Ling Xiaoyu (; ) is a fictional character from the Tekken franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Following her debut in Tekken 3 (1997), she has appeared in every subsequent game in the series. Xiaoyu is a cheerful Chinese teenager who is a friend of the series' main protagonist, Jin Kazama, as well as a potential love interest, while trying to interfere with the affairs of the increasingly corrupt Mishima family. She has appeared on official Tekken merchandise and alternative media such as the 2011 animated feature film Tekken: Blood Vengeance, where she and Alisa Bosconovitch were the main protagonists, in addition to appearances in many Bandai Namco crossover games, and has received critical and public reception for factors such as her personality, sex appeal, and representation of a strong female character in video games. Design and gameplay Ling Xiaoyu's age (sixteen) in her series debut was the result of the Tekken 3 development team wanting a younger girl in the game, as most of the game's female characters were "more than 25 years old". She was created alongside protagonist Jin Kazama by Namco artist Yoshinari Mizushima after he graduated from college, with the character's design being a great surprise to the Tekken staff. Her black hair is kept in pigtails throughout her series appearances, while her costumes have varied from a modified cheongsam in Tekken 6 to a kogal-style schoolgirl uniform in the 2011 computer-animated film Tekken: Blood Vengeance. Tekken: Blood Vengeance screenwriter Dai Satō said in 2011 that he had chosen her as one of the two lead characters because he felt she "symbolize[d] the older Tekken games". Katsuhiro Harada was surprised by the decision to use Xiaoyu, believing she was not that popular within the main demography. Satō had been a fan of the Tekken games and played the arcade version of the third installment as part of research. As he discussed the handling of these leads with Harada, Satō claims he wanted to use these characters since they come across as weak, something which he believes films require in order to undergo a character arc, common in coming-of-age story stories. The relationship between Xiaoyu and Alisa was compared to the ones of a buddy film. Xiaoyu was written to be relatable to the audience and balance the more supernatural elements in the process. Xiaoyu's relationship with Alisa was made so that the latter develops a "soul" as