[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MvC1_4083.JPG]]
[-[[caption-width-right:340: They surely want to beat the crap out of the other.]]-]

-->''"I wanna take you for a ride..."''

The ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' games are a series of [[LicensedGame licensed]] {{Fighting Game}}s made by Creator/{{Capcom}}, using the Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} license. Encapsulating a total of eight games, it is by far the largest ''VideoGame/CapcomVs'' series and the longest-running of them all (so much so that beyond ''Marvel Super Heroes'', Capcom themselves refer to the series as "The vs. Series").

The games of the series are the following:
[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes''
* ''VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3: Fate of Two Worlds''
** ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite''
[[/index]]

Capcom also produced a couple of side-scrolling action games for the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem around the same time. Namely ''VideoGame/XMenMutantApocalypse'' in 1994 and ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesWarOfTheGems'' in 1996. Prior to those games, Capcom released the BeatEmUp ''VideoGame/{{The Punisher|Capcom}}''.

The series made its comic book debut in the 2014 ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' crossover, where it was given the Marvel Multiverse designation Earth-30847.

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!!Tropes associated with series include:
%%If the trope you're going to add is a subjective one (check the header, if you have doubts) then it goes in the YMMV tab.

* AdaptationalDyeJob: The first and second games have some peculiar choices for some character's color schemes.
** Venom is portrayed as having a primarily light-blue color scheme as his default skin.
** Spider-Man's default color scheme is portrayed as orange and blue, rather than red and blue. He does have a more typical red and blue color scheme as an alternative skin.
** War Machine has some cyan in his default skin, as opposed to a light gray in usual portrayals of this armor. Granted, he is also a PaletteSwap and a stand-in for Iron Man.
* AdaptationalBadass: Many characters in the games are far more powerful than in their original comics or games.
* AllThereInTheManual: ''Marvel vs. Capcom 1''-''3'' ''do'' share continuity, but you wouldn't know it from playing them. In summary, a rift opens between the Marvel and Capcom worlds after Professor Xavier becomes ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}. The heroes eventually return to their respective worlds, but are periodically called upon again to fight bigger threats.
* AlternateSelf: This happens with ComicBook/NickFury. In ''[[VideoGame/ThePunisherCapcom The Punisher]]'', Nick appears based on [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Earth-616]], but his cameo in ''Videogame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' series (in endings of ''Fate of Two Worlds'' and ''Ultimate'') refers to [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Earth-1610]] and [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Earth-199999]].
* AlternateUniverse: Marvel acknowledged the continuity of these crossovers (alongside ''X-Men: Children of the Atom'' and ''Marvel Super Heroes'') enough to assign them to their own official Marvel universe. Originally this reality was labeled "Earth-96169", but this was only found in the Marvel Wiki and since no proof of being official was ever provided, the wiki eventually removed and replaced it with an unofficial "Temporary Reality Number" ([=TRN177=]). This was changed, however, when Marvel finally provided the official designation of this universe ([[http://marvel.wikia.com/Earth-30847 Earth-30847]]) in "Spider-Verse #2", alongside [[spoiler:the death of this universe's Spider-Man... until it was retconned in ''Infinite'']].
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Apocalypse in ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter'' and ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'', Onslaught in the first ''Marvel vs. Capcom'', two of Abyss's forms in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' (first and third), and taken up to eleven in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' with ComicBook/{{Galactus}} as the end boss.
* AuthorAppeal: Shuma-Gorath to this day is an ''extremely'' obscure villain who's barely appeared in over 50 issues since debuting 1974, and his nemesis ComicBook/DoctorStrange didn't appear in the series until ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' in ''2011''. Yet, he's been part of the series since 1997, tangling with the others since ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter''. The reason? The dev team were doing research on characters, happened by Shuma-Gorath, and decided they [[RuleOfCool liked his design so much]] that they ''just had'' to include him.
* BlockingStopsAllDamage: Iceman takes no blocking damage from many attacks in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2''.
* TheBusCameBack:
** Colossus, Iceman, Silver Samurai, and Spiral all return in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' after last being seen in ''[[VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom Children of the Atom]]''.
** Psylocke returns in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' after last being in ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes''.
** Cammy, Juggernaut, and Rogue return to ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' after last being in ''VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter''.
** Charlie Nash, Cyclops, Dhalsim, Ken, Bison, Blackheart, Dan, Omega Red, and Sakura return from ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter'' to ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' after missing out on ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes Marvel vs. Capcom 1]]''.
** Thanos and Venom return from ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' in ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite Infinite]]'' after their absence in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: This happens to the Hulk: from ''Marvel Super Heroes'' to ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', he's under his "merged Hulk" persona (Hulk with Banner's mind), but from ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' onwards, he's portrayed as his more iconic "savage Hulk" persona, complete with HulkSpeak.
* CompositeCharacter: Quite a few, all for the RuleOfCool.
** [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]]: The demon slayer is clearly his teenaged self from ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening DMC3]]'', with powers and abilities only from that adventure, but he seems to know Trish and his foe Mundus quite well, characters that only his a-decade-older self from ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 DMC1]]'' should've known.
** ComicBook/{{Magneto}}: Capcom pretty much gathered every single power (except PsychicPowers) Magneto has ever had since his debut, so yeah, in the hands of [[DependingOnTheWriter some writers]] the Master of Magnetism indeed ''was'' capable of creating [[BarrierWarrior Force Fields]] that were not limited to deflecting just metal; attacking with [[KamehameHadoken Beams]] and [[KiManipulation Energy Blasts]] that were said to be just a [[RePower Second Mutation]] of his already powerful control over magnetism. Simply put, Magneto isn't shown to have all these powers in the [[AlternateContinuity same continuity]].
** VideoGame/MegaManClassic: The classic Blue Bomber has his set of copied powers from other Robot Masters (namely the Leaf Shield from ''2'' and Tornado Hold from ''8''), as well as the Mega Ball from ''8'' and the [[{{Shoryuken}} Mega Upper]] (seen in ''Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters''). Interestingly, he also uses the Rush Drill, a form of Rush [[WhatCouldHaveBeen that was intended to have been included]] in ''Mega Man 3''.
** [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu]]: Basically, Ryu was all of his incarnations into one up to ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2''; placing in order, Ryu's appearance is that of his young self from VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha: white bandana, but his mannerisms (from his quotes) are that his older self from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' and beyond, where he should have Ken's red hair ribbon as a bandana to simbolize Ryu's maturity and confidence in his strength while he was troubled with it for his struggle with the [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Satsui no Hadou]] in ''Alpha'' (he wears it in the first ''[=MvC=]'', even though the animations are still the same as before), and he seems to know Sean from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' quite well to offer training sessions in his ending for ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes'', a character that Ryu will only meet half-a-decade later. ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' came and returned Ryu's red bandana (''[=MvC2=]'' snapped back to his ''Alpha'' incarnation) and portrayed him as the full-fledged 30-something everyone came to know him as (his ''[=MvC3=]'' model derives from the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' one), pretty much fixing all the issues since those were the only notable changes in Ryu's character during his journey.
** ComicBook/SheHulk: Her costume and assertive personality is that of when Jennifer became an established character, but she seems to have some of her early LeaningOnTheFourthWall characteristics, from the time she didn't have a main uniform and was more irresponsible than playful. She even lampshades this when beating Deadpool:
---> "You know, if this game was made in 1991[[note]]This was the year when Deadpool was created, and his current persona was established ''way'' later; plus, Jen's solo title at the time, ''The Sensational She-Hulk'', was rife with fourth-wall breaking and comedy, traits that are more associated with Wade today[[/note]], I'd be the one whacking YOU with a health bar."
** [[VideoGame/MegaManX Zero]]: While Creator/{{Capcom}} characters keep their power set mostly reserved from that ''one'' game they appear in, Zero's abilities are all over the place; it is a mix of pretty much ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' to ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' (i.e. at least one special technique from ''every'' main game he's been playable in). X in ''Infinite'' follows suit with attacks lifted from ''X'' to ''X4''.
* {{Combos}}: The ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' series is famous for its insanely combo-friendly mechanics. ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' only allows you to pull off 2-4 hit combos, but ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' allows you upwards of 15 hits!
* CoolVersusAwesome: The whole reason this series exists.
