle, check it out too.
Childhood, personality & behaviour
I love this art...nice crossover.
Since I go into this in RIDICULOUS detail on the relationships page, I'll give an overview here.
Yeah there's no way you're getting brought up with Heihachi and not turning out fucked up. Lee and Kazuya both got the most fucked up in totally different ways, which makes sense as they were directly brought up and lived with Heihachi. The fact that all the way up to T8 and we have Lee with a combot head that looks like his father and he's commanding it like an Amazon Echo...he's really not over him, is he? It's like he's wanting that power he lacked as a kid!
Speaking of kids, we have no idea when Lee lost his parents, so we don't know how long he was orphaned on the streets. I'd wager a decent amount of time (a year?) considering it's implied he got good at fighting while on the streets from desperation. He probably would've died, so when Heihachi came along I reckon although he would've been distrustful of adults from being on the streets, but he must've known it was worth a shot. He lucked out, he didn't just get a family, he got a ridiculously rich family with prestige. Normally, that would be a gold mine and I guess it still is, but the downside was living with Heihachi. So onto money...
Money played a huge factor in Lee's coping mechanisms. He came from no money, into shit tons. I imagine he splurges so much because he's finally got control over something - money. It makes him happy even if it is brief; he clings to his money as he doesn't want to be in the same position he was as a child. Lee's incredibly insecure with the majority of the anxiety coming from his upbringing and inferiority complex. He was taught that power was everything, with defeating Kazuya as his objective. You can see how he never let go of this rivalry and power fantasy because he repeatedly goes back to the tournament JUST to be able to fight Kazuya.
"Silver-haired demon"
Alternatively: badassery sectionOffical art by Jbstyle
Lee is extremely proficient in martial arts, but that's a given considering he was trained by and alongside two of the most powerful fighters in the world. He did extremely well (top) in both T1 & T2's tournaments and kept that interest. He's a powerhouse in his own right: using flowery words and charm to disarm and manipulate others, using his own family to further his goals (very Mishima-like), doing whatever the fuck he likes to try and get control back in his life.
Him getting called the "Silver-haired demon" in underground fighting is another testament to his prowess. He made a name for himself and fellow fighters were scared of him...It seems later on he chilled out a bit, probably due to being away from Heihachi's influence, leaving him more relaxed (but no doubt on edge, he spent most of it hiding afterall). But he could never let his rivalry with Kazuya drop as he repeatedly went back just for him.
Even as a child, he held the will to live on and fight despite being a child on the streets. He learnt his own way of getting through life. Yeeeah bamf. Anyway, good thing he was because that's what got him out of that horrid living and into a different kind of hell (with Heihachi). Still, despite his father's teachings being hammered into him, Lee held on to his own ideals. Now, around T1 & T2, he did some dubious things (helping Kazuya, aiding Heihachi...). Despite obviously being pressured, these were ultimately his choices. He did it all with the desire to become the head of the Zaibatsu and to take it upon himself to steer it in the right direction. This is a lot more clear later in the series where Wang was egging him on to do this and Lee funding people who leave the Zaibatsu (lmao) and aiding in world peace. I'm talking about teaming up with his bro, Lars and then later his nephew, Jin, and ultimately succeeding.
Respect (っ◔◡◔)っ ❤
Funny comment chain I pulled from a while ago from "The Insane Lore of Tekken" lmao
In all seriousness, Lee is shown to be popular with women (from his stages, story, character interaction etc) and respectful too. Good to see this is pretty well-known! He's a womanizer (probably) as he's seen with women throughout the series, but whether he was in a relationship or not with any is unclear. I'd argue he's not wanting a family and he wants to be childfree! Maybe not wanting to recreate a Kazuya...
He's been shown to have some sort of familiarity in particular with Nina and Anna, especially the latter. There's the spanking scene with her win pose if she's paired with Lee (lol) and in Tekken 8 he gave Nina a "request" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) to which she scoffed because she didn't think Lee could beat her. This is from Lee's and Nina's intro; why did these two get one but not Kazuya and Lee??? As for Anna, it's more implied they had some sort of relationship, but that's up for interpretation. I think it's definitely feasible they had a relationship even if it wasn't serious. In the manga Lee's also seen to be somewhat familiar with Anna and Nina, probably due to Nina being hired by Kazuya. It depends what you're reading, as it in some of the manga shorts it goes deeper than that.
He's pretty respectful to Wang, who was a teacher to him (Lee called him "Laoshi"), and Wang in return shows respect by calling him by his actual first name, Chaolan. A very nice detail considering Wang is Chinese, so he would know Lee's actual first name and use it. Still doesn't explain why Heihachi didn't call him it because he would've known.
In general he treats everyone well. Lee holds ulterior motives (such as first finding out about Lars), but ultimately he has good motives. Wanting revenge on the Mishima clan is pretty justifiable (and a few other characters i.e Leo are doing the same).
FamilyAs for his family, he's shown to have been respectful to his adoptive family in the early years, especially in media other than games. For instance, (I need to find the source again for this...) will fill in later.
In Lee's Tekken 5 (non-canonical) win against Heihachi, he still acknowledges him as "father" despite everything. Specifically, he says "Otou-sama"; it's normal to use the honourific "-san" (Otou-san) for father, but here he uses -sama (most respectful, most formal, polite, used in business & people of higher rank), which shows Lee acknowledging respect for the old man. It could also be interpreted in this scene as an insult as Lee beat him, or it's a bit of both; it's most likely he used this title for Heihachi since a young age. It's interesting however you interpret it!
