A Japanese female ninja from Fatal Fury and later The King of Fighters. She debuted in Fatal Fury 2.
Her trademarks are her folding fan, and her revealing clothes that show off her large breasts and other notable features. She has brown eyes and most commonly wears her long, brown hair in a ponytail tied up with an ornamental hairpin.
Mai is the last heir to Shiranui-ryuu Ninjutsu. She can infuse her attacks with fire, since fire ninja magic is a hallmark of the Shiranui Ninja clan. She has a loving infatuation with fellow Shiranui-ryuu practitioner Andy Bogard, whom she trained with at a relatively young age and she came to see as a good man (though she tends to move the relationship a little too quickly for Andy's liking). As of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, she and Andy both train a young disciple named Hokutomaru. She is good friends with most of the rest of the Fatal Fury roster, not least of which includes Andy's brother Terry and best friend Joe Higashi. In King of Fighters, she is a founding member of the Women Fighters Team alongside King and Yuri Sakazaki, with other ladies such as Toudou Kasumi joining the team here and there.
Mai is one of SNK's most popular characters, appearing in numerous cross-overs and promotions. Her oldest and arguably greatest cross-company rival is Capcom's Street Fighter's Chun-Li. She also appears in Dead or Alive (DOA 5 Last Round and DOA 6) as a guest character and has been announced as an upcoming guest character in Street Fighter 6, the second ever guest character (after Terry) to appear in a mainline Street Fighter title.
Due to her revealing attire, she was denied a cameo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate since she would be challenging the game's CERO rating of A. The way Sakurai put it in the announcement ("Smash is for good boys and girls") was turned into a meme. She received a new outfit with her appearance in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.