Why is Chun Li ALWAYS top tier??

Today we're talking about the most CONSISTENTLY powerful character in Street Fighter, Chun Li. At least, in all the games that see consistent tournament play, Chun tends to be one of the strongest characters. Is it due to her moveset? Her combos? Are the developers just biased towards her? Let's talk about it in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (ST), Street Fighter 3: Third Strike (3S), Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3 (SFA2, SFA3), Street Fighter 4 (sf4) and Street Fighter 5 (sf5)!
A lot of research for this was done via the Shoryuken wiki: srk.shib.live/w/Street_Fighte...
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