Cammy has become one of the most popular characters since her debut in Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers back in September 10, 1993 and September 11, 1993 in the arcades for Japan and North America respectively.
She’s been present all throughout Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter 5, and Street Fighter 6, a trait not shared by T. Hawk, Dee Jay, or Fei Long — the other combatants that made their debut in Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers.
Back in Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers, Cammy was described as “a 19-year-old female special forces agent from England with a mysterious past tied to M. Bison.” The truth about this mysterious past wouldn’t really be revealed until Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Technically speaking, Cammy first appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha series as a hidden character in Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold, but this appearance is said to be noncanonical. As such, Street Fighter Alpha 3 provides canonical details about Cammy’s past.
It turns out that Cammy is a clone of M. Bison. She was intended to become M. Bison’s replacement body once his Psycho Power became too much for him to handle in his current body. Cammy was to operate as an assassin for Shadaloo under the alias of “Killer Bee” until that appointed time, but she ended up breaking free from Shadaloo’s plans before that could happen.
Whether she’s an operative for Shadaloo or Delta Red, Cammy seems to have a preference for thong leotards. This is apparently the case because she believes that thong leotards allow for optimal speed, mobility, and flexibility.
Of course, these attributes have traditionally been reflected in Cammy’s gameplay as she typically has elements that emphasize speed and mobility. Though she was widely considered to be the weakest overall character throughout her appearances in Street Fighter 2, she is typically a top tier combatant in the later entries of the series in which she is playable.
Unsurprisingly, Cammy’s preference for thong leotards has carried over into some of her alternate costumes. Her Battle Outfit 1 from Street Fighter 5 is a notable example of an alternate costume that is functionally a thong leotard.
While wearing her Battle Outfit 1, it can also be noted that Cammy is wearing white thigh-high socks, black knee pads, black boots, a green backpack, black mid-arm gloves, red rider goggles on her forehead, and a utility belt on her waist. She appears to have a bunch of gadgets attached to her utility belt, but these are purely aesthetic during gameplay.
It’s speculated that Cammy might be able to perform an “optic blast” with her red rider goggles, which wouldn’t be too outlandish considering that C. Viper could do this in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Regardless, it’s clear that color 15 for Cammy’s Battle Outfit 1 is a reference to the X-Men series based on the colors she’s donning.
Kid_Warrior97 at one point pulled off a beautiful cosplay of Battle Outfit 1 Cammy over on her Instagram page. Photos have been taken from a number of interesting angles that show that this is indeed a thong leotard. Check it out below: