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4[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ryuken.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:CTRL+C, CTRL+V]]
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7->''"[[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom]]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Ike]] are too similar. No point in having two characters that are pretty much carbon copies. Am I right?"''
8-->-- '''[[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Viridi]]''', ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'' [[note]]This was before [[HilariousInHindsight Chrom became playable]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', albeit as an Echo Fighter of [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Roy]]... [[{{Irony}} with Ike's up-B Aether recovery move, the move Palutena claimed he lacked]].[[/note]]
9
10A common trope seen in {{Fighting Game}}s, where two or more characters are given equal or similar abilities and moves. They may look similar, and in older games will likely be a HeadSwap and/or PaletteSwap of one another, but this is not required; indeed, in ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'', one human character has similar moves to a bear. Generally, if the characters aren't exactly alike, one will be comparatively quick and light, with the other slow and heavy, and a third may be balanced between the two. DivergentCharacterEvolution may serve to further differentiate such characters in sequels.
11
12This is often [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in the game's backstory ([[ExcusePlot if it has any]]) by the characters being [[MasterApprenticeChain family members]] or having trained in the [[FantasticFightingStyle same school]].
13
14If you ever hear anyone call these characters "Echo Fighters", chances are they play ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', which marks these types of characters with that term.
15
16Compare CosmeticallyDifferentSides. Contrast DittoFighter, where a character copies ''every'' character he fights against. Supertrope of {{Shotoclone}}, which refers to this phenomenon affecting a particular character archetype. A MultiSlotCharacter might have their multiple incarnations be this trope.
17
18----
19[[foldercontrol]]
20!!FightingGame examples:
21
22[[folder:Arc System Works]]
23* ''VideoGame/BattleFantasia'':
24** Urs and Marco Van De Land, who also happen to be brothers. It's a weird case with 9-year-old Marco and 17-year-old Urs. And they manage to do this and come off as amazingly different at the same time, partly because of Urs' ImpossiblyCoolWeapon.
25** Another example from the same game is Olivia and Odile, who look similar, have similar weapons, and it turns out that [[spoiler:Dokurod cloned Olivia to create Odile]].
26* Unusually for a fighting game, ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' didn't really have this until the [[CapcomSequelStagnation second revision]] of [[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma the third game]].
27** After seemingly being cut from the roster due to her destruction in [[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift the previous game]], Lambda-11 makes a return alongside her sister units, Mu-12 and Nu-13 respectively. This is {{averted|Trope}} for the former, as the two may look similar, but play completely differently. However, it's largely played straight with the latter. Nu and Lambda share the same normal attacks, Distortion Drives, and even an [[FinishingMove Astral Heat]], although they have quite different properties.
28*** Nu's playstyle is focused on keeping her opponent at a distance. Her Drive swords are quick and freely cancellable, her [[GravityMaster Gravity Seed]] recharges more quickly and can be cancelled out of, her Sickle Storm and [[StormOfBlades Legacy Edge]] push opponents full-screen, and she keeps her teleport dash and Supra Rage specials.
29*** Lambda, on the other hand, is focused more on locking down the opponent and closing space. Her Drive swords are slower, but cause more stun, her Gravity Seed can actually hit the opponent and cause them to float helplessly in midair, her Sickle Storm and Legacy Edge keep the opponent trapped in a certain space, her [[{{BFS}} Calamity Sword]] homes in on the opponent, and she has three different command dashes plus a completely original projectile move to retain pressure.
30** And as a point of interest, it was played dead straight in [[JustifiedTrope a forgivable way]] in the [[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift previous title]]. Nu-13 was just a more visually interesting and plot-progressing way of being "Unlimited Lambda-11". Like all Unlimited characters, Nu-13 had almost exactly the same moveset as the base form, just with a few tweaks to make her [[PurposelyOverpowered dementedly powerful]].
31[[/folder]]
32
33[[folder:Bandai Namco]]
34* In the ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'' series:
35** In the first game, aside from one or two unique moves, all unlockable characters were clones of the eight default characters (e.g. Anna as Nina's clone, Heihachi as Kazuya's clone, etc.). With the exception of Wang, they even have the same voice clips as one of the eight. ''2'' differentiated them somewhat, although their similarities still outweigh the differences. ''Tag'' gave them some unique new moves, namely side throws and sidestep-based moves. It wasn't until ''[[VideoGame/Tekken5 5]]'' that the DivergentCharacterEvolution was fully complete and they are no longer considered clones.
36** A good example of this is King and Armor King. In the very first game, the latter's moveset was basically the same as King's but with the addition of Mishima's Wind God Fist (f,N,d,d/f+2) and Thunder God Fist (f,N,d,d/f+1) attacks, which (in the first two games) made him objectively superior to King, as King was effectively the same character but without those attacks. By the time of the first ''Tag'' game, however, DivergentCharacterEvolution started to kick in; Armor King's f,N,d,d/f+1 was no longer a copy of the Mishima TGF, his "WGF" was also changed from the Mishimas', though technically the same functionality wise, and he was given a new f,N,d,d/f+4 knee attack, a new SS+2 uppercut and a d/b+4 low-hitting dropkick, while King had many moves unique to him such as the Rolling Sobat (f+4), Moonsault Body Press (1+4), Deadly Boomerang kick (SS+3+4), and so on. Both of these movesets, minus Armor King's version of the WGF, would merge and form the basis of King's moveset for ''[[VideoGame/Tekken4 4]]''; since Armor King was absent from that game, King took over his moves from ''Tag''. In ''Tekken 5'', however, King's moveset was extensively overhauled with many new moves, so when Armor King returned for its upgrade, ''Dark Resurrection'', they could no longer be considered clones, nor Armor King to be an "improved copy" of King, even though they still shared a few identical moves or had many roughly equivalent moves (for example, they both possess [[HumanHammerThrow Giant Swing]] and Tombstone Piledriver, with the same command/input, but these grapples have unique animations for each of them). By ''VideoGame/Tekken7'' the differences were enough that their playstyle is now radically different: King has slightly better holds and mid attacks, making him more of a defensive yet mix-up-oriented character, while Armor King has the edge on pokes and whiff-punishing, making him more of a rushdown character with emphasis on poking, spacing and baiting enemy attacks that he can punish. Both Kings, however, remain with a key weakness in lacking good lo- hitting attacks (as their lows are slow and/or require a counter-hit in order to deal substantial damage), in order to enforce players to try for grabs more often.
37** Characters who share the same slot are clones of each other. Examples include Devil/Angel and Roger/Alex in ''2'' and ''Tag'', Kuma/Panda from their debut until ''Tag 2'', and Lee/Violet in ''4'' and ''7''. Eddy/Christie, although sharing the same slot in ''4'' and vanilla ''5'', is sort of an aversion since their throws are unique, but otherwise they play this straight as their other moves are identical. When Angel and Alex returned in ''Tag 2'', they were made different from their original characters (note that Devil is now just a transformation of Kazuya).
38** The {{legacy character}}s: the Laws, the Changs, the Jacks, the Kings, the Kumas, the Armor Kings, the Rogers, and the Ravens are similarly clones of each other. For this reason, most of them do not appear in the same game. (A notable exception is when Jack-2, Gun Jack, and P. Jack all appeared in ''Tag'' together, as did Michelle and Julia, while in ''Tag 2'' there is just Jack-6 and P. Jack while Julia took on an alternate identity. However, the latter game, unlike the first, did have both Laws.)
39** Kuma/Panda were finally given their own slots starting in ''Tag 2''. Initially, it seemed that this was so the player could choose both bears in their team (since a slot cannot be chosen twice). However, the change seeped into the mainline installments as they also have their own slots in ''7'' and the only thing separating them is their unique Rage Arts.
40** Kazuya, Heihachi, Jin and Angel/Devil played very similarly up to ''Tag'', justified since they practice the same brand of Mishima Karate. In particular, Jin can be considered a + version of Kazuya, since he has ''all'' of Kazuya's moveset plus some inherited from Jun. With Kazuya's return to the franchise in ''4'', this was averted by giving Jin a whole new fighting style, while only maintaining a handful of his old moves that were already unique to him, and further specializing Heihachi's Mishima Karate. ''5'' then introduced Devil Jin, who inherited old Jin's moveset mixed with versions of the laser attacks from Angel/Devil, but this time, there were enough differences not to make him simply an upgraded Kazuya.
41** There is, however, an interesting case of "circular influence" between Angel and Devil Jin: after Angel's [[PutOnABus hiatus]] from the series after ''Tag'', Devil Jin picked up on Angel/Devil's laser beam attacks (including the flying variations) as well as the SS+2 "Devil Twister" uppercut launcher. When Angel [[TheBusCameBack returned]] for ''Tag 2'', she was given the majority of Devil Jin's moves, to the point that in this particular game she can be considered mostly a clone of Devil Jin (though, in the same vein as with other clones in the franchise, she was also given some unique moves to make her not completely identical to him).
42** Baek and Hwoarang are [[SubvertedTrope a subversion]]. It might be tempting to dismiss them as clones, since they are teacher-student, practice taekwondo, and have a shared story. However, their fighting style is actually very dissimilar (Baek utilizes traditional taekwondo, while Hwoarang incorporates a more street fighting variation due to his rebellious personality). In fact, just in ''Tag'' alone, they are more separate than post-DivergentCharacterEvolution Heihachi and Kazuya.
43** Jinpachi Mishima is also a subversion. He practices Mishima Karate, yes, but his is so divergent it's basically InNameOnly (he does not even have [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome EWGF]], a certain indicator of a Mishima and possessed by Kazuya, Heihachi, and Devil Jin).
44** As the name suggests, True Ogre is an upgraded version of Ogre in ''3'' and ''Tag'', since he has all of his moves in addition to new ones involving fire breathing and flying. However, he does lose a single one (Ancient Power). ''Tag 2'' would make True Ogre a little more distinct from his base form, now dubbed Ancient Ogre.
45** Asuka was added in ''5'' with the specific reason to replace Jun, and thus inherited most of her moves. When Jun returned in ''Tag 2'', she was the one given a mostly brand new moveset instead of Asuka's. However, Jun's new moveset [[spoiler:was now largely shared with Unknown, the returning boss from the first ''Tag'', who this time was confirmed to be Jun's OneWingedAngel form]].
46** ''Tag 2'' has a slew of clones of original characters. As with Kuma/Panda, the reason is so the players can choose them together. Examples include Lee/Violet, Xiaoyu/Miharu, Lili/Sebastian, among others. The situation is just like the first game in that the characters are identical save for one or two unique moves, although this time they have unique voice clips. There are aversions, though: Kunimitsu plays different from Yoshimitsu since she has (an expanded version of) her old fighting style, which is already separate from Yoshi to begin with.
47* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'':
48** Starting with ''Soulcalibur III'' and ''IV'', the series took this route with Siegfried and Nightmare. Only fair since they ''literally'' [[EnemyWithout started out as the same character]].
49*** This was also the case in the original ''Soulcalibur''. While Nightmare inherited Siegfried's style from the original installment, ''Soul Edge'', due to Soul Edge [[BrainwashedAndCrazy using Siegfried as its host]], Siegfried himself was also an unlockable character. Obviously, Siegfried employed the same techniques as Nightmare (who is technically the "clone" in this case despite Siegfried's appearance being non-canon), though his moveset had minor differences.
50*** Despite DivergentCharacterEvolution coming into play between these two starting in ''III'' (Siegfried ended up keeping about 70% of Nightmare's moves from ''SCII''), ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'' oddly moved them closer to this territory even though they retain their distinct playstyles from previous iterations. Notably, Nightmare regained some of the {{stance|System}}s he had originally that were then given to Siegfried whereas Siegfried has a passive ability that, [[CriticalStatusBuff when he's at low health]], allows him to use Nightmare's now-trademark [[SphereOfDestruction Soul Wave]].
51** The Alexandra sisters (Sophitia and Cassandra) developed along these lines as well since the latter showed up in ''SCII'' (though the latter was originally intended as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute until popular demand brought back the former for the console version of ''SCII'' and subsequent sequels). When both were "retired" for ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', Sophitia's children Patroklos and Pyrrha became their successors, with Pyrrha (and her [[TheCorruption malfested form]], [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Pyrrha Omega]]) drawing the most from Sophitia, while Patroklos had a more unique style and a final form inheriting Setsuka's moveset.
52*** Before her sister joined the fray, Sophitia had another clone in the form of ''SCI''[='s=] Lizardman, who also brandished a sword and shield. As it turns out, Lizardman was originally Aeon Calcos, another one of the 24 holy warriors tasked with destroying Soul Edge by Hephaestus and bestowed with divine weapons. After sitting out ''Soulcalibur II'' (see below), ''III'' brought Lizardman back, this time brandishing an axe instead of a sword but still sharing several moves with the Alexandra sisters. It wasn't until ''V'' that Lizardman, now going by his original name of Aeon, decisively pulled away from his clone status: he was given a complete moveset overhaul (explained by Ares granting Aeon the ability to [[CannibalismSuperpower steal the skills of anyone he feasted upon]]), sporting [[DualWielding dual axes]], being able to [[WingedHumanoid sprout wings]] and [[BreathWeapon breathe fire]], and even borrowing moves from [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos's]] [[GuestFighter stint]] in ''Broken Destiny''. (In fact, it's implied Aeon ''ate Kratos''.)
