June Lin Milliam is a fighting game character from the Star Gladiator series of 3D fighting games.
Profile
June is a young British-Chinese female rhythmic gymnast who is among one of the most talented rhythmic gymnasts in the world. Enrolling into the Star Gladiator program, she fights with her Plasma Power through her Plasma Ring and graceful dancing martial arts skills against the Fourth Empire, personally vowing to avenge her parents' death at Bilstein's hands.
Even though June has a happy-go-lucky outlook, and a kind and cheerful personality with a perky and upbeat disposition, she can also bear a passive aggressive attitude and a rather sassy and haughty condescending streak when under stress or upset. Deep down, she hides deep within her soul her inner pain and sadness, including the pain of having to lose the people that she had loved the most, and an anger that can turn into an unstoppable vengeance. Though she masks her inner tumult well, she may come to vent with the less than pleasant aspects of herself, or at worst, become impulsive to where she disregards her own life without second thought. Despite this, she longs for a place in the hearts of others to belong to, and is resolute in her sense of righteousness and justice.
Story
Star Gladiator
Originally hailing from Hong Kong, June was the daughter of Michael Lin Milliam, a British science professor of one of the nation's prestigious universities, and Elin Milliam, her mother of Mandarin descent. It wasn't until she was 14 that her family's peaceful life would soon be turned upside down, as Hong Kong would be swept into a Second Cultural Revolution that would spread from mainland China. Forced to return home from school during practice for a nationwide gymnastics competition, June and her mother would be forced to take refuge in their house, with her father pursued by rioters and upstarts who targeted anyone that did not fit their vision for a new future China. After a month, June and her mother would receive a letter from a family friend that let them know her father was safe, and that a plan was in store to have them migrate to the United Kingdom. Without hesitation, the Milliams would reunite in Victoria Harbor and forced away from the nation they once called home.
Arriving in exile into the UK, Michael was left with no other choice of work but from within the laboratories of Dr. Edward Bilstein, and would be forced to separate from his family again in order to support them. Half a year later however, calamity struck again when June's father was killed in a laboratory accident, and the news of his death causing her mother to emotionally break down into severe neurotic depression and become bedridden. Visiting the laboratory immediately after the transpiring of the accident, June then came around her father's workstation to help clean out his desk and take any family keepsakes, but was mystified at the sight and behaviors of her father's coworkers, who exhibited signs of workplace abuse, both physically and mentally. It was only after finding a forced written confession by her father stained eerily stained in his blood claiming that all that had transpired in the laboratory prior to the major accident were just workplace incidents, and through her maternal uncle who had held a high position in the Earth Federation's military, secretly revealed to her that her father was definitely murdered by Bilstein via experimentation, and that his death was one of many by Bilstein's hands. Later as the case went on, the news let June and her mother know that Bilstein would be publicly tried under law rather for workplace and human rights abuses, including using humans as test subjects upon investigation, but not including the individual act of the murder of her father and many others who had lost loved ones at his actions, the charges given were a bittersweet form of indirect justice, June had felt. Immediately after, June had begun to check up on her mother, but she mysteriously was not in bed, or at home. Even as nighttime passed, Elin did not return home. Though June had went to the police and filed a missing persons report for her mother, days later, she had received a house visit from the police, and was escorted to a morgue to identify a body that was found washed up near the River Thames. June reluctantly and mournfully confirmed it was Elin, her mother, who had overdosed on drugs and threw herself in the river to drown herself, unable to cope with the grief of Michael's death, the loss of her husband, and her traumatic exile from her home nation.
Not even within the span of a year, at 14, June was forced to support herself on her own, bereaved of her only family and was subject to one of her most trying and loneliest times of her life. At 17, hearing of Bilstein again after his escape and declaration of universal domination, that day would see June break down emotionally. While sadness and despair nearly saw her to commit suicide, a fire in her heart soon coursed wildly in turn. While her father's last words rang through her head, of how that despite his life was in high spirits and good fortune, that no one's life is ever lived alone and without love, June would declare that no more would any other would suffer like she did, and that determined anger would see June live to vow to get her revenge against the mad scientist and his newly formed Fourth Empire. Arranging to see her uncle and have him file a mercenary recommendation to the Earth Federation Forces, June was able to join Project Star Gladiator, and follow her pursuit of vengeance.
June was unaware that her father was in fact Rimgal, who, in his Velociraptor dinosaur form, had jumped to his death from the top of the Fourth Empire flying fortress so that he could ensure that his inner feral beast wouldn't get the chance and opportunity to hurt his daughter and her friends.
After Bilstein's defeat, June felt that she had nothing else left to live for and tried to commit suicide through the use of a drug overdose, but Hayato had managed to stop her in the end and reminded June that he and the rest of their friends had cared very much for her. Upon hearing and learning of this emotional revelation, June had realized that she still has much to live for and is determined to look forward to the future so that she could spend the rest of her life with Hayato and the others from within a state of peace and happiness.
Plasma Sword
June was very shocked to hear and learn that Bilstein had somehow came back to life and was attempting a second conquest of the universe with his Fourth Empire. Feeling and believing that she had to settle the score with Bilstein on her own personal terms, June had painfully left Hayato and the others behind as she had ventured forth on a solo mission in order to find and defeat Bilstein once and for all.
