In light of tumblr’s hilariously stupid backlash to D.Va’s new police skin, now would be a perfect time to look at five of the best police officers in video games. There’s certainly no shortage of cops in gaming, on both sides of the morality spectrum, so we’re narrowing the scope a bit:

• One character per franchise.
• Must fall on the good side of the moral spectrum. (No Tenpenny)
• Character must have been in a game that came to the West. (No Policenauts)

With those caveats in mind, here are our top 5 police officers in video games:

Chase McCain – Lego City Undercover

Lego City Undercover brought us Chase McCain, a parody pastiche of 80’s cop movie protagonists, who often bounces between hyper competence and Homer Simpson-esque stupidity. In the past, Chase accidentally outed himself and his ex-girlfriend during an undercover operation to bring down Rex Fury. While they managed to put him away, Natalia is forced into the witness protection program, and Chase is sent overseas. After Fury escapes, Chase returns, using his skills as a master of disguise, ability to pilot all manner of vehicles, and keen deductive mind to put Rex Fury back where he belongs.

 

Lei Wulong – Tekken

First introduced in Tekken 2, this “Super Cop” is a loving homage to Jackie Chan, as can be seen above, who uses multiple animal inspired kung-fu stances, as well as a form commonly known as Druken Fist. In his early appearances, Lei is a well respected police officer that has put away too many criminals to count, but his personal life takes a sudden downturn by the time of Tekken 4: Lei’s girlfriend leaves him for his assistant, and a botched operation is attributed to his declining personal life acting as a distraction, which leads to a suspension. Lei eventually returns prominence and public favor by “saving” Steve Fox from Nina Williams. With his good name restored, Lei returns to fighting the good fight against the Mishima factions.

 

Wei Shen – Sleeping Dogs

Wei Shen is the Hong Kong Police Department’s best undercover detective. He infiltrates the Sun On Yee and works his way up the ranks. The only thing stronger than Wei’s fists is his mind, as he uses his brain to unravel the tangled web of power plays behind Triads. He generally does his best not to kill innocents or his targets, but Wei will sometimes overstep the law in his effort to bring criminals down. By the end of Sleeping Dogs’ main campaign, he has done more to clean up the streets of Kong Long than the entire HKPD. Sure, he has the option of murdering citizens in the streets, but that says more about the person behind the controls than Wei Shen himself. RIP Sleeping Dogs, you will be missed.

 

Chun-Li – Street Fighter

Since bursting onto the scene in 1991’s Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Chun-Li has become one of the most recognizable women in video game history. Don’t let the cute dress and win poses fool you: Chun-Li is a badass par excellence. Widely recognized as the strongest woman in the world, owing to her extensive training in Chinese and other martial arts, and one of the best marksmen in the world, Chun-Li is the best officer Interpol has. She would eventually begin participating in the World Warrior tournaments in an effort to avenge her father’s death at the hands of M.Bison, leader of the Shadaloo crime syndicate. After M. Bison’s defeat and the dismantling of Shadaloo, Chun-Li would retire, going on to house and train children in martial arts.

 

Leon S. Kennedy – Resident Evil

Have you ever had a bad first day on the job? Leon has. On his first day as a member of the Racoon City Police Department, the entire city was overrun by a zombie outbreak, and subsequently nuked. In fact, most of the police were dead before he even arrived, which only serves as a testament to his capabilities in extreme situations. After surviving the Racoon City incident, Leon became an agent of the US government, specializing in anti-bioterrorism operations and dishing out fatal suplexes. I’m not even kidding about that last part:

So there you have it, the top five police officers in video games. There are tons of them out there, so everyone’s going to have their own opinions. Resident Evil itself is loaded with awesome cops: Chris punches boulders, Jill took on Nemesis, and Barry carried The Magnum. It was a hard choice to make, and I seriously doubt that readers will completely agree with this list, so sound off in the comments and let us know who would make your list.

 

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