53** Hwang and Mitsurugi started out like this before ''Soulcalibur'' changed Hwang's move list to be more unique (albeit somewhat similar to Xianghua's on account of their acrobatics). Hwang was then [[PutOnABus phased out]] in favor of Yun-seong in ''SCII'', who took the acrobatic elements of Hwang's style and expanded upon them, though Hwang returned as a bonus character in ''III'' and was briefly bumped back up to playable status for that game's ''[[UpdatedRerelease Arcade Edition]]''. With Hwang's return as DLC in ''SCVI'', DivergentCharacterEvolution kicked in enough to better distinguish Hwang from both Mitsurugi and Yun-seong.
54** Rock and Astaroth. Becomes a plot point when Astaroth discovers his origins (he, the "Black Giant", was modeled after the "White Giant", Rock) and then attempts to kill Rock.
55** Raphael and Amy, though this is justified by Raphael teaching Amy his fencing techniques. Amy also seems to have a slight emphasis on thrusting attacks compared to Raphael, though not to a particularly notable degree.
56** Kilik and Seong Mi-na also shared a lot of moves in ''Soulcalibur'' in spite of their [[MartialArtsStaff different weapons]], but differentiated more and more with each subsequent sequel. Seong Mi-na's moves are straightforward and have changed the least, while Kilik gained a focus on range and punishing opponents' mistakes. This is partially justified in that Mi-na trained under both Kong Xiuqiang (a former monk of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple [[spoiler:and the father of Xianglian and Xianghua]] who would've inherited Kilik's Kali-Yuga had he not stolen the Krita-Yuga to give to his lover [[spoiler:Xiangfei]]) and Edge Master (Kilik's master). Kilik even [[LampshadeHanging notes the similarity in their styles]] when he encounters her in Mi-na's ''SCIV'' story. ''VI'' decided to further diversify them by having them inherit different moves from Xiba, [[CompositeCharacter their shared successor]] in ''V'' (Xiba being [[spoiler:Kilik's son with Xianghua who was later trained by his grandfather Kong]]).
57** The console versions of ''Soulcalibur II'' had a set of one-time clones in the form of Assassin (Hwang), Berserker (Rock), and Lizardman (Lizardman). Assassin was long thought to actually be Hwang due to his moveset and similar appearance, which received [[FandomNod a nod]] in ''VI'' where Hwang goes undercover to save Mi-na while wearing clothes almost identical to Assassin's.
58* In ''VideoGame/{{Ehrgeiz}}'', the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' characters are generally clones of other characters and have very similar movesets. Yuffie matches up with Sasuke, Vincent with Godhand, and (to some extent) Sephiroth with Cloud. SecretCharacter Zack and Cloud share a similar moveset as well.
59* ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'' has [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] Jotaro and [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Part 4]] Jotaro. They have almost identical movesets, with Part 4 having better range and Part 3 a better [[TimeStandsStill Time Stop]].
60* In ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Battle of Aces'', [[TheStoic Stern/Material-S]], [[DumbMuscle Levi/Material-L]], and [[CardCarryingVillain Lord Dearche/Material-D]] were these to [[TheHero Nanoha]], [[TheLancer Fate]], and [[BigGood Hayate]] respectively, having the exact same move sets but with different stats to emphasize their status as {{Doppelganger}}s. DivergentCharacterEvolution eventually happened when they returned in the ''Gears of Destiny'' sequel, after they spent their time [[ResurrectiveImmortality recovering from being dead]] devising their own fighting techniques and spells to show that they aren't just mere copies.
61* ''[[VideoGame/GundamVsSeries Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Full Boost]]'' does this with most of its DLC, introducing versions of existing [[HumongousMecha Mobile Suits]] with alternate pilots. While their movesets are mostly the same, some units do have alterations and most have entirely different [[LimitBreak EX Bursts]], but most importantly they almost always cost fewer resources to use. For example, the version of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Infinite Justice Gundam]] piloted by Lacus Clyne has a different AssistCharacter and EX Burst, its damage output is lower and its melee options are more limited, but it only costs 1000 points while the standard version piloted by Athrun Zala costs 2500; since the standard resource meter in ''[=ExVs=]'' is 6000 points, Lacus' I-Justice can afford to respawn twice as much as Athrun's can.
62* When ''Gundam: The Battle Master 2'' [[RemadeForTheExport was brought over to the west as]] ''Gundam Battle Assault'', [[RegionalBonus U.S. and European players]] got access to the exclusive [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Wing Gundam Mobile Suit]] to use in Duels and Story Mode. But don't get too excited' Wing plays exactly the same as the Zeta Gundam, which is still available to play as in those same modes. Likewise, the Zaku II and [[AceCustom Zaku IIS]] has the exact same movelist, the only difference being that the IIS is red and moves three times faster.
63* ''VideoGame/{{Dragon Ball FighterZ}}'' zig-zags this trope by including two different incarnations of Goku and Vegeta on the game's roster, one as [[GoldenSuperMode Super Saiyans]] and another as [[PhysicalGod Super Saiyan Blues]]. While both versions share ''some'' attacks (mostly normal attacks, maybe one special), on the whole their movesets are fairly different because the Super Saiyan versions draw inspiration from the original ''DBZ'' while the Blue versions draw from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''; even in the cases where the characters share special attacks, they usually have different properties. [[note]]For example, both versions of Vegeta have the Big Bang Attack, but for Super Vegeta it's a super move while Vegeta Blue has it as a regular special move.[[/note]] Of course, their sharing moves could be seen as {{justified|Trope}} since it's the same characters; Goku's fighting style and signature moves don't change just because he's operating at a different level of power. [[DownloadableContent DLC]] would later add a ''third'' version of Goku and Vegeta, this time as their base forms from the Saiyan Saga of ''Z''. As before, their movesets are remarkably different from the other playable Gokus and Vegetas due to the part of the series they represent, such as Goku having access to the Kaio-ken and Vegeta using his Galick Gun as a regular special move. The later arrival of Ultra Instinct Goku in S3 is perhaps the most notable aversion to date, with Goku instead adopting [[DifficultButAwesome a very technical style of play]] largely revolving around {{counter|Attack}}s and other defensive options (including the ability to automatically evade regular ki blasts by [[ImmuneToBullets phasing through]] them [[ImplacableMan during his forward walking animation]]). Even his normal ki blasts have been swapped out for the [[BlowYouAway pressurized wind]] Goku's punches are seen generating while in that state while his posture is upright and relaxed compared to the other Goku variants adopting a formal fighting stance.
64* ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse'' averts this for the most part, with nearly every character having their own basic attacks, except for some forms that are given their own slots, but this also includes SSGSS Goku, SSGSS Vegeta and Golden Frieza, who were paid DLC, although they had several new super and ultimate moves.
65* ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'' strangely made one of the DLC fighters from the previous game, [[Anime/DragonBallGT GT Trunks]], a clone of Future Trunks despite him having a unique moveset beforehand. The pre-order bonus, Base Goku Black, is also a moveset clone of regular Goku, since the game was released early into the Future Trunks Arc in ''Super'' and there wasn't much to go off, with what he did have at first being similar enough to Goku. Black did, however, get his own super and ultimate move, and a later DLC included his Super Saiyan Rosé form with a fully unique moveset.
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Capcom]]
69* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'':
70** The trope codifiers are Ryu and Ken, having appeared in every game in the series to date. At first, they started off as clones of one another, having the exact same movesets and being merely {{head swap}}s of one another (because the original ''VideoGame/{{Street Fighter|I}}'' had no scope for [[MirrorMatch mirror matches]], so they needed two identical characters for competitive play). During the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' games, their stats, moves, and strategies [[DivergentCharacterEvolution began to differentiate]], albeit little by little each new iteration (by ''Super Turbo'' the duo had different basic attacks and special moves, whereas in ''The World Warrior'', literally the only difference is Ken's kick throw spins an extra time), but by the time the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series started they had distinct backstories and [[{{Shotoclone}} extremely similar]], but not identical, abilities. Naturally, the series also includes Akuma, Sakura, and [[JokeCharacter Dan]].
71** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'':
72*** Charlie was originally brought in as a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute stand-in]] for Guile during the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series, but plays this trope straight when Guile was put back in the roster for the console versions of ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'' (and ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2''); they both have identical special moves but different Super Combos. Chronologically speaking, the ''Alpha'' series is set before ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' and Charlie was the one who taught Guile all of his special moves according to his backstory. ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' more substantially differentiates them (Charlie being a rushdown character with V-Gauge-reliant teleports and the ability to steal his opponent's meter, Guile having even more of a focus on his usual zoning and turtling capabilities), to the point that the only move they do share is the Sonic Boom.
73*** Averted with Cammy and the Dolls. Juli and Juni, Bison's bodyguards in ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'', retain some similarities, but still play quite differently. Even more so with Decapre from ''Ultra VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', despite what certain detractors will have you believe.
74** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'':
75*** ''New Generation'' introduced Sean, a Brazilian student of Ken who was originally intended to be the sole Shoto of the ''III'' series until Creator/{{Capcom}} decided to bring back Ryu and Ken. Outside of a few atypical-for-a-Shoto traits, notably his inability to throw a fireball on command outside of his Hadou Burst Super Art, Sean mixes some Brazilian jiujitsu and [[IKnowMaddenKombat basketball]] into his attacks and also possess the ability to manually roll like Ken and Akuma could in ''Alpha''. Additionally, his Dragon Smash changed from a Shoryuken-based MeteorMove (''NG'' and ''2I'') to a two-fist uppercut with somewhat pitiful horizontal range (''3S''), presumably to highlight his inexperience as a martial artist. (To wit, Sean went from a top-tier character in ''2I'' to [[{{Nerf}} one of the worst]] in ''3S'' and is--perhaps not coincidentally--[[ButtMonkey treated as a joke in-series]] from then on.)
76*** Yun and Yang originally had the same moveset and even shared the same character select slot in ''New Generation'', but Yang eventually learned his own techniques from ''2nd Impact'' and onward. By ''3rd Strike'', they only shared two specials (a double palm strike and a command grab that switches sides with the opponent) and one Super Art (which functions akin to Custom Combos/V-ism from the ''Alpha'' games), with everything else in their kits being unique moves.
77*** Urien and Gill are also similar, but Urien is a charge-type character and [[SNKBoss not as brokenly overpowered]]. This is even a plot point, as Urien is Gill's younger brother and [[TheStarscream would-be backstabber]] who finds his attempts to usurp control of TheIlluminati failing at every turn because Gill not only vastly outclasses him in power, but also is cunning enough to predict--and derail--Urien's schemes.
78** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'':
79*** In addition to Akuma (who was PutOnABus after the original game/''EX Plus α'') and Sakura (who likewise went missing until ''[=EX3=]''), Ryu and Ken also have Allen and Kairi, though with some noticeable differences. For example, Allen lacks any kind of HurricaneKick in favor of a [[DashAttack surging punch]] (Justice Fist) that can [[AttackReflector deflect projectiles]] and Kairi plays more closely to Akuma with the use of aerial fireballs and a DivingKick--albeit as Super Combos instead of more freely accessible special attacks. In fact, with Kairi taking a turn to TheDarkSide in Akuma's absence starting from ''[=EX2=]'', Kairi assimilated even more traits from Akuma, such as gaining equivalent techniques to the Ashura Senku and Shun Goku Satsu. In another interesting move, while Kairi's fireballs are no longer thrown out like the other Shotos after the original ''EX'', ''VideoGame/FightingEXLayer'' would see his [[HurricaneKick Moryo Kasen]] changed into the traditional Tatsumaki Senpukyaku instead of the multi-input Tatsumaki used by Kairi and Ryu throughout the entire ''EX'' series.
80*** Zangief got a rather mild example in Darun, a pro wrestler from India who wishes to test his mettle against the Red Cyclone. In a sense, he's something of a substitute for [[VideoGame/FinalFight Haggar]], who'd could count as well but has never been in the same game as Zangief so far (although Haggar did get his own unique Special Moves in ''[[VideoGame/SaturdayNightSlamMasters Ring of Destruction]]'' to set him apart from Zangief).
81*** Skullomania would receive one in the form of Shadowgeist in the second game. Whereas Skullo's attacks are speedy and [[ConfusionFu somewhat unpredictable]], Shadowgeist is a more straightforward power character. This also extends to their Super Combos, most notably [[SphereOfDestruction Skullo Energy/Death Energy]]: the former merely blows away foes whereas the latter sucks in opposing players in the manner of a black hole.