Fighting Style
June fights using a personal style that apparently combines applied rhythmic gymnastics with Chinese martial arts and wily feminine maneuvers, which in turn uses her talents expertly to mask deadly blows as she dances about gracefully in combat. Her use of a Plasma Ring further implies she is a major in ring and hoop based floor events of her athletic prowess, and explains her preference for her weapon. While she has strong and powerful legs, she reserves their use for her acrobatic and rhythmic maneuvers, while she uses her arms to deliver strikes and her body to crush foes by use of dynamics of physics through mass, momentum, and the natural motions of the body.
June's fighting style is focused greater on mindgames and trickery, including evading and exhausting foes with her dancing evasiveness, and awaiting and opening vulnerabilities than a direct offensive; as she quotes from Muhammad Ali, to "fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee". As explained before, though her appearance gives way to the idea she would be akin to traditional female fighters like Chun-Li and Cammy from Street Fighter with an emphasis on quick kicking attacks and variety follow up capable aerobic maneuvers, her kicking attacks act more like strong attacks, essentially bearing great strength at the cost of being read somewhat easily in their motions and start up speed, while it is her A and B Plasma Ring attacks that are to be focused on for their agility and combo versatility to setup her kicking attack's mix up game.
Her Plasma Combos are also reflective of this; her A and B combos can be used to mix up her offense and strike when least expected dependent on her foe's position, while she uses her legs' powerful strength to execute acrobatic evasive and repositioning maneuvers or come down hard with fiercely punishing kicks. Her special moves further allow her to cover other aspects of combat, such as an anti air, a distance covering spinning kick, and even a preemptive punishing anti-back attack if the opponent is in close.
June in turn must be played with a great deal of alertness and awareness of battle, knowing how to be on the defensive as well as to know when to be on the offensive while constantly on the move and to be quick to react. Her fighting style demands her to be in close and to be in the way of danger before reacting correctly in kind, and with knowledge of her moves and attacks to fully exploit her foes, else she may be prone to being countered in turn if she performs the wrong action or fails to assess the situation.
In Plasma Sword, June gains more variety to her kicking attacks, while increasing her range game with the projectile attack Star Shoot.
Endings
Star Gladiator
After defeating Bilstein, June returns home to visit the picture of her deceased parents.
"I have finally avenged you. For so many years, all I felt was vengeance and now I feel...nothing. Finally, you can rest in peace...since I have nothing left, I will join you soon."
With that, June takes a bottle of drugs off her desk, and raises it to her mouth. Suddenly, Hayato slams open her front door...
"Don't do it, June! Don't leave us like your mom left you. Saturn, Gamof, and I need you! Don't you see that you've got a new family now?" As his words slowly warm her frozen heart, she says, "W...what are you talking about, Hayato?! This is just cough medicine."
With that, June runs into the arms of Hayato...and behind her, her parents smile from their picture.
Plasma Sword
Single Ending
- HAYATO: June! What were you thinking!? Why did you leave by yourself?
- JUNE: (having just defeated Bilstein) .........
- HAYATO: At least you survived... But...hey, are you listening? June!!
- JUNE: ...S...sorry.
- HAYATO: You have no idea how much Gamof and the others worried about you!
- JUNE: Gamof and the others? ...Hee hee hee.
- HAYATO: Wh...what's so funny!? Let's go back now!
- JUNE: Yes, let's go!!
Other appearances
- June makes a cameo appearance in the background of the Shanghai stage in Capcom vs. SNK 2, along with other China-themed characters from both companies.
- She is seen in Felicia's ending scene in Capcom Fighting Evolution.
- She appears as a card in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series of card games.
- In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, she appears in one of Hayato's victory poses.
- In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, she appears in Deadpool's ending, asking for his autograph, and also in Hawkeye's ending as a new member of the West Coast Avengers. She is also a card in the Heroes and Heralds mode.
- She makes an appearence as a playable support unit in Project X Zone 2.
- June's main attire appeared as a crossover costume for Chun-Li in Street Fighter V.
Trivia
- Interestingly, Hong Kong in the Star Gladiator universe is still under British rule, making her nationality British, as her backstory predates Hong Kong's official transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom back to China on July 1st, 1997, nearly a year after the official debut of Star Gladiator.
- Gamof's true ending in Plasma Sword revealed that Ele is June and Hayato's future daughter.
- June had a cameo in Issue #35 of Archie's Mega Man comics, "X Factor Part 2", standing next to Split Mushroom.
- Her design is best described as a mix of Princess Leia of Star Wars fame and Chun-Li; however, her British heritage, performance arts career, and refugee backstory appear to draw similarities to that of famous actress Audrey Hepburn, to whom the Japanese nation bear a great deal of respect and admiration for, and her name and appearance also draw similarity to Jun The Swan of the classic science fiction tokusatsu anime series Gatchaman.
- June was considered to appear as a playable character in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but was eventually dropped from the roster lineup.[1]
- June was one of the available characters in the canceled RPG mobile Capcom Super League Online.
Gallery
For more of this, see their gallery.