* CrossoverAlternateUniverse: Takes place in a separate Marvel universe called Earth-30847.
* DemotedToExtra:
** The Servbots went from playable {{Joke Character}}s in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', to being Tron's helpers in ''Namco x Capcom'', and are subsequently reduced to background cameos in ''Tatsunoko vs. Capcom''.
** [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Anita]] was a secret character in ''Marvel Super Heroes'', then she was demoted to helper in ''Marvel vs. Capcom''.
** Hayato was demoted from playable status in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' to a prominent cameo in ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'''s ending in ''[[VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]]''.
*** Including Hayato, 15 other characters were also playable in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', but they only appear as cameos on the ShoutOut poster in the "Days of Future Past" stage from ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3''[[note]]They are Cyclops, Colossus, Captain Commando, Marrow, Ruby Heart, Iceman, Jin Saotome, Gambit, Psylocke, Cable, Mega Man, Rogue, [=SonSon=], B.B. Hood, and Amingo[[/note]].
* DynamicEntry: Most of the tag-ins.
* GuestFighter: [[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma]] in ''X-Men: Children of the Atom'' and [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Anita]] (semi-unofficially) in ''Marvel Super Heroes'', which laid the foundation for the full crossover games that followed.
%%* IdiosyncraticComboLevels
* ImmuneToFlinching: Larger characters like Juggernaut or Sentinel have various amounts of Super Armor -- there is also "Hyper Armor" status which temporarily renders a character completely immune to flinching and knockback. Boss characters (like Galactus) have this as their default state.
* JigglePhysics and MostCommonSuperpower: Most of the Marvel ladies fall under these tropes, as do a sizable number of the Capcom females.
* LargeHam: The [[LargeHamAnnouncer announcer]].
--> '''''HYPER COMBO FINIIIIIIISH!!'''''
* {{Leitmotif}}: Save for ''2'', all games have featured this for every playable character. Out of all of them, Captain America and Spider-Man hold the distinction of having the same theme for every game they have been playable in, as well as Sentinel, Gambit, Blackheart, and Shuma-Gorath. The trends have varied in each game:
** In ''Children of the Atom'' and ''Marvel Super Heroes'', character themes played on their home stages, much like ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII''. Notably, the four characters from the former game who returned in the latter - Wolverine, Psylocke, Juggernaut and Magneto - did not retain their older themes.
** Come ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter'', the X-Men side received new themes whereas the Street Fighters had theirs recycled from ''Street Fighter II'' (same as ''Street Fighter Alpha''). The exceptions to this were the Alpha-era newcomer Charlie and Cammy, a veteran from ''II'' who received a new theme meant to represent her Shadaloo-era portrayal and carried over to the ''Alpha'' games.
** ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'' saw all the Street Fighters get new themes. The Marvel cast was split: Spider-Man, Captain America, Shuma-Gorath and Blackheart gained new rearrangements for their ''Marvel Super Heroes'' themes, and similar treatment came for Omega Red, who returned from ''Children of the Atom''. Wolverine, Cyclops, the Hulk and Apocalypse obtained new ones instead.
** In the first ''Marvel vs. Capcom'', new original compositions were given to a large chunk of the Capcom side sans the ''Street Fighter'' representatives and Strider Hiryu, who recycled music from their source games. Ryu in particular did not get his usual theme, but instead got the opening to ''Street Fighter II'' itself. On the Marvel side, Spider-Man, Captain America and Gambit got new remixes. War Machine's theme is a heavily remixed version of Iron Man's stage from ''Marvel Super Heroes'', and the same is true of the Hulk. Wolverine and Venom got original compositions.
** When character themes returned to ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', the Capcom characters all got remixes of specific themes associated to them from their source games. Marvel veterans got remixes of the theme used in their last playable appearance, while those newcomers received original ones. Iron Man was a unique case wherein his theme was a remix of War Machine's, bringing their cases full-circle.
** In an inversion, all of the Marvel representatives in ''Infinite'' got new orchestral compositions from a Marvel-approved sound team, with Captain America and Spider-Man's classic themes relegated to the credits. Capcom's sound team provided their own specific techno-inspired remixes for their characters.
* NonDubbedGrunts: For the original 2D era games, sound clips are often reused from older games.