82* In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes'', while the SecretCharacter known as Shadow Lady shares some of Chun-Li's moveset, she also has some unique moves of her own such as an electric barrier to shield herself and stun opponents, a laser beam from her palms, firing [[MacrossMissileMassacre missiles]] from her back, and morphing her hands into [[ThisIsADrill drills]] for a ramming attack. In this game, she is a Chun-Li who was [[ReforgedIntoAMinion unwillingly brainwashed]] and [[UnwillingRoboticization cyborgized]] by Shadaloo.
83* In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', [[WolverinePublicity for some reason]] there are two versions of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}: Wolverine with adamantium claws (who is a SecretCharacter) and Wolverine with bone claws. Gameplay-wise, the differences between the two are minimal; bone claw Wolverine is more of a GlassCannon than adamantium claw Wolverine, who's already a FragileSpeedster, has different Assist moves, and has ''less'' special moves and Hyper Combos. Bone claw Wolverine is roughly based on the Wolverine in ''[[VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom CotA]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter XvSF]]'', while the Wolverine with adamantium claws is based on his ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes MvC1]]'' incarnation. All other known differences can be counted on one hand.
84* ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'':
85** Ryu and Ken, except this time Ken is Ken the Eagle from ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman''.
86** With the addition of [[TheLancer Joe the Condor]] in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Ultimate All-Stars]]'', along with Jun, the three Gatchamen play this trope straight among themselves.
87** Anime/{{Tekkaman}} and Anime/TekkamanBlade count to a degree in ''Ultimate All-Stars''. The Tekkamen have many shared/similar techniques, but their executions are noticeably distinct. Tekkaman is a MightyGlacier (and might have the highest damage output in the game outside of the Giant characters), while Blade (the Ken) trades in some power for a good deal of speed, possibly making him just shy of being a LightningBruiser.
88* ''VideoGame/GodHand'', a game stylized after old-school {{Fighting Game}}s and [[BeatEmUp Beat 'em Ups]], features a protagonist, Gene, with "the right arm of God." So naturally, there's another character who has the ''[[LeftHandedMirror left arm]]'' that you encounter in the game. His moveset and powers are exact copies of ones Gene himself [[CharacterCustomization can]] use, with [[InvulnerableAttack minor changes]] made to make the fight fair. And ''then'' there's the 51st arena challenge, unlocked by beating ever single other one. Your opponent for this fight is [[MirrorMatch another Gene]], but as he appears at the end of the game with [[EleventhHourSuperpower both Godhands]].
89* Biff Slamkovich and Gunloc in the ''VideoGame/SaturdayNightSlamMasters'' series. They have nearly identical movesets, but uniquely enough for this trope the ''inputs'' for these moves are different between them (with the exception of their RapidFireFisticuffs move, which has the same "mash a Punch button" input for both). They also each have unique projectile moves and stock grapples.
90* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'':
91** There's Morrigan the succubus and Demitri the vampire. They both have the standard "[[EnergyBall fireball]]" and "[[{{Shoryuken}} dragon punch]]"-style moves. Demitri's moves are slower, and his uppercut flies straight up unless performed during his dash, whereupon it then diagonally drills into foes.
92** Lilith, introduced in the third game, has weaker specials than Morrigan, but a more diverse moveset. Justified in that she's a third of Morrigan's soul that was sealed away and then given physical form by [[BigBad Jedah]].
93** Another set is Bishamon and Oboro Bishamon in ''Vampire Savior'', with the latter representing Bishamon when he's not under the control of his cursed sword and set of armor.
94* ''Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/StarGladiator'', more than doubled the roster of the original game by adding 14 new characters. Most of them mirrored one of the characters in the original cast, having almost identical movesets and weapons with the only real difference being their supers.
95* Jotaro and Dio in Creator/{{Capcom}}'s ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' [[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture fighter]] have similar movesets, with the main differences being in their Super Combos (Jotaro's are souped-up versions of his specials, whereas Dio has more variety in his). Interestingly for this trope, despite being the main characters (or rather, the main character and main villain), their learning curves are among the more difficult in the game.
96* Shirou and Archer have largely identical move lists in ''VideoGame/FateUnlimitedCodes''. This is something that also comes up in [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight the original visual novel]], as Shirou copied a lot of Archer's techniques because he was impressed by them after seeing him fight. [[spoiler:However, it eventually turns out that Archer is in fact a FutureBadass version of Shirou, sending this trope round full circle.]]
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100* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaJudgment'' has an interesting case with [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI Simon]] and [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor]]. Both Belmonts use the Vampire Killer whip and have several similar moves (including at least one identical special), but Simon specializes in quick, wide sweeps, while Trevor mixes it up with several jabs and slower, more powerful attacks.
101* In the SNES version of ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTournamentFighters'', Leonardo and Michelangelo.
102* ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar 2'' handles this in an interesting manner: while two characters (Shina and Uriko) are traditional examples, being similar to but distinct from their predecessors (Gado and Long), two other moveset clones are straight-up replacements for characters from the first game (Jenny for Fox/Hans and Stun for Mitsuko), having all of their moves and more, and a third, the literal clone Shenlong, actually has Long's original moveset, while Long himself [[DivergentCharacterEvolution got a slightly different one]]; this was reversed in the third game, with Long getting his original moves back and Shenlong getting a noticeably different moveset. Fang from ''Extreme'' is a similar odd case, being a clone of Yugo's first game moveset, rather than of his noticeably different moveset from the second game onward.
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106* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
107** In [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64 the original]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Luigi]] were given the same moveset, though Luigi's specials have different properties. His fireballs travel in a straight line, his cyclone hits once for high damage, and his Coin Jump Punch also only hits once but turns into a devastating Fire Jump Punch at point blank range. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' started differentiating the two by giving them entirely different side specials, and some of Luigi's standard attacks got modified to boot. By ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'', Mario gains FLUDD from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' as his Down Special Move [[note]]his original Down Special, the Mario Tornado, was reassigned as a downwards mid-air attack replacing his drill kick[[/note]], and both brothers have different Final Smashes. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' pushed things even farther by giving Luigi [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion the Poltergust]] to use for tether grabs. ''Melee'' added Dr. Mario as another clone, who had more powerful attacks; when he returned in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU the fourth game]] he retained his ''Melee'' moveset while Mario's had changed, and the differences in their speed and strength were more pronounced than before.
108** Jigglypuff was added due to its similarities with Kirby, thus sharing a handful of standard attacks with him, though the next game would give both of them new moves to differentiate them to the point where many don't consider them moveset clones anymore.
109** [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] has [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Young Link]] and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Toon Link]] as his clones. In general, the alternate versions are less damaging but more agile than regular Link, though they also execute their attacks slightly differently. ''Brawl'' also gave Link the Gale Boomerang from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', which deals no damage on the return trip and instead has a "windbox" that pushes opponents around. ''Ultimate'' included all three at once, while giving standard Link a more dramatic overhaul to reflect his appearance and abilities in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': he can pick up the arrows from his neutral special to fire two at once, the Gale Boomerang has been reverted to a normal boomerang, he no longer has the Hookshot or Clawshot, his bombs must now be manually detonated with a second use of his down special, and his Final Smash became a variant of Zelda's old one. Young Link retains Link's old moveset but on a smaller body, while Toon Link is floatier and has a few different attacks in comparison.
110** [[Franchise/StarFox Falco]] is a clone of his teammate Fox; though unlike other clone relationships, Fox is the one that's a FragileSpeedster. Falco also jumps higher and has different attack executions; for instance, his laser makes enemies flinch, and starting with ''Brawl'', in addition to several of his standard moves being de-cloned, he kicks his AttackReflector out in front of him while Fox holds on to it. ''Brawl'' introduced an unusual partial example in Wolf; although his special moves and Final Smash are clearly inspired by those of his rivals, they have drastically different properties, and most of his standard attacks are completely different.
111** Unlike most of the series' clones, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] is completely unrelated to the character he's cloned from, [[VideoGame/FZero Captain Falcon]]. While (initially) sharing the exact same animations as Falcon, Ganondorf is [[MightyGlacier a hell of a lot slower and harder-hitting]]. Later games started giving their various moves distinct properties, and ''Ultimate'' finally gave Ganondorf a sword to use for his smash attacks. As for Falcon himself, in ''Smash 64'', he shares some of his standard attacks with [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], but is otherwise vastly different.
112** [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pichu]] is another weaker-but-faster clone, this time of its evolution [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pikachu]]. It also has a gimmick that [[CastFromHitPoints it takes damage from its own electric attacks]] due to inexperience.
113** [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Marth]], a spacing-oriented character with a devastating "sweetspot" for his attacks at the very tip of his blade, has two clones, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Roy]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Lucina]]. In ''Melee'', Roy recycles Marth's animations but his sword is heavier and [[FlamingSword on fire]], giving his attacks slightly different properties -- in particular his neutral-B attack can be charged to devastating effect, his Counter operates differently, and he does the most damage with the base of his blade instead of the tip. When he returned in the fourth game's DLC, several moves were tweaked or replaced to make him less like Marth. Meanwhile, Lucina ([[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration as a descendant and impersonator of Marth]]) is almost identical to him, only lacking the sweetspot on the tip of her sword, allowing her to deal equal damage with every part of the blade. In ''Ultimate'', Roy gets his own direct clone in [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom]], who, like Lucina, uses a balanced blade with an average damage output of Roy's sweetspots and sourspots. Since this leads to Chrom's damage output being higher on average than Lucina's, he is also somewhat handicapped by a less effective recovery.
114** [[VideoGame/MOTHER3 Lucas]] acts as this to [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Ness]], though it's downplayed as the properties of his specials are different, and most of his standard attacks are completely different.
115** The fourth game adds [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit]]'s literal clone [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Dark Pit]], who has different properties on his Bow and [[MegatonPunch Arm]] weapon attacks, as well as a different Final Smash, but is otherwise completely identical. A particularly odd example in that Dark Pit originated as an [[PaletteSwap alternate color scheme]] for Pit in the previous ''Smash Bros.'' game, before being [[CanonImmigrant turned into an actual character]] who was then adapted back to ''Smash''.
116** ''Ultimate'' officially labels full clones as "Echo Fighters", who are listed by having the same number as the original character, but an added "ᵋ" symbol. Both Lucina and Dark Pit are classified as Echoes, and a number of new ones were added: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand Princess Daisy]] (a clone of Princess Peach), [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Richter Belmont]] (Simon Belmont), [[VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy Dark Samus]] (Samus), [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom]] (Roy), and of course Ken (Ryu). Partial clones (which is to say, all other characters listed above) still exist, but are differentiated enough that they are not classified as Echo Fighters. How much of a clone an Echo Fighter is varies: Daisy, Dark Samus and Richter are more or less the exact same fighters as the ones they are echoing albeit with very minute changes that barely impact gameplay, Chrom and Lucina have a decent amount of mechanical changes from Roy and Marth respectively to not be complete derivatives, Dark Pit has significant differences that are only present in three moves (one being his Final Smash, which are usually disabled in competitive matches), and Ken has an entire moveset whose properties allow him to stand out from comparisons to Ryu as the most definitively unique Echo in the entire cast.
117** Isabelle from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' is not considered an Echo Fighter, but she has a number of moves, both normal and special, that are notably similar to Villager's. However, where she differs from Villager, she tends to differ greatly.
118** Challenger Pack 9 features Pyra and Mythra as a pair of transforming characters whose only moves with differing animations are their specials, though their shared attacks are differentiated by Pyra having stronger damage and knockback while Mythra having faster frame data and movement speed.
119** Of course, the hidden "Palutena's Guidance" skits featuring the ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'' cast can't help poking fun at the practice of cloning characters. In Robin's skit in ''for 3DS and Wii U'', Viridi mocks Chrom for only showing up in Robin's Final Smash attack and not participating himself because he's too similar to fellow ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' character [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Ike]]. This became HilariousInHindsight when Chrom ''was'' added in ''Ultimate'' and copied ''Roy'' instead. During Wolf's, Palutena and Viridi both compare Fox and Wolf's relationship to Pit and Dark Pit's, with Viridi bringing up that they have "the same 'glorified PaletteSwap' thing." And in Daisy's, Pit refuses to believe that she's not just Peach in a different dress.
120* Springtron in ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' is nearly identical to Spring Man, having the same speed, size, and even shares unlockable arms with him. The only major difference is that he doesn't have Spring Man's auto-charged arms at low health, but charging both arms releases an EMP burst that disables any extended arms.
121* The final eight enemy characters in ''VideoGame/JoyMechFight'' are upgraded versions of the eight main characters, like with the other enemy characters you can unlock them after a normal mode playthrough.
