Jann Lee
| Jann Lee | |
|---|---|
| Dead or Alive character | |
Jann Lee in Dead or Alive 4 (2005)
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| First game | Dead or Alive (1996) |
| Created by | Tomonobu Itagaki |
| Voiced by (English) | Brian Vouglas (DOA2: Hardcore), Darren Criss (Dimensions), Kaiji Tang (DOA5-present)[1] |
| Voiced by (Japanese) | Toshio Furukawa (DOA–DOA4) Nobutoshi Canna (Dimensions-present) |
| Fictional profile | |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Fighting style | Jeet Kune Do |
| Occupation | Bouncer |
Jann Lee (ジャン･リー Jan Rī?, derived from Chinese: 李振 Cantonese: Léi Jan; born November 27, year unknown) is a fictional Chinese character in the Dead or Alive video game series modeled after the martial artist Bruce Lee. He has appeared in all of the series' major installments, making his debut in the franchise's first game back in 1996.
From the series' inception in 1996 up until the release of Dead or Alive 4 in 2005, Jann Lee was voiced by Toshio Furukawa. After Furukawa gave up the role, he was replaced by Nobutoshi Canna starting with Dead or Alive: Dimensions. In the English dubs, he has been portrayed by several voice actors, including Darren Criss in Dimensions and Kaiji Tang in all instalments since Dead or Alive 5.
Contents
History
Dead or Alive to Dead or Alive 4
Jann Lee has never seen his parents' faces; they died, orphaning him at a very young age and leaving him to fend for himself. Soon after, he absorbed himself in the study of Jeet Kune Do. At first, he fought to replace the feelings of loss, but eventually he fought simply for the sake of fighting. One day, he heard the announcement of the DOA tournament, and wondered if he would find what he was looking for there.
He is met there by Lei Fang, a girl he had saved some six years prior from a gang's attack. In the time since she had become an accomplished martial artist, vowing to prove herself not helpless by defeating Jann Lee in the DOA World Combat Championship, something that she had yet to do until the fourth game.
Not satisfied, Jann Lee enters later DOA tournaments to prove his fighting skills and looking to test himself against worthy opponents. He was actually the winner of the fifth tournament in the story mode of Dead or Alive 5.
Personality
Due to his skill, Jann Lee is a very confident fighter. He is so self-confident, in fact, that one could call him arrogant. Jann Lee believes his martial arts skill is the best there is, and as of yet he's not been proven wrong. In addition, Jann Lee likes to train constantly, and when he's not sparring, he's working out. For him, physical conditioning is almost an obsession.
During his CG ending in Dead or Alive 4, it is shown that Jann Lee did not have a very happy childhood. As a helpless child frequently suffering bullying from local gangsters, his only escape from the harsh reality of his existence was watching Bruce Lee movies, which gave him strength and inspiration. This might explain Jann Lee's obsession with Jeet Kune Do.
Gameplay
Jann Lee is one of the fastest striking characters in DOA, with quick, intricate, chain combos as well as sudden, hard hitting jab moves, Because of this, He can be considered a "strike" character, in that he relies on quick, combos and picks to wear down the enemy, as well as several of his counters which concentrate on opening the enemy up for counterattack (eg. Trace Gunner). Jann Lee's preferred distance is long-range, as his attacks have very good reach (eg. Sekkan Chop), and his most powerful attacks have a pause duration at close range, allowing the opponent to easily punish him in his recovery timeframe (Dragon Kick, Dragon Spike). However, his weakness is his lack of a strong mix-up game, meaning most of his attacks can be countered in high to middle, and he lacks sufficient low attacks in his repertoire. He is also a very preferred character for all-level players.
Trivia
His name is a play on Bruce Lee's name 李振藩 Léi Janfàan.
He shares the same birthday (November 27th) as Bruce Lee.
Jann Lee seems to have rivalries with Ryu Hayabusa and Hitomi as he shares a cutscene with Ryu Hayabusa in DOA2, Hitomi in DOA3 and both in DOA4.
Jann Lee is seen playing the trumpet in his ending in DOA4.
One of Jann Lee's costumes in DOA4 is the same tracksuit worn by Bruce Lee in Game of Death, along with other jeet-kune-do-practitioner characters in other games, such as Marshall Law and his son, Forest from Tekken.
His name is appropriately romanized in Cantonese, since he is modeled after Bruce Lee. This also suggests he is from the Guangdong province of China.
Jann Lee loses a fight to Christie in the DOA Movie.
In DOA4's opening video, he & Hitomi star in the fourth duel, fighting against each other in Vegas Casino Street.
In Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and Last Round, Jann Lee is a good tag partner for Jacky Bryant, as the two share the same fighting style (Jeet Kune Do). Despite this, however, Jacky is a much more complex character to play as, coming from the highly advanced and technical Virtua Fighter series.