* OrbitingParticleShield: Doctor Doom has a SpecialAttack called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1E_KPqekvE#t=29s Molecular Shield]], in which he levitates rocks and causes them to surround him as a defensive barrier, before [[SpamAttack flinging them]] at his opponent.
* PhotoprotoneutronTorpedo: Iron Man's [[MemeticMutation PROTON CANNON]].
* PowerCreepPowerSeep: Among other examples, how the (mostly) BadassNormal characters from the ''Street Fighter''-verse can last more than five seconds against powerhouses like Magneto. It is particularly shown for the ''Street Fighter'' characters as their [[SuperSpecialMove Hyper Combos]] are generally Supers they could always perform, albeit with a much more powerful look (e.g. Ryu's ''Shinku Hadouken'' is a single strong energy ball in his home series, but here, it's a continuous beam that covers the entire length of the screen not unlike a WaveMotionGun).
** You can take this deeper. By ''Ultimate 3'' you've got guys like Frank West, Mike Haggar, Phoenix Wright, or Chris Redfield throwing down with cosmic entities like Dormammu, Shuma Gorath, or ''Galactus'' and, should the player be proficient enough, can solo these transdimensional beings.
* PutOnABus: Abyss, Amingo, Anakaris, Baby Bonnie Hood, Blackheart, Cable, Cammy, Captain Commando, Charlie Nash, Colossus, Cyclops, Dan, Dhalsim, Gambit, Guile, Hayato, Iceman, Jin, Juggernaut, Ken, Marrow, Bison, the original Mega Man, Omega Red, Psylocke, Rogue, Roll, Ruby Heart, Sabretooth, Sakura, Silver Samurai, Son Son, Spiral, War Machine, and Zangief haven’t been seen since ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2''.
** Especially worse for Abyss, Amingo, Ruby, and Son Son as that game was [[OneShotCharacter their only appearance]] outside of a few cameos.
* SequentialBoss:
** Final boss Onslaught of the first game is just plain insane.\\
The first form is as tall as the screen, will teleport away whenever you try to hit him (especially if you try using a super-combo), and all his attacks are as powerful as super-combos. If you manage to beat the first form, he becomes even bigger, with his body floating at the background. You can't hit the body, you must aim for the small head, which usually requires super-jumps. Also, your health was not replenished after the first form.
** The sequel game had the demon Abyss, who had three forms to defeat, each with different attack styles and weaknesses.
* {{Shotoclone}}: Besides the traditional representatives from Capcom's end (Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Dan, Sakura and Morrigan), the Marvel side boasted Captain America, Cyclops and Spider-Man.
* ShoutOut: Check [[ShoutOut/CapcomVs the page]].
* SituationalDamageAttack:
** Magneto's Magnetic Shockwave, Venom's Death Bite, Hulk's Hyper Gamma Wave, and Thor's Mighty Thunder deal more damage depending on far away from the wall the opponent is and how close you are to said opponent.
** Captain Commando's Captain Sword does more damage depending on how high and how close the opponent is.
** Most [[LimitBreak Hyper Combos]] in general let you strengthen some by ButtonMashing; the more it is mashed, the more hits and damage it does.
** [[TurnsRed X-Factor]] in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' has shades of this; it can be triggered anytime, but depending on how many of your teammates you've lost as well as the amount of health left, the effects and duration of the mode will be increased dramatically.
** Haggar's Wild Swing attack is an aerial grab where he throws the opponent to the ground; the higher in the air he was, the bigger damage it deals. His Giant Haggar Press can also do additional damage if the opponent was in midair and close to your position, depending on their altitude.
** Amaterasu's Glaive Chop attack has her descending forward with her blade while delivering multiple hits; depending on her initial altitude, this can either do little or big damage. Same thing happens with Dante's Sky Dance.
** Firebrand's Bon Voyage attack has him grabbing the enemy and dragging it along the ground until he hits a wall; depending on the distance of the wall, it can do little or big damage.
** MODOK's Hyper Psionic Blaster's damage depends on how many "levels of understanding" (via successful Analyze Cube attacks) he has stacked; it can do from minor damage to massive damage, even rivaling some Lv 3 Hypers.