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125* ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' subverts this twice:
126** [[RobotGirl Labrys]] and [[ShadowArchetype Shadow Labrys]] have nearly identical non-Persona attacks (only that Shadow Labrys' is weaker but faster), but wildly different Persona attacks: while normal Labrys uses her Persona like everyone else, [[PuppetFighter Shadow Labrys' Persona is always present, can be commanded at any time and used to attack the opponent at the same time as Shadow Labrys herself to a much greater degree than any other character]], leading to vastly different combos and overall widely different playstyles.
127** The two versions of Sho Minazuki in ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax''. They have near-identical non-Persona attacks, but incredibly different Persona attacks. Sho doesn't even have a Persona, so his "Persona" attacks are extra attacks from Sho himself and a dodge mechanic, whereas Minazuki has a more traditional moveset for the game with his Persona, Tsukiyomi.
128* ''VideoGame/PowerInstinct'':
129** Twin sisters [[CainAndAbel Otane and Oume]]. In the first game, [[TheUnfavorite Otane]] is a playable character, while her sister Oume (who serves as the game's boss) is just a palette swap of Otane. In the second game, the roles are switched [[RemovingTheRival for storyline reasons]], but the new final boss Otane has a [[SecretAIMoves CPU-exclusive move]]. In ''Legends'', the first game where both of them are playale, they are given new additional moves -- among them, Otane gets her CPU move from the previous game as her new [[LimitBreak super move]]. Finally, ''Matrimelee'' made their shared special moves different: Otane retains the classical moveset with new commands, while Oume retains the old charge-based commands but changes them noticeably.
130** The sisters' [[DualAgeModes young transformation mode]] from the first game is a sprite edit of Annie, to the point that they share a special move. It's semi-averted in the second game, where their young mode's clothing changes from a basic sleeveless shirt to a SailorFuku (probably to demonstrate [[ParentalFavoritism Oume's upbringing]]) -- instead of editing Annie's new sprites, the developers edited the young mode's sprites from the first game and drew a couple of new ones.
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134* ''VideoGame/FatalFury'':
135** Predating even ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'''s Ryo and Robert are the three-man team of Terry, Andy and Joe in the original game. They each had a fireball, a dashing attack, and a flying attack with the potential to hit multiple times, with only their fourth special and the ranges on their normal attacks being functionally different (and even that fourth move was incredibly similar for Terry and Andy). ''Fatal Fury 2'' added more and more varied normal attacks, tweaked the properties of their specials to help differentiate them, and gave them each a completely unique [[LimitBreak Desperation Move]]. Nowadays, their gameplay styles are nothing alike.
136** [[GenerationXerox Kim's sons]], [[PlayingWithFire Kim Jae Hoon]] and [[ShockAndAwe Kim Dong Hwan]], however, play very similarly to each other and to their father in ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves''.
137* As mentioned above, Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia in the ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' series (and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' by extension), which also has Yuri and Takuma/Mr. Karate, respectively. Not unlike the Shotos of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', they're all practitioners of the same martial art (Kyokugen), though each has been trained in a different discipline, resulting in differences like Robert relying primarily on kicks (to the point that in ''VideoGame/NeoGeoBattleColiseum'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXI KOF XI]]'', a WhatIf version of him based on ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'' generates projectiles with his legs). Additionally, Yuri is largely self-taught and therefore relies on improvised techniques, many of which are parodies of attacks used by her ''SF'' counterparts. Takuma falls in and out of this trope the most, despite (or perhaps because of) his mastery of Kyokugen; he usually lacks the others' {{Shoryuken}} analogue but has access to unique moves like his Shoran Kyaku command grab, whereas his (Serious) Mr. Karate persona seen in ''VideoGame/SNKVsCapcomSVCChaos'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIII KOF XIII]]'' plays more like fellow Kyokugen karateka [[VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves Khushnood Butt/Marco Rodriguez]] (such as having normal and super variants of [[{{Shoryuken}} Kohou]]) but with additional, Akuma-esque quirks.
138* ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'':
139** Creator/{{SNK}}'s AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ''Street Fighter'' brings us Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami. Their movesets were originally somewhat similar (justified in that their ancestors created their respective fighting styles together), with several shared moves. Currently, however, they only have [[{{Shoryuken}} one move]] in common. Kyo's flames are red, and Iori's are [[TechnicolorFire purple]] due to the [[DeadlyUpgrade Riot of the Blood]] (a curse inherited from {{Orochi}} due to the Yasakani clan's [[DealWithTheDevil deal with the entity]] [[PowerAtAPrice for greater power]]). Iori is much more sadistic, [[AntiHero although not an outright villain]] (even though he likes to break into {{evil laugh}}ter from time to time).
140** Non-protagonist examples from the same series are Ralf and Clark, and Mature and Vice. Ralf and Clark, the PaletteSwap heroes of ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', started out as head swaps with differing intros, winposes, throws, knockdown moves, effects on one of their shared attacks, and desperation moves. Nowadays, it's hard to imagine these two were ever that similar, especially with their different [[SignatureMove signature moves]], [[GoodOldFisticuffs Ralf's Vulcan Punch]] and [[WrestlerInAllOfUs Clark's Super Argentine Backbreaker]]. Mature and Vice, on the other hand, shared outfits, normal moves, throws, and one special move (a command throw) in their ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters96 '96]]'' debut. Like the Ikari Warriors, their ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters98 '98]]'' return had them undergo DivergentCharacterEvolution such that all that remained the same were their weak punches and throws.
141** Shingo may not have flames, but his fighting style is similar enough to Kyo and Iori, though his personal twists to the moves make him [[LethalJokeCharacter more than]] just a carbon copy of Kyo. In-story, Shingo observed and took notes on Kyo's fighting style but (as a non-Kusanagi) was not formally trained in their ancestral martial arts, explaining the various botched and incomplete attacks. While Shingo would later would be taken under the wing of Kyo's father between the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 2001]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2003 2003]]'', Saisyu's instruction seemingly didn't do much to improve his form--though he'll occasionally hallucinate that he's actually shooting fire in ''2003''.
142** An interesting example with Ash Crimson. His design and playstyle are meant to evoke Remy from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII: 3rd Strike'' (a sort of counter-TakeThat, as Remy was designed to resemble Iori), Ash therefore plays like your basic charge-type character, with only a few tweaks to the tried-and-true template associated with [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Guile]]. However, the fact that he's using these types of moves with [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]] gives his moveset a distinct resemblance to that of Kain R. Heinlein from ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves''. Most notably, Ash's Thermidor is ''exactly'' the same as Kain's Himmlischer Steele, both supers manifesting as a large sphere of flame that slowly creeps across the screen. The fact that Ash made his debut in ''KOF 2003'', the same game where ''[=MotW=]''-era characters and other elements (like Terry's "Wild Wolf" look) were brought into the fold, makes these similarities all the more eyebrow-raising.
143** The ''[[AlternateContinuity Maximum Impact]]'' series of ''KOF'' games includes an absurd amount of this trope. Excluding characters with alternate forms (such as Nightmare Geese and Classic Kyo), you have Chae Lim using Kim's older moves, Nagase based off Hanzo Hattori (a secret character from the ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' series--see below), and Lilly Kane, based off her brother Billy's moves but with [[AnIcePerson ice attributes]], to name a few.
144** ''The King of Fighters XIII'' brings back an older, almost forgotten example: friendly rivals Joe Higashi and Hwa Jai (from the first ''VideoGame/FatalFury''). They share many a move, but there is a difference functionality-wise.
145** ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIV KOF XIV]]'' would introduce Kim's master Gang-il, who not only uses [[MightyGlacier harder-hitting]] versions of some of Kim's attacks and can perform his Rangetsuzan in midair but also [[CompositeCharacter employs several moves formerly exclusive to Kim's sons]] in ''Garou''.
146** A particularly odd case comes within the duo of K9999 and Nameless -- the former appeared in both ''2001'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2002 2002]]'', yet skipped ''2002'''s UpdatedRerelease in favor of the latter, who has visually different yet functionally identical equivalents to his predecessor. The prevalent theory was that K9999 got ScrewedByTheLawyers, more specifically those of ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}'' creator Creator/KatsuhiroOtomo, [[BuryYourArt and had to be]] [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replaced]]. [[spoiler:Then K9999 came back, [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown as]] [[PaperThinDisguise Krohnen]], for real in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV XV]]'', whereas Nameless remained in relative limbo before being brought BackForTheDead in the mobile spinoff ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersAllStar KOF All-Star]]''.]]
147* Hanzo and Fuuma from ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'', a FightingGame with characters loosely based on historical figures. Japanese legend depicts Fuuma Kotaro and Hattori Hanzo as lifelong enemies, until the former ultimately killed the latter (though history actually records Hanzo dying of natural causes).
148* ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' heavily [[PlayingWithATrope plays with it]] through the whole series:
149** [[HeadSwap Headswapped]] characters are common through the earlier games, but they usually fall to DivergentCharacterEvolution: Hanzo-Galford in the first game, Nakoruru-Rimururu in ''III'' and Kazuki-Sogetsu in ''IV'' [[note]]Cham Cham has Tam Tam's moveset via Paku Paku, but this falls under CompositeCharacter[[/note]].
150** The [[StatusQuoIsGod Shura]]/[[ShadowArchetype Rasetsu]] mechanic introduced in ''III'' inverts this, as it gives every character (except the bosses) two different movesets. [[note]]In ''IV'''s storyline, there are [[LiteralSplitPersonality two separate Amakusa]].[[/note]]
151** The 3D ''64'' duology further reinforces DivergentCharacterEvolution: most headswaps now are completely different characters, and some Shura/Rasetsu modes are so different that they count as new characters [[GameplayAndStorySegregation both in gameplay and story]]. This trope is played straight with [[SecretCharacter Kuroko]] and [[NonPlayerCharacter the two Deku]], though.
152** Every [[SecretCharacter hidden character]] in ''Warriors Rage'' ([[RecycledTitle PlayStation]]) is a clone of the 11 initial ones, although they all have new storylines, voices and basic moves. There are three categories: [[CharacterFocus boss characters]] that are mostly unique [[note]]Tohma, Mikoto and Kuno[[/note]], standard clones that share the exact same special moves [[note]]Minto, Daruma, Tashon Mao, Mugenji and Yuda. Both NPC Oboro weapons count as these[[/note]], and PlayerMooks that lack all special attacks [[note]]Ninja, Samurai, Bandit, Amazon[[/note]].
153** ''V'' (''Zero'') and ''VI'' (''Tenkaichi Kenkakuden'') marked the end of the Shura/Rasetsu mechanic. While most characters lose moves or [[CompositeCharacter get them all]], some Rasetsu modes are turned into new characters based on side characters: Suija, Enja[[note]]Based on ''Samurai Shodown 64-2'' characters, [[CharacterCheck but their gameplay is based on SS4 Rasetsu modes]][[/note]], Rera[[note]]From ''[[VisualNovel/NakoruruAnoHitoKaraNoOkurimono Nakoruru: Ano Hito kara no Okurimono]]''[[/note]], Rasetsumaru[[note]]Original character[[/note]], and Kim Ung Che[[note]]Gaira from ''[[{{Bowdlerise}} Fighters Swords]]'', ''III'''s Korean port[[/note]]. [[GenreThrowback Old Rasetsu Nakoruru and Galford]] are hidden characters in ''Samurai Shodown VI'', which served as a DreamMatchGame for the series.
154** ''V'''s midbosses are {{head swap}}s of Genjuro and Ukyo with original gameplay, but in ''VI'' they're given movesets to be more similar to their ''III''/''IV'' Rasetsu equivalents -- especially Yumeji, [[{{Retcon}} whose moveset is completely changed]].
155** ''VI''[='s=] final boss, Makai Gaoh, acts as Gaoh's SuperMode. The home port has EX modes for ''SSV''[='s=] four new characters that [[GenreThrowback gives them movesets closer to their first appearance]].
156** In ''Edge of Destiny''/''Sen'', clone characters are similar to the ones in earlier ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur]]'' titles in that they share a large part of their moveset but mingle it. Takechiyo, Suzuhime, Angelica and Draco [[note]]Draco has no clone, though[[/note]] are the only true new characters, every other new character is a clone of them or of returning characters -- the first three head swaps of the franchise still are clones of each other.
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160* Eiji Shinjo and Kayin Amoh from ''VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden''. Eiji's lost brother Sho qualifies -- he has all of both Kayin and Eiji's moves, but he hits harder, and he shoots two fireballs when using Rekku Zan.
161* In the ''VideoGame/NarutoClashOfNinja'' series:
162** Iruka and Mizuki are this (in Mizuki's first appearance, the two ''shared character slots''). Also, Kisame and Zabuza, both Swordsmen of the Mist, have similar movesets (more obvious in the Japanese games where they're both playable; Zabuza does not appear in the internationally-released ''Clash of Ninja Revolution'' games, while [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Kisame does]]).
