The first female character introduced in the Street Fighter series is Chun-Li. She debuted in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior in 1991 and became the franchise’s first playable female fighter.
Chun-Li was created as a Chinese martial artist and Interpol officer pursuing M. Bison’s criminal organization. Her story centers partly on avenging her father, who was killed by Bison. Her inclusion gave Street Fighter II a major new perspective and helped distinguish the sequel’s roster from the original game.
The alternatives are characters introduced later. Cammy first appeared in Super Street Fighter II in 1993, Rose debuted in Street Fighter Alpha in 1995, and Sakura first appeared in Street Fighter Alpha 2 in 1996. Chun-Li therefore predates each of the listed options by several years.
She is sometimes described as the first female character in a fighting game, but that broader claim is debated because earlier fighting games included female characters. The fair, undisputed quiz answer is that Chun-Li was the first female character introduced in the Street Fighter series and the first female playable character in Street Fighter II.