Short answers, pulled from the story.
Akira Yasuda, better known by his nickname Akiman, created the character R. Mika for Street Fighter Alpha 3. The character first appeared in the digital arena in 1998 with a design intended to be tricky and technical.
Producer Yoshinori Ono successfully petitioned for the inclusion of R. Mika in Street Fighter V, which was released in 2016. Art director Toshiyuki Kamei redesigned her appearance to reflect her evolution from an aspiring wrestler to a headline act.
R. Mika's original outfit featured a blue and white leotard with strategic cutouts inspired by the character Michiru Saotome from Getter Robo. The domino mask covering her eyes drew from the anime character Yatterman-2 to capture a sense of cuteness.
The animation was removed from the North American version of Street Fighter V to ensure the game could reach the biggest possible number of players without making anyone uncomfortable. Producer Yoshinori Ono explained that the decision to remove the animation was made internally.
Zangief becomes the tag team partner of R. Mika in the storyline of Street Fighter V after they fight off a rampaging bear together. Game director Takayuki Nakayama sent an image of real-life Japanese professional wrestler Hikaru Shida to the character designer to ensure the partnership felt authentic.