** Nova's Gravimetric Pulse and Gravimetric Blaster will deal more damage depending on [[CastFromHitPoints the amount of the red health he has left.]]
** Akuma's Messatsu Gohado/Tenma Gou Zankou Agyo is a rapid-fire spread of fireballs that deals more damage and hits the closer the enemy is to him. The Ungyo variation is a regular BeamOWar reminiscent of its portrayal from earlier games.
* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: You've got more or less "[[BadassNormal regular]]" fighters such as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Ryu]], mixing it up with planet-busting immortals like Hulk... or even universe-ravaging entities like [[EldritchAbomination Shuma-Gorath]], who literally makes Doctor Doom seem like less than an insect in comparison. However, he even gives demons chills, and will gladly roast billions alive just to get some snack food, [[RuleOfCool so who cares]]?
* SuperSpecialMove:
** Most of Captain America's Hyper Moves are variations of his standard attacks. His [[DashAttack Charging Star]] special, where he rushes forward with his shield, becomes "Hyper Charging Star", a powerful, multi-hitting rushdown tool. And [[{{Shoryuken}} "Stars & Stripes"]], his standard uppercut, becomes ([[ThemeNaming you guessed it]]) Hyper Stars & Stripes, dealing multiple uppercuts and ending with a powerful multi-hit.
** Doctor Doom's Photon Shot has a Hyper counterpart called "Photon Array". Not only does it have more range and damage, but also hits off the ground and can be mashed for more hits.
** Wolverine's "Berserker Barrage X" is longer and more damaging, ending with a knockdown that makes for a good combo ender.
** The ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' characters have Hyper Combos, which are generally Super Moves they can already perform, albeit with a much more powerful look (e.g. Ryu's ''Shinku Hadouken'' is a single strong energy ball in his home series, but here, it's a continuous beam that covers the entire length of the screen not unlike a WaveMotionGun).
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill:
--> '''''"HYPER COMBO FINISH!"'''''
* TrainingStage: In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', the Danger Room from ''ComicBook/XMen'' serves this purpose, as it did in the original comics. And before them, the Danger Room was already a normal stage in ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom''.
* TwoGirlsToATeam:
** ''Marvel Super Heroes'' had Psylocke and the hidden character Anita playable.
** ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter'' has two women on each side. Rogue and Storm (''X-Men'' side) and Cammy and Chun-Li (''Street Fighter'' side).
** ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'' had Chun-Li and Sakura playable.
** ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' had Chun-Li and Morrigan playable.
** The ''Mega Man'' characters count as well with Mega Man, X, and Zero being the male characters while Roll and Tron Bonne are the two females.
* WolverinePublicity:
** Wolverine is the only character to have appeared in every single game, all the way from ''X-Men: Children of the Atom'' to ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3''. ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in ''3'' upon beating him.
*** In ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', he gets two different versions (Adamantium and Bone claws).
*** ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' has only one Wolverine, but it also includes ComicBook/{{X 23}}, although her playstyle and moveset (by virtue of being a KickChick) are quite different.
*** ''Infinite'', however, broke the streak, as Marvel's decision to keep the Marvel characters for whom Fox owned the movie rights (at the time) out of the game means no Wolverine in the game.
** Aside from him, Ryu and Chun-Li are the only Street Fighters to be featured in all the games of the series, excluding the Marvel-only fighters.
** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Spider-Man, and Hulk appeared in all the non-''X-Men'' games.
*** Magneto (only absent in ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'') and Shuma-Gorath (only absent in ''Marvel vs. Capcom'') are next to them.
** Morrigan appeared in all the games, aside from the Marvel-only games and the ''Street Fighter'' crossovers.
** In the same vein as Morrigan, Strider Hiryu only missed the original ''[=MvC3=]''.
** Another example is Akuma, who has the distinction of being the first Capcom character to appear in the series, as he was a SecretCharacter in ''X-Men: Children of the Atom''. He was also a SecretCharacter in ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter'' and ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'', appeared somewhat in ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' as a moveset for Ryu, and was a regular in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'', returning to his unlockable status in ''3''.
** And Zangief, who appeared in every Street Fighter/Capcom crossover with Marvel, except in ''3'', where he's replaced by Haggar.
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