163** Hinata and Neji have similar movelists, but many of Hinata's moves are original to the games (for example, instead of using Eight Trigrams 64 Palms, she repeatedly attacks an opponent with Gentle Fist palm strikes, then finishes with a burst of chakra), due to limited information on her fighting style. In the ''Ultimate Ninja'' series, Hanabi (Hinata's younger sister) follows a similar principle.
164** The game-exclusive characters in ''Revolution 2'' count. Komachi is similar to Haku and Kagura is like Kimimaro.
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168* The FightingGame {{Ur Example}}s are the identical fighters from ''VideoGame/KarateChamp''. Completely identical fighting styles, and they even wore a white and red gi.
169* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
170** (Human) Smoke's moveset ''is'' Scorpion's, save for not doing Scorp's "Get over here!"/"Come here!" yell when he connects with the spear. They are also rivals, as Smoke belongs to the Lin Kuei, the same organization that gave rise to Sub-Zero. ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' averts this with Smoke's separate and ([[TeleportSpam mostly]]) distinct moveset.
171** Kano and Jarek, although this is another case of a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute meant to replace the former; they weren't playable in the same game until ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', where Jarek averts it with his new moveset consisting on his lasso attacks in order to be at least different from Kano.
172** Superman and Captain Marvel in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' play this. A stranger version is ComicBook/LexLuthor and [[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 Sektor]], who don't appear in the same game, but Luthor plays similarly to Sektor, even blatantly using similar special moves.
173** The series' first four hidden characters were all moveset clones, ''in addition to'' being PaletteSwaps. In [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1992 the first game]], Reptile had both Sub-Zero and Scorpion's moves while being faster [[note]]as implied by his costume: yellow and blue make green[[/note]]; the entire point of him was to use a Fatality on him to skyrocket players' scores. In the second game, Jade debuted as a clone of Kitana -- not only did they swap her palette for a new character, they had Jade keep all of Kitana's arsenal while making her able to walk faster ''and'' be immune to projectile attacks (as well as attacks like Sub-Zero's ice puddle). Alongside Jade came Smoke and Noob Saibot, both of whom were Scorpion clones who walked faster but lacked her projectile immunity. Reptile, Jade, and Noob all became very original characters pretty quickly, but it took years for Smoke to leave Scorpion's shadow in this respect. Even in his cyborg form he borrowed ''all'' his special moves from other characters. It wasn't until [[VideoGame/MortalKombat4 the fourth main game]] that the series began moving away from this means of hiding characters.
174** It's pretty amazing how often Scorpion was used as the template for "new" characters. Chameleon incorporated his moveset as he channeled all the male ninja characters, but the most blatant of all was Monster from ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]]''. Monster's genesis is that he was just another costume for Scorpion the developers decided against using, but decided to work it into the game anyway, putting absolutely no further effort into it in the process. As a result, Monster plays exactly as Scorpion does, and has no backstory -- even the game [[LampshadeHanging admits he came out of nowhere]] via dialogue. He shows up once in Konquest Mode, you beat him, he leaves -- never to return. He can even be "unlocked" via cheat devices that simply use his model and name on Scorpion's moveset data, but if you've played as Scorpion in this game, you've played as Monster.
175** The Nintendo 64 version of ''Trilogy'' couldn't squeeze Chameleon in for some reason, so instead it got [[MyNaymeIs Khameleon]], his female equivalent who channels the moves of Kitana, Mileena, and Jade instead. Unlike him, however, she can't just whip any of those moves out any time she wants; you have to wait until the color of her name in her lifebar is the same as the outfit of the character you want to use a move from. Want to do Jade's Dodging Shadows? You have to make sure you key it in whenever Khameleon's name is green.
176* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' has the John Stewart version of ComicBook/GreenLantern, who was merely a new skin and voice for the default Hal Jordan GL, same moves and all. This is expanded on in ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' with the concept of "Premium Skins", which basically allow you to turn an existing fighter into another DC Comics character, usually one with a similar theme or power set in the comics. These included ComicBook/PowerGirl for ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ComicBook/{{Vixen}} for ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} and [[EvilCounterpart Reverse-Flash]] for ComicBook/TheFlash (as well as ComicBook/BlackLightning for [[GuestFighter Raiden]]).
177* ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'' features Heart and Saki, two friends with slightly different outfits who share a few normal attacks and both feature a dash attack, an anti-air attack, and a mid-air stomp attack. However, Heart's attacks are punch-based and use quarter-circle type inputs, while Saki's are kick-based and use charge motions.
178* In ''VideoGame/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTheHinokamiChronicles'', the game being limited by what the anime has covered at the time of its release forced [=CC2=] to try everything they could to expand the roster, leading to them making almost every single Water Breathing user in the series be a playable character, all with the same moves with very few differences between their normal attacks, with the only striking difference being what Form is used as their ultimate attack.
179* Billy and Jimmy Lee naturally filled this role in the Platform/NeoGeo ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' FightingGame, as well as in ''Double Dragon V'' for the SNES and Genesis.
180* ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' has a handful of PaletteSwap characters, but the degree of them being an actual Moveset Clone varies greatly. Some are close to their counterparts like [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Akiha Vermillion]] and Nanaya Shiki, but others like [[SuperpoweredRobotMeterMaids Mech-Hisui]] and [[EnemyWithin Sion Tatari]] share several normals but have very different specials.
181* ''VideoGame/AdvancedVariableGeo'' has [[TheHero Yuka Takeuchi]] and [[{{Ninja}} Chiho Masuda]] as its primary set; the second game introduced [[AscendedFangirl Tamao Mitsurugi]], the main character of that game.
182* ''VideoGame/BattleKRoad'', an arcade-only fighting game released by Psikyo in 1994, features an entire character roster consisting of head/palette swaps. There are two karatekas, two boxers, two Thai kickboxers, two Jujitsu girls, two sumo wrestlers, two commandos and even two Terminator-like cyborgs. The only character without a head-swap is naturally the final boss himself.
183* In ''VideoGame/{{Divekick}}'', this is illustrated by the titular characters, Dive and Kick. Their angle of descent is identical, but each is a little better at their namesake than the other. Their special moves are completely different, though.
184* Parodied with Fukua from ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''. She is an AprilFoolsDay character who is a literal clone based on main character Filia, with nearly identical normal attacks for the most part, and her reveal trailer is a direct TakeThat to Decapre's trailer for ''Ultra VideoGame/StreetFighterIV''. She manages to be distinct from her predecessor with completely different special moves based on [[DevelopmentGag older variations of Filia in the alpha build of the game]].
185* In ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', Doppel Nanase is this to Rumi Nanase. Doppel is basically a copy of Rumi when she's fighting bare-handed, as they have the same normal moves, and they even both share a few combos, but aside of that, they can be easily distinguished: Rumi has a StanceSystem where she can fight whether with her wooden sword or bare-handed (at the cost of some special moves and her SuperArmor), and her moveset is distributed accordingly; Doppel fights exclusively bare-handed, and has a good variety of grapple moves and other special techniques. Such differences make this a downplayed example.
186* Both ''[[VideoGame/{{SUGURI}} Acceleration of Suguri]]'' and its sequel, ''[[VideoGame/{{SORA}} Acceleration of Suguri 2]]'', have this with Suguri and Sora, since both share similar moves, but with different properties[[note]]mostly due to their source games sharing the same gameplay mechanics[[/note]]. Suguri for instance is a JackOfAllStats armed with tools for every situation, while Sora focuses more on aggressively hounding and rushing her opponent down. In addition, Suguri has a unique Sword Wave attack that she can use at mid-range, whereas Sora doesn't.
187%%* The ''entire unlockable cast'' of ''VideoGame/{{Brawlout}}'' is this.
188[[/folder]]
189
190!!Outside of Fighting Games:
191
192[[folder:Bandai Namco]]
193* Kratos Aurion and Zelos Wilder from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' use the same weapon types, and have similar stats and identical special moves. With the exception of one single dungeon, however, only one will ever be in the party at a time.
194** Worth noting that the differences between them are more pronounced in the [=PlayStation=] 2 remake, especially in special moves. Even in the GC version, Kratos has [[spoiler:Judgement, an angel technique, that Zelos can't get (in that version, anyway).]]
195* [[TheHero Luke]] and [[SixthRanger Asch]] from ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', whose move sets [[spoiler:and physical appearances]] are identical apart from Asch having a few [[MagicKnight offensive spells]] that Luke doesn't. This is explained as being due to their having learned to fight from the same teacher. [[spoiler:Plus Luke is a clone of Asch, which helps. It's also lampshaded in one sidequest where Luke effectively gives this as a reason for them to be MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers.]]
196* Folka Albark and Fernando Albark in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact3''. Even their mechs were originally palette swaps... before they get upgraded.
197* Out of the four playable characters in ''VideoGame/PanzerBandit'', [[KidHero Kou]] and [[ActionGirl Kasumi]] have a similar set of skills and attacks, though Kasumi is slighty faster and combo-oriented. There's also [[TheRival Jin]], who fights [[MirrorBoss identical to Kou]].
198[[/folder]]
199
200[[folder:Capcom]]
201* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'':
202** Mega Man and Proto Man (justifiably given they're DLN-001 and DLN-000), with [[EvilCounterpart Bass]] as the Glacier Clone. Ironically, while Bass ''is'' statistically the stronger robot, it is his overconfidence that prevents him from defeating Mega Man.
203** Currently, post-''[[VideoGame/MegaMan8 MM8]]'' DivergentCharacterEvolution has Mega Man as the JackOfAllStats[=/=]MightyGlacier (only has a regular jump and the slide as movement options, but is tailored to fighting bosses thanks to his Mega Buster's [[ChargedAttack Charge Shot]]), Proto Man as the GlassCannon (same basic skillset as Mega Man, is stronger, faster, jumps higher, and can block shots with his shield, but has terrible defense due to his defective nuclear reactor), and Bass as the speedster (better overall mobility due to his {{double jump}} and [[VideoGameDashing dash]], can't charge his Buster, but has rapid-fire action and [[DenialOfDiagonalAttack can aim it in]] [[AvertedTrope any]] [[DenialOfDiagonalAttack of the eight directions]]).
204** Depending on the game (for example, the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series), Roll functions as Speedster Clone. Other times, Capcom has her go the [[VideoGame/MegaManX Zero]] route by making her a physically oriented fighter.
205* The ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series:
206** The best example is in [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 the first game]], where [[BlackKnight Nelo]] [[WorthyOpponent Angelo]] (aka [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy Vergil]]) fights [[MirrorBoss using the exact same style as Dante]], only while Dante is a more of a LightningBruiser, Nelo Angelo is a MightyGlacier with a {{BFS}} who uses [[FlashStep a translocation technique]] to move around the battlefield. In fact, their second duel (of three) sees Nelo throw in some hand-to-hand techniques courtesy of his gauntlets and greaves specifically to match Dante's recent obtainment of [[PowerFist If]][[ArmedLegs rit]]. Interestingly, his one long-range projectile prior to unveiling Summoned Swords in the final encounter, seen as early as your first battle with him, is a special attack Dante can later use with Ifrit.
207** Also, to a degree, Dante and Nero in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4''.
208* In the first ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' game, Matsu used Kenshin's weapons moveset. Kasuga as well for Sasuke. In later games however Matsu and Kasuga got their own unique moves, the former using a naginata while the latter used RazorWire attached to kunai. Similarly, quite a few polearm-using characters used Toshiie or Shingen's movesets before getting their own.
209* In ''[[VideoGame/StriderArcade Strider 2]]'', Strider Hiryu and Strider Hien. Both use the same techniques, but Hiryu is mostly close-and-personal, while Hien uses [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang throwing weapons]].
210* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' has many examples, especially during the first generation kickstarted with the very first game in the series. This doesn't count the cases of subspecies and variants, as they fall under PaletteSwap instead and thus are ''expected'' to share movesets with their parent species anyway.
211** In general, you can often expect to see monsters of a specific monster class share some basic attacks (Flying Wyverns have a spinning tail swipe, Ursid Fanged Beasts have a multi-hit series of punches, Brute Wyverns have a forward charge, etc.)
212** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004'':
213*** The theropod branch of Bird Wyverns, most noticeable with Velocidrome, Gendrome and Iodrome in the first generation games; and again with Great Jaggi, Great Wroggi and Great Baggi in the third generation games. They all rely on group attacks with the help of their smaller minions, though most of them also have some special attack to stand out (for example, Iodrome and Great Wroggi use poison, while Gendrome uses paralizying bites). Giadrome is added to the Drome trio in the second generation (standing out for its ice-based spits), while Great Maccao does the same in the fourth generation, and Great Izuchi joins Great Wroggi and Great Baggi in the fifth.
214*** Rathian and Rathalos. It's justified because they're the same species of monsters that differ gender-wise. Rathian is a female wyvern that inflicts poison with the tail and spends more time on land, while Rathalos is a male wyvern that inflicts poison with the legs' claws and spends more time on air. However, both share many other attacks, such as charging at the hunter, spitting fireballs and turning around constantly.
215*** Basarios and Gravios. They're part of a species as well, with both being winged monsters with rock-based skin, only in this case distinguished by age (the former is a young form and the latter is an adult form). While both monsters can expel flames from their skin and charge at the hunter, Basarios shoots {{fireballs}} from its mouth while Gravios shoots a laser-like fire beam.
216*** Monoblos and Diablos are horned, territorial monsters that inhabit deserts and attack with melee-based attacks (including a charge from underground). However, Monoblos is more calculating in its moves, often turning around as it runs before attacking; Diablos is more reckless and tends to attack the hunter directly.
217*** Yian Kut-Ku and Yian Garuga, starting from the latter's debut in ''Freedom''. Both are Bird Wyverns that attack with their beaks and shoot fireballs, though Kut-Ku has trouble putting a fight due to its inexperience while Garuga is more vicious and can also inflict poison with its tail (similar to Rathian).
218** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2Dos'':
219*** Daimyo Hermitaur and Shogun Ceanataur are large Carapaceons that serve as {{King Mook}}s to their respective minions (Hermitaur and Ceanataur) and attack almost identically with their pincers (both walk sideways and attempt to slash nearby preys or hunters, and can also use both pincers at once to perform a wider slash BearHug-style) and burrow underground to attack the hunter from below with their carapaces' horns (Daimyo's carapace is a Monoblos skull, while Shogun's is a Diablos skull). However, whereas Daimyo's special attack is spewing water at the hunter, Shogun's is climbing onto the ceiling and either shooting water from there or landing onto the hunter.
220*** Teostra and Lunastra also exhibit this, and it's once again because they're technically the same species (leonine Elder Dragons that attack with powerful fire blasts), but having opposite sexes. They're given different traits each in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld''.
221** ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterFreedom2 Monster Hunter Freedom Unite]]'': Akantor and Ukanlos, with the latter joining the former since this game. Both are exceptionally powerful Flying Wyverns whose power and size are reminiscent of Elder Dragons, and their proportions and designs are similar as well. They tend to perform large-scale attacks with their mouths and are capable of moving from one spot to another by dashing underground. However, Akantor inhabits volcanoes and its attacks are imbued with fire and dragon elements, while Ukanlos inhabits cold regions and its attacks are imbued with ice.
222** Barioth and Nargacuga are this in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPortable3rd'' and ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate]]'' (despite them debuting in ''Tri'' and ''Freedom Unite'' respectively), as both monsters make use of their bodies to perform strong melee attacks, though Barioth also has them associated with ice (on top of having a unique tornado skill). The similarities are mitigated in the later games featuring both of them.
223** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter4'': Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala. Gore is a winged, dark-skinned monster of indeterminate category that inflicts the Frenzy Virus with its melee attacks as well as with the frenzied purple projectiles it spits. Shagaru, which is classified as an Elder Dragon, can do these things as well with the difference that the melee attacks have a wider range and the projectiles can split into smaller parts (and ricochet as they do) to have a greater chance at hitting the hunter. As with Lunastra and Teostra, it's because they're technically the same species, though instead of a gender difference, they're different stages of the monster's life cycle (Gore Magala are juveniles, Shagaru Magala are adults).
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:Koei Tecmo]]
227* Ryu and Ken Hayabusa (son and father, respectively) from the ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' arcade game (or not; no one's really sure. In the arcade game, they're supposed to be nameless).
228* The ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' franchise has several examples across its different entries:
229** In the original ''Dynasty Warriors'' game, the bonus characters (Sun Shangxiang, [[UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga Nobunaga]] and [[UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi Toukichi]]) were clones of one of the player characters or bosses. Sun Shangxiang would gain her own moveset in the second game, while the others were kept out of the series for anachronistic reasons... At least until the ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' series crossed the two eras once again.
230** In ''Dynasty Warriors 2'', every new character's moveset is a clone of one of the returning characters from the first game, although in further sequels some of them borrow their movesets from different characters. Starting from the third game, many new characters have a completely original moveset (although some are cloned, like [[YamatoNadeshiko Daqiao]] being a clone of [[TomboyPrincess Xiaoqiao]] in ''3''-''5''), while other clones started to get minor DivergentCharacterEvolution.
231** ''Dynasty Warriors 6'' completely revamped the weapon system, with a dose of new [[ImprobableWeaponUser over-the-top weaponry]] that replaces many of the older characters' equipment. This also means that roughly half of the cast either becomes a blatant clone, and/or loses the DivergentCharacterEvolution that they had in earlier entries.
232** ''Dynasty Warriors 7'' once again changed the weapon system, mixing the engine from the sixth game with the slightly more plausible StockWushuWeapons from the first five games (although most weapons from ''6'' would return sooner or later, like Zhou Yu's staff), but half of the cast once again became a moveset clone. By the time of ''Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires'', though, every single character had gone through DivergentCharacterEvolution with their own original weapons, most of them suspiciously similar yet different enough to the cloned ones they had.
233** ''Dynasty Warriors 9'' once again revamped the game engine. In consequence, the number of weapons gets dialed back to 36, so every character except Lu Bu shares a weapon moveset with at least one other character. The only things differentiating the characters are their Special Attacks and Musou Attacks.
234* In ''VideoGame/WarriorsLegendsOfTroy'', there is Achilles and Patroklos on the Greek side as well as Hector and Aeneas for the Trojans.
235[[/folder]]
236
237[[folder:Konami]]
238* Bill Rizer and Lance Bean in the initial three ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' games (including the console ports of the first two). Later installments would have other clones.
239* [[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Goemon]] and Ebisumaru (indeed, in ''The Legend of the Mystical Ninja'' they were renamed "Kid Ying" and "Dr. Yang" respectively).
240* [[LadyOfWar Valeria]] and [[TheTease Anita]] in ''VideoGame/SuikodenII''. Similar fighting styles and stats, and both own a Falcon Rune. They're also rivals.
241[[/folder]]
242
243[[folder:Nintendo]]
244* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
245** Luigi has often been a clone to Mario's throughout the games, though whatever rivalry is there is questionable. In both versions of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' (the Japanese one known as ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Lost Levels]]'' outside Japan), as well as the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and all of his 3D appearances (''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld''), Luigi is slightly faster and jumps higher than Mario, but has poorer traction (these differences are also carried over to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'').
246** In some of the games, there are Koopalings who share attacks or patterns with each other. This is most noticeable with Larry and Iggy, who have had the same attacks in nearly all of their appearances, even in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'' where the other Koopalings are given unique movesets based on previous mainline games (the only difference, aside from Larry's energy projectiles being blue and Iggy's being green, is that Larry tends to move back and forth with tall jumps, while Iggy moves sideways rapidly).
247** The original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'' for SNES has no less than FOUR pairs. Mario and Luigi once again play to each other (as well as being JackOfAllStats), but Donkey Kong Jr. and Bowser (best top speed), Yoshi and The Princess (best acceleration), and Koopa and Toad (best handling) also form their own pairs. The following ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' games have continued this tradition, with ''Double Dash!!'' taking it to larger extents.
248** Daisy is also a clone of Peach in her first few appearances in spin-off games. She quickly diverged into being different, but in games like ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash'' the two play exactly the same. In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', she is the most obvious clone character in the entire series, with no gameplay quirks of her own, even in a game that promotes a diverse cast.
249* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' both have [=ReDeads=] and Gibdos, the latter of which is essentially the former wrapped up as a mummy (though it debuted as early in the series as [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the NES original]]). To a lesser extent, Lizalfos and Dinolfos share the same patterns and attacks. And for the brief time he is playable in ''Majora's Mask'', Kafei has identical animations to Link, from walking to flinching. This was done to easily incorporate his playability into the engine.
250* Every ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' game has one of these, known as the Red and Green Knights or Cain and Abel. They're both Cavaliers (or axe fighters) who's only difference is stats.
251** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'': Cain and Abel.
252** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'': Alec and Naoise.
253** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'': Orsin and Halvan (though they're not Cavaliers, but Axe Fighters).
254** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'': Lance and Alen, Wade and Lot (again, Axe Fighters).
255** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'': Kent and Sain, to a degree Dorcas and Bartre (Axe Fighters version)
256** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'': Forde and Kyle.
257** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'': Oscar and Kieran.
258** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'':
259*** Stahl and Sully (the latter being the first ever female member of the duo) fill the Cavalier role again, with the former being stronger, and the latter being faster.
260*** This is the first game in the series to apply this trope to the ''mages''. Miriel and Ricken are the pair for regular Mages (Miriel being a straight-up SquishyWizard with Ricken, [[AdorablyPrecociousChild oddly enough]] being more of a JackOfAllStats)
261*** Tharja and Henry are the Dark Mage duo (Tharja being a GlassCannon with poor accuracy, Henry leaning more towards MightyGlacier[=/=]JackOfAllStats).
262*** Sumia and Cordelia are the Pegasus Knight duo. Sumia's modifiers lean towards FragileSpeedster (with less Strength and Defense in return for more Speed), but Cordelia has more balanced modifiers all-round.
263*** This trope even extends to class sets as well rather than just stat modifiers and growth rates in starting classes. While some characters share the same class set with one differing class (e.g. Chrom's Lord v.s. Ricken's Mage, Gregor's Barbarian v.s. [[spoiler:Priam]]'s Fighter, etc.), a few others have the exact same class set with a possible differing starting class (MightyGlacier Nowi v.s. JackOfAllStats Tiki, MightyGlacier Henry v.s. FragileSpeedster [[spoiler:Gangrel]], and SquishyWizard Lissa v.s. GlassCannon [[spoiler:Emmeryn]])
264** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'':
265*** This is the first game that applies this trope to the Mercenaries, Selena and Laslow. The former possesses higher Speed, Magic (not that it will help her much being in a physical class), Defense, and Resistance; the latter has better HP, Strength, Skill, and Luck. This is also reflected in the two's "canon" advanced classes (i.e. the advanced classes that don't give the characters a generic palette). Hero takes advantage of Laslow's statistics better having higher Strength, Skill, and Luck than the Bow Knight, while Selena fits perfectly in the Bow Knight class with it's better Speed and higher Resistance (and assuming that she hits her caps in all stats she can still use Levin Swords and Shining Bows close to as efficiently as physical weapons since the 28 Strength and 25 Magic cap differences aren't that far from each other).
266*** Hoshido and Nohr each have their own mage duo: Hayato and Orochi from Hoshido, and Nyx and Odin from Nohr. Hayato's modifiers lean towards a magic-oriented JackOfAllStats, with high Speed and above average Magic and Luck, but subpar Skill, Defense, and Resistance. Orochi has subpar Luck and poor Speed and Defense, but she is in a three-way tie for the best magic with Elise and Nyx and possesses high Skill and Resistance. Nyx's modifiers are similar to Tharja's GlassCannon modifiers with poor accuracy, while Odin's are similar to Henry's JackOfAllStats, albeit a bit slower (his growths curiously lean more towards a physical fighter with only his Magic modifier not matching his growths).
267*** The Nohrian Knights, Benny and Effie. Benny's modifiers and growth rates are the typical MightyGlacier, with the lowest Speed modifier and growth rate out of all the playable characters, but the highest Defense modifier out of them as well. Despite being in a Mighty Glacier class, Effie has the modifiers of a GlassCannon, with higher Strength, but less Defense and Resistance, though the growth rates are still decent.
268*** The Hoshidan Samurai, Hana and Hinata. Hana's modifiers and growth rates are the FragileSpeedster associated with the class (high Speed, but less defenses), but Hintata's modifiers are the opposite, leaning towards Mighty Glacier.
269*** Kaze and his brother Saizo play the Cain and Abel role despite not being Cavaliers (but Ninjas instead), and they're involved in a three-way moveset clone system with Kagero. Kaze is the fastest unit bar none with high Skill and above average Resistance but has subpar Defense and poor Strength and Luck; Saizo has above average Strength and Defense ([[MagicKnight also possessing a respectable Magic growth very slightly blow his Strength]]) with one of the best Skill statistics, but his [[MightyGlacier Speed]] and Resistance are both poor; Kagero has the best Strength statistics bar none (ironic for being in one of the weakest physical classes), a high Speed growth (with a contrasting negative Speed modifier), a subpar Skill stat and growth, and the better Resistance statistics.
270*** Arthur and Charlotte, the fighters of Nohr. Arthur has above average Strength and Defense with one of the best Skill growths (tied with several others for the best Skill stat), but his Resistance is lacking and he has the absolute godforsaken Luck out of anyone in the entire game which by the way is also a rare case of something on the SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration (only a captured generic Hero has the same growth rate in Luck as him). Charlotte on the other hand is tied for the best Strength modifier with the above mentioned Kagero, Effie, and Keaton, possesses a monstrous HP growth (surpassed only be a few capturable characters), and has high speed. However, her high statistics are offset by pitiful Defense and godawful Resistance.
271* Many consider Fox [=McCloud=] and Falco Lombardi from the ''Franchise/StarFox'' games to be this (as noted in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''-related entries).
272* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has a few examples. Most are of the appearance kind. For particularly notable examples:
273** Plusle and Minun, who are basically Pichu with plus signs and minus signs respectively for their ears and tails. They also share the same type and have slightly different stats. They even act as the main partner Pokémon in one of the ''Ranger'' games!
274** Nidoking and Nidoqueen are the gender-exclusive final forms of Nidoran, sharing a Poison/Ground typing, abilities and monster-like appearance. They differ mainly in stats, where Nidoking has higher attacking stats while Nidoqueen has higher defenses. Additionally Nidoqueen and its pre-evolution Nidorina cannot produce an Egg - due to Pokemon's breeding mechanics, this means the only way to get a Nidoran egg of either gender is to breed Nidoking with Ditto.
275** Latios and Latias, among a few other opposite gender twins, have similar stats distributions (but not the same - Latias has 20 more Special Defense and 10 more Defense, while Latios has 20 more special Attack and 10 more Attack), and quite similar appearance.
276** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Pokémon Black and White Versions]]'' introduced the legendary trio: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. They all look similar, have similar stats (Tornadus and Thundurus LITERALLY have the same overall stats while Landorus has 10 extra Defense and HP with its Attack and Special Attack stats swapped), and they all are at least part Flying-type. This changed in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', with the Kami trio gaining Therian formes that alter not only their appearances (Tornadus becomes bird-like, Thundurus becomes reptile-like, and Landorus becomes feline-like), as well as their stats.
277** The elemental monkeys also play this straight in three: Pansage, Pansear and Panpour as well as Simisage, Simisear and Simipour, their respective evolutions. Among the group of three, they have the exact same stats and their only difference are their elemental type and their [[ElementalBaggage move pools]] associated with them.
278** Charizard and Typhlosion have exactly the same overall stats and both are fire type starters (of regions right next to each other and sharing a Pokémon League, no less). The only difference between the two is that Charizard is part Flying type and they can learn different moves.
279** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' introduced its box legendaries of Xerneas and Yveltal, which happen to have the ''same exact stats as one another''. However, that's their only similarity, as their typings, movesets, and abilities are quite different from one another.
280** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' gives us the box Legendaries Zacian and Zamazenta, two wolves whose stats are exactly the same as one another, whose moves upon levelling up are almost exactly the same, and whose signature moves of Behemoth Blade and Behemoth Bash are ''completely identical'' in terms of function. The differences happen to be their primary typings and when in their Crowned forms, their stats change to be quite different from one another, with Zacian gaining much higher Attack and a bit higher Speed and Zamazenta gaining much higher Defense and Special Defense and a bit lower Speed.
281* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': In ''Advance Wars Dual Strike'', Jugger and Koal are moveset clones of Flak and Adder, having the same stats and CO Abilities, though with slight differences [[note]]Jugger has slightly higher damage variance and costlier Super CO Power than Flak, and gets "smarter" when he uses his CO Power, that is the game uses a much smarter AI Script for him. Koal gets a damage bonus on roads while Adder's CO Power is cheap enough to use twice in a row.[[/note]]. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] if you pair Koal and Adder together and win a fight: all their win quotes remark on how alike they are and how good of a team they make, how good of friends they've become, and they even [[HeterosexualLifePartners end up finishing each other's sentences]].
282[[/folder]]
283
284[[folder:Sega]]
285* [[FireIceLightning Rin Rin, Fei Rin, and Ai Rin]] from ''VideoGame/AnarchyReigns'' all share the same moveset, except for their Killer Weapons. The same goes for [[spoiler:Garuda and SecretCharacter Gargoyle]].
286* [[PunnyName "Polly and Gon"]] from ''VideoGame/BakuBakuAnimal'' have the exact same moveset.
287* In ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', Jeanne has the same moves and weapons that Bayonetta does while also having some distinct differences in gameplay. For example, she can dodge infinitely (while Bayonetta has a delay after the fifth dodge) but the timing for [[BulletTime Witch Time]] is a lot tighter.
288* Gunstars Red and Blue are this in the ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' series. In the first game, their difference are merely some frames and the fact one has to stand still to shoot and the other only stops moving to shoot when hanging to something. In the sequel, however, both could move and shoot, lock aim or lock movement, but what made them different is that one had a machine gun and the other a laser gun. Well, that and some visual differences as well.
289* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' frequently has clones up the wazoo, although not always within the same games as each other.
290** On a technical level, ''everyone'' is a clone in the ''Tsu'' (normal) style, as well as other styles where there are no character differences. Even just looking at the ones with character differences, there still manages to be examples.
291** ''Yo~n'' style only has one pair of clones: Arle and [[spoiler:Doppelganger Arle]], who are both a PaletteSwap of the other. Besides voice lines, the only difference between the two are that Arle's special attack is easier to get but lasts for a shorter amount of time than her clone.
292** In styles with dropsets, or different falling character blocks, usually this is averted in a direct sense. However, there are characters who share dropsets and character powers across different games, making them clones of each other in that regard. Examples include Dapper Bones, Skeleton T and Ally, all of whom share a dropset but none of whom are playable in the same game, as well as Lidelle, Draco Centauros in ''7'' (although she would undergo DivergentCharacterEvolution in the very next game), Ess and Penglai. There are three games, however, with clones in the same game as each other: ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', its sequel, and ''Champions''. In the former, it was just Ringo and Tee for Party mode. In the sequel? Ringo and Tee return, but also, there's Lidelle and Ess, Ocean Prince, Serilly and Zed, Yu & Rei, Harpy and Jay & Elle, Ms. Accord and Ex, and Schezo and Ragnus. All of the latter characters were SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitutes in the last game except for Ragnus, who first appeared in a ''Fever''-era game with...
293** Champions, which not only had them in the same game at the same time, but also Suketoudara and Hed, who were even more identical: while Schezo and Ragnus have different attack powers and AI patterns, Suketoudara and Hed are completely alike.
294** ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2'''s skill battle is also packing some clones, in particular the four way square of Maguro, Klug, Draco and Raffina, who have different auto skills but identical active skills.
295* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
296** Tails started out as a clone of Sonic in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2''. Since then, Sega did try to slowly differentiate him, particularly by letting the player actually take advantage of his flying ability.
297** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' gives [[EvilCounterpart three sets]]: Shadow to Sonic, Eggman to Tails, and Rouge to Knuckles.
298** In ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', Team Sonic and Team Dark operate identically in Speed and Flight Formations. Knuckles and Omega, the respective Power characters for those teams, are mostly similar outside of their attack combos, whereas Team Rose and Team Chaotix have more noticeable quirks that differentiate themselves from the other teams.
299** ''VideoGame/SonicDreamTeam'' takes after ''Adventure 2'', where it gives three sets of identical controls and abilities between its six playable characters -- Amy and Sonic can use both use the Light Speed Dash, Cream and Tails can both fly, with special rings being able to restore their flight meter, and both Knuckles and Rouge and glide around and climb up walls the others can't. Moreover, each character has the ability to do a Homing Attack and Boost.
300* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' combines this trope with PaletteSwap. While most factions share the same units, especially if they are part of the same cultural group, there are some instances that go this trope in that the factions in question have nearly the exact same unit rosters barring a unique unit or two.
301** ''VideoGame/ShogunTotalWar'' and ''VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2'': ''Every'' faction in the game has the exact same roster, with the second game taking steps to rectify this by giving each faction a few unique units and EliteMook versions of existing units. It gets to the point that the second game's multiplayer allows players to mix and match unique units from different factions.
302** ''VideoGame/RomeTotalWar'': The base game has the four Roman factions (the three playable houses and the Senate), who have the exact same unit roster with the only distinction being what type of gladiator they can recruit. ''Barbarian Invasion'' has the (Visi)Goths and Ostrogoths, Sarmatians and Roxolani, and Burgundii and Lombardii who all share the same respective rosters, and the two Roman factions have separate rebel versions as well. ''Alexander'' has the Barbarian factions on the campaign who are all clones of one another and share the same roster to the point that in custom battle they are all rolled into the same faction. Meaning tribes that are culturally distinct such as the Thracians and Scythians all have the same roster.
303** ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'': The base game has Spain and Portugal, who have near-identical rosters with a few distinct units. The ''Americas'' campaign has the Aztecs, Tlaxcalans, and Tarascans, who have almost identical rosters to one another, and the non-playable versions of England and France have paralleling rosters with shared units like Pikemen, Crossbowmen, and PaletteSwap versions of Conquistadors. The ''Britannia'' campaign has Norway, who has a near-identical roster to Denmark but with extra units, and the non-playable Baron's Alliance, a rebel version of England. The ''Crusades'' campaign has the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Principality of Antioch, who while being far more distinct from one another when compared to the other examples listed here nonetheless parallel one another given their similarly structured rosters and shared emphasis on fanatical knights and supporting troops. The ''Teutonic'' campaign has Novgorod, a PaletteSwap of Russia, and Denmark is able to acquire Norway's unique units should they form the Kalmar Union.
304** ''VideoGame/EmpireTotalWar'': The Native American factions all share the exact same roster, with only a few unique units to distinguish themselves from each other.
305** ''VideoGame/TotalWarRomeII'': Athens and Syracuse have the exact same unit roster, and in custom battle are only distinguished from one another by their selections of MercenaryUnits (Athens has Rhodians, Cretans, and Thracians while Syracuse has Balearics and Italians).
306** ''VideoGame/TotalWarAttila'': The Nordic and Slavic factions all have the exact same rosters with the only distinctions among them being a unique line of units.
307** ''VideoGame/ThronesOfBritanniaATotalWarSaga'': The game's playable factions (excluding the Normans and Norse who are only playable in custom battle) are divided into five cultural groups with two playable factions each. With the exception of the Gaels (whose two playable factions have different rosters given how one is Irish and the other is Scottish), the other factions share unit rosters with only a few unique units depending on the faction (e.g., for the Welsh factions, Gwynedd has a unique line of spearmen while Strathclyde has a unique line of cavalry, but otherwise have the exact same roster).
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder:Sony]]
311* Characters in ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' are paired up by skill: Crash and Cortex ([[JackOfAllStats balanced]]), Coco and N.Gin (best acceleration), Tiny and Dingodile (best top speed) and Pura and Polar (best handling). ''VideoGame/CrashBash'' is also like this, but the pairs are: Crash and Coco, Cortex and N.Brio, Tiny and Koala Kong and Dingodile and Rilla Roo.
312* ''VideoGame/ApeEscape'' has Spike (the hero of the first game) and Jimmy (the hero of ''2''), who are actually cousins.
313* ''VideoGame/LegendOfDragoon'' does this twice. [[spoiler:Both times because of the new character replacing the old. Albert replaces Lavitz and has the exact same moves, though his timing is much faster, while Miranda replaces Shana seamlessly.]]
314[[/folder]]
315
316[[folder:Square Enix]]
317* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
318** Krile inherits Galuf's jobs and equipment in the second act of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''.
319** Cloud and Zack from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', since [[spoiler:Cloud has mannerisms, memories, and parts of his personality "borrowed" from Zack, for traumatic reasons.]] This is a key point in [[spoiler:numerous key points in the game, including his migraines, voices in his head, why Aerith is initially attracted to him, why Sephiroth can control him, etc. etc. etc.]].
320** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Squall and Seifer]], both being practitioners of ExoticWeaponSupremacy [[spoiler:(and also being raised together)]] use similar moves, although with wildly different applications. In fact, these over-similarities are what kept Seifer out of ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''.
321** Shuyin, the BigBad in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' looks very similar to the previous game's hero, Tidus, and even fights exactly like him in the final battle. The reason for this is Tidus, [[spoiler: who was made up by the Fayth]], was made to look like Shuyin, who was an actual person.
322* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
323** In ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]'', Roxas and Xion play identical to each other, with the exception of Roxas's dual-wield ability. [[spoiler:This is justified in-story, given Xion's nature as a Replica created from Sora's memories.]]
324** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', the Hunny Spout, Grand Chef, Classic Tone, and Starlight Keyblades' Formchanges are respectively cloned from the Shooting Star, Hero's Origin, Favorite Deputy, and Kingdom Key's. Crystal Snow's Blizzard Claws Formchange is also cloned from Happy Gear's Agile Claws.
325[[/folder]]
326
327[[folder:Other]]
328* ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' loves this trope to add shipgirl (and therefore characterization) diversity to the playable roster without extremely affecting actual game balance. Numerous ships within the same class are moveset clones of each other (examples: Ajax and Achilles within the ''Leander'' class, many ''Fletcher'' class destroyers of the same rarity, and Nevada and Oklahoma of the ''Nevada'' class) even though they have entirely different personalities and backstories related [[HistoricalInJoke to their real world counterparts]]. It's justified since they're supposed to be the same mass-produced ships except for a different name slapped on, but still noticeable since just as many ships are entirely unique in gameplay mechanics.
329* The Musketeer in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is a backer-made class who is functionally identical to the Arbelast, but has her own visuals and dialog. The sole mechanical difference between them is one equivalent Trinket. In the ''Butcher's Circus'' [=PvP=] mode, however, their movesets were altered to fill different niches.
330* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'' combines this with {{Expy}}. Apricot, Milfeulle's younger sister, is JackOfAllStats, just like Milfie was in the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' original trilogy, but for most of the first game, Milfie is retired from the military and is now a BarrierMaiden and DamselInDistress. [[spoiler:In the end of that game, when she's freed, she and the Moon Angels join up with the Rune Angels and you can control both at the same time.]]
331* ''VideoGame/GameMasterPlus'': The guest character, [[spoiler:Eloire, has the same skills and equipment options as Elsa's Fighter class, only all of her skills are at level four. This works in favor of non-Fighter routes, since the player can just give all the Fighter gear they accumulated to Eloire.]]
332* The VideoGame/IkariWarriors Ralf and Clark ([[DubNameChange renamed "Paul" and "Vince"]]) started out as this.
333* ''VideoGame/KnightBewitched2'': At the end of the game, [[spoiler:Hermes turns into a demon, but uses the last of his sanity to transfer his powers to Lissandra so that she can use cleric skills to help the party. As a result, she joins the the exact same stats, skills, and equipment as Hermes]].
334* Like ''Contra'' above, both Marco and Tarma of ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' started out as this, as did Eri and Fio when they made their debut in ''Metal Slug 2''. Same with Trevor and Nadia in ''4''. It wouldn't be until ''6'' when they would be given different abilities to stand out more from each other[[note]]Marco's pistol deals more damage than the other characters' guns, Tarma can give whatever Slug he can pilot more capabilities such as more health and the ability to repair them by kicking at them, Eri can carry more grenades than the others and can throw them in any direction she wants, Fio can carry more special ammo and, depending on the mode, always starts out with a Heavy Machine Gun, Ralf can do his signature Vulcan Punch and take up to two hits before dying, albeit at the cost of carrying less ammo and bombs than normal, Clark can chain his Argentine Back Breaker move on human mooks to give himself temporary invincibility, and Leona (debuting in ''XX'' as DLC) basically has a mishmash of everyone else's abilities as well as her own Moon Slasher attack[[/note]].
335* ''VideoGame/{{Soul Nomad|AndTheWorldEaters}}'' has Ido/Dio and Yodo/Odie. Storywise, Yodo and Ido. Dio also cries "Dark Plasma" when doing Thunderbuster, a copy of Ido's Dark Plasma.
336* The original two sides from ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'', Swadia and Vaegir, are such, [[http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Mount%26Blade/Swadians sharing]] [[http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Mount%26Blade/Vaegirs a troop tree]] progression. Swadian ranged units use crossbows while the Vaegir's use bows, Swadian infantry uses sword and board and heavy armor while Vaegirs use two-handed weapons and lighter armor (for quicker speed) and their cavalry shares the defense/power trade off. The stand alone expansion introduces the Sarranids [[http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Mount%26Blade:_Warband/Sarranids also]] share a troop tree, who are more focused on speed.
337* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has SpaceMarines and [[FaceHeelTurn Chaos Space Marines]]. Chaos Marines are often derisively thought of as mere "spiky marines", due to the fact that they still use largely human weapons, tactics, units, statlines, and even [=STCs=]. The trade-off is that "Loyalist" Marines get [[GeniusBruiser superior technology]] ([[AntiMagic Psychic Hoods]], {{Thunder Hammer}}s, [[FlyingCar Land Speeders]], [[ItsRainingMen Drop Pods]]...), while Chaos Marines get [[DealWithTheDevil daemonic pacts]] (Cult Marines[[note]][[MagiTek Thousand Sons]], [[AxCrazy Khorne Berserkers]], [[MightyGlacier Plague Marines]], and [[ThePowerOfRock Noise Marines]], one for each major daemonic patron[[/note]], Icons of Chaos, [[AWizardDidIt sorcerous powers]], [[EldritchAbomination Daemon allies]], [[OurMonstersAreWeird mutant specialists]]...)
338* In the ''VideoGame/GIJoe'' game, Duke, Scarlett, Snake Eyes and Roadblock all look very differently, but play exactly the same.
339* In ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', the Starfleet ''Avenger''-class and Klingon ''Mogh''-class battlecruisers have the same bridge officer layout, virtually identical stats, and very similar unique consoles that act as RecursiveAmmo weapons. Their primary difference is that the ''Mogh'' has a built-in cloaking device, whereas the ''Avenger'' has to use the cloak console add-on. {{Justified|Trope}} as the ''Avenger'' having been based off of stolen plans for Klingon battlecruisers, and the ''Mogh'' being based in turn on the ''Avenger''.
340* Azrael in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' uses the same moves as Batman, but has less gadgets and seems to be slightly faster. This is justified in-game as Azrael is said to have learned them while watching Batman throughout the years. In challenge mode, he has a different set of challenges, which are often more difficult than Batman's.
341* In ''VideoGame/YsSeven'', Sigroon and Aisha are interchangeable bow-and-arrow clones, even keeping the other's skill EXP when the other joins. When Cruxie takes over for Mustafa, she simply inherits his inventory and skills as well.
342* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'': This was done bizarrely for Zeratul, who was given a clone of Maiev's abilities from ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', excluding the Ultimate. Cleave is Fan of Knives (an AreaOfEffect around the caster), Singularity Spike is Shadow Strike (a thrown projectile that slows and deals damage), and Blink is Blink (a short teleport). He even passively enters stealth, although unlike Maiev he can remain stealthed while moving. Allegedly, Zeratul was actually supposed to ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen be]]'' Maiev, but the team wanted more ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' representation. In a strange aversion, when Maiev herself was eventually added to the game, she was given her own unique kit. She still lampshades the cloning, though.
343-->'''Maiev''' (after killing Zeratul): I know all your tricks, Zeratul!
344* In ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'', Syd and Razor both have the same special abilities: being able to get the green tentacle a record deal, as well as being able to microwave Weird Ed's hamster.
345* In ''VideoGame/Halo2'', the only differentiation between Elite gameplay and standard Spartan gameplay is the swap from flashlight to active camo (not respectively). In multiplayer, there is no difference, but the hitboxes are actually different, with the Elite model having a slightly larger hitbox (making it entirely a handicap). ''VideoGame/Halo3'' does away with both of these aspects both in co-op campaign (the only time you can play as an Elite in campaign in Halo 3, with all three additional playable co-op characters being Elites) and in multiplayer. Ironically, this creates hitbox dissonance between the Elite model and the hitbox, making Elites now slightly better in multiplayer because of some holes in their model where the hitbox isn’t located but their physical form is because it’s not mapped to their model. ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' scraps both issues by completely removing playable Elites from campaign and making them only exist in specific multiplayer modes either designed around asymmetrical combat or with only Elites, but with their own stats and hitboxes. All games after that just scrapped playable Elites entirely.
346* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'' has [[spoiler:[[BigBad Ishmelga-]][[EvilMeScaresMe Rean]]]], the evil counterpart of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Rean Schwarzer]]. All of his crafts are the same as Rean's except more menacing. He also does have some of Giliath Osborne's crafts as well, just like father and son. Even his [[LimitBreak S-Craft]] is the same as Rean's, only far more evil.
347[[/folder]]
348
349!!In other media:
350
351[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
352* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Gaara's father, the Fourth Kazekage, is shown to have the exact same combat style as his youngest son, the only difference being that he uses gold dust instead of sand. Justified, as Gaara at one point stated that his father personally tutored him in ninjutsu.
353* ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'':
354** Yoruka has the same three special techniques as Lux, having invented them independently, and even [[spoiler:has access to the same SuperMode Over Limit (but through a different mechanism)]]. Downplayed as they're not that similar otherwise; Lux's Drag-Ride makes him a flying TimeMaster while Yoruka's makes her a stealthy assassin who can [[PeoplePuppets control others]].
355** Lux turns out to be this to his EvilMentor, Fugil, who secretly guided the former into recreating his Drag-ride techniques. While Fugil has the ability to use a copy of any Drag-ride, he prefers Bahamut (the one he gifted to Lux) above all the others because it fits his personal combat style, making him fight very similarly to Lux.
356[[/folder]]
357
358[[folder:Pinball]]
359* Creator/{{Gottlieb}}'s ''Pinball/StreetFighterII'' pinball not only show both Ken and Ryu performing {{Hurricane Kick}}s, they are both represented in the game with the same target.
360[[/folder]]
361
362[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
363* Wrestling/HulkHogan and The Wrestling/UltimateWarrior -- both tall, tanned, musclebound, [[PopularityPower insanely-popular-and-powerful]] brawler/power wrestlers hailing from the southwestern United States (ok, Warrior's from PartsUnknown, but the man behind the gimmick's from Arizona) with a bodyslam-heavy arsenal and the ability to [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya hulk up]] in '80s/early-'90s Wrestling/{{WW|E}}F. Of course, the fans just ''had'' to see them battle each other at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} VI''. And considering the two involved, the resulting match was more awesome than it had any right to be.
364* Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Wrestling/{{Kane}}. They use the same moves, are {{Kayfabe}} brothers of similar size and general appearance and, at various times, have been the two top guys in the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF/E]] -- most especially when Kane first debuted.
365* [[Wrestling/MattHardy Matt]] and Wrestling/JeffHardy are another pair in Wrestling/{{WWE}}. Jeff has more daredevil high-flying moves, while Matt is the more solid wrestler, but on the whole, their styles are extremely similar, and they have an on-again, off-again case of SiblingRivalry writ-large. Jeff even uses Matt's FinishingMove, the Twist of Fate, as one of his own signature moves.
366* Wrestling/BookerT and [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]. Somewhat justified due to them being the AlternateCompanyEquivalent of each other (as in, Booker was told to wrestle more like Rock)
367* Jeff G. Bailey personally set up Jason Cross to be one against Wrestling/AJStyles in Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA Wildside. In Wrestling/RingOfHonor, AJ's former protege, Jimmy Rave, joined with Wrestling/PrinceNana against him and started using AJ's moves.
368* Wrestling/BrockLesnar and Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} -- both were [[LightningBruiser big, fast and strong]] {{Showy Invincible Hero}}es of their respective brands during the Brand Extension era. The two finally met at ''[=WrestleMania=] XX'', but unfortunately, unlike Hogan and Warrior above, the match was an EpicFail.
369* Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio Jr}} had one in Wrestling/{{Mistico}}, right down to the 619-slingshot (though Mistico followed it up with a submission hold). Much later, Wrestling/{{Sin Cara}} even had his own in [[Wrestling/{{Hunico}} Sin Cara]] [[EvilKnockoff Negro]].
370* Suicide being one to Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels led commentator Don West to accuse Daniels of trying to take two pay checks from Wrestling/{{TNA}} by wearing a mask. Thing is, Daniels ''was'' Suicide but had since passed on the mantel [[Wrestling/FrankieKazarian to someone else]] by the time everyone was accusing him of being Suicide.
371* Following an explosive confrontation on Talking Smack, Wrestling/TheMiz began to use moves from Wrestling/DanielBryan's repertoire to show his disdain for Bryan.
372[[/folder]]
373
374[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
375* ''TabletopGame/OneNightUltimateWerewolf'' has an expansion called ''One Night Ultimate Super Villains''. Many of the roles from ''Super Villains'' perform the same actions as roles from earlier games in the series:
376** Mirror Man's player looks at another player's card and [[DittoFighter performs that role's action]], similar to the Doppelganger from ''Werewolf''.
377** Temptress has her player take another player's card and replace it with a spare villain card, similar to the Alpha Wolf from ''Daybreak''.
378** Dr. Peeker is a villain who may look at another player's card, like the Mystic Wolf from ''Daybreak''.
379** Evil-O-Meter sticks out her fist and a player whose role is a super villain must tap her fist if sitting next to her. The Cow from ''Alien'' does the same.
380** The Mad Scientist [[DeathSeeker wants to get caught and only wins if that happens]], like the Tanner from ''Werewolf''. Additionally, the Intern wants to help the Mad Scientist get caught unless no one is playing the Mad Scientist, then the Intern assumes the role of the Mad Scientist, just like the Apprentice Tanner.
381* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The Samurai is an alternate version of the Cavalier, in a nod to the similarities between historical {{samurai}} and Western knights. The Samurai keeps the knightly order and banner mechanics but trades out the emphasis on {{Jousting Lance}}s for a HeroicResolve mechanic.
382[[/folder]]

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