"I'll go change... into my gi!!!"
Perhaps the most basic form of
Fighting Game character. Usually
The Mario, this fighter's two most notable special attacks are a fireball or other projectile attack, and a rising physical attack, usually an uppercut. (The standard versions of these are the
Hadoken and
Shoryuken.) Wearing a
gi or headband is optional. As you may have guessed, this character is essentially "inspired by" Ryu, the protagonist of the
Street Fighter series.
Note that having a projectile and something vaguely resembling an uppercut will get this label slapped on a character regardless of which moves are actually their most notable.
When the developers start to make them different, that's
Divergent Character Evolution.
The term
Shotoclone comes from the English localization of
Street Fighter II for the Super NES, which identified the fighting style used by
Ryu and Ken as Shotokan Karate in the instruction manual.
The martial art style used by Ryu and Ken is never actually named in the Japanese versions or in the games themselves for that matter, although it has been officially described as a "martial art with roots in the assassination arts" based on Karate. A lot of fans misinterpret the term
ansatsuken (literally "assassination fist", a martial art made for killing) as the name of their specific style, but this is actually a common term in Japanese martial art fiction (Hokuto Shinken from
Fist Of The North Star is also referred as an "ansatsuken", and distinctly non-Shotoclone Street Fighter character Gen is described as having an 'ansatsuken' art), and not necessarily the name of a specific fighting style.
The equivalent term of "Shotoclone" used by Japanese fandom is "Ryu/Ken type" or simply "Ryu type".
For characters that are clones of each other but not clones of Ryu, try
Send In The Clones.
Examples:
- The Trope Maker, of course, is the Street Fighter series itself. Ryu and Ken began purely as headswaps, and although rather more lethal, Akuma's style is not far from their own. Dan and Sean, considered joke characters, tend to at least share Ryu and Ken's standard punches and kicks; although their specials are different, they tend to fit the fireball/uppercut/special-kick roles. Sakura may or may not be a Shotoclone; her unusual permutations of the basic Shoto special moves (and some different normal moves) shift her away from the model, but how different she is varies from game to game.
- In the Alternate Continuity Street Fighter EX, there are Allen Snider and Kairi, though the former mixes in some kickboxing moves with the usual fireball and uppercut.
- Sagat shares the Shoto fireball/uppercut profile, and like the Shotos, it's frequently the bread-and-butter of his strategy. But since he debuted in Street Fighter 1 along side Ryu and Ken, He can't exactly be called a clone.
- Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has Ken the Eagle who has a projectile (that returns to him) with a dashing anti-air move. Rock Volnutt has tons of projectiles for his disposal with his Drill Arm for an anti-air.
- The King Of Fighters has several of these. Terry and Andy Bogard are perhaps the original, a carry-over from their Fatal Fury fighting styles. Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia from The Art of Fighting also qualify. Capcom created Dan Hibiki as a parody of these copies (with a bit of Yuri Sakazaki mixed in). Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi started as Shotoclones, but have since changed wildly. There are likely others; the only team never to possess Shotoclones on it would be Team Ikari Warriors, which is largely based around charge attacks.
- Lucky Glauber lacks a Dragon Punch, but otherwise fits. Especially in '98.
- Alba Meira of the Maximum Impact spinoff series has the classic Shotoclone stance, but completely different moves.
- Demitri Maximoff and Morrigan Aensland of Capcom's Darkstalkers series pull it off as well, but also remain distinctive. The fact that one is a Vampire and the other a Succubus helps a lot. Lilith (from the third game) also counts as one, but being born out of a part of Morrigan's life force, her projectile attacks aren't as powerful.
- Hanzou and Fuuma from World Heroes were complete and total Shotoclone ripoffs of Ryu And Ken, with the only noticable difference being that they were Ninja and were (loosely) on historical Japanese ninjas Hanzo Hattor and Fuma Kotaro.
- Fulgore and Jago from Killer Instinct. Black Orchid could also arguably count.
- Max from Power Quest.
- Mario, Luigi, and Dr. Mario in Super Smash Bros.
- Eiji Shinjo and Kayin Amoh from Battle Arena Toshinden are basically Ryu And Ken with swords. Kayin even incorporates more kicks in his style like Ken does in later Street Fighter games. There's also Sho Shinjo, who is basically the Akuma of the series.
- Cyclops, Psylocke, Spider Man, and Captain America in Capcom's Marvel Super Heroes fighters.
- In the Massive Multiplayer Crossover Marvel vs. Capcom games, the aforementioned Ryu, Ken, Dan, Akuma, Sakura, and Morrigan all put in appearances, as do the aforementioned Marvel heroes. And, as if this wasn't enough Shotoclones, Mega Man also becomes one.
- Batsu (and all versions thereof) and Hideo in Rival Schools. Sakura from Street Fighter also makes an appearance.
- Roy Bromwell uses a lot of Shoryuken moves.
- Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles becomes a Shotoclone in the TMNT: Tournament Fighters games. Michaelangelo would be one as well, if his uppercut attack weren't a charge move.
- Kirby's Fighter copy in some of his games.
- And Knuckle Joe, the enemy/helper/character primarily associated with that ability.
- Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske from Guilty Gear. Sol's "fireball" being a wave of flame (similar to Terry's Power Wave from the first FF). They both carry swords too, so maybe they're more "inspired" by Eiji and Kayin...
- In the Humongous Mecha fighting game One Must Fall: 2097 the Jaguar mech had a projectile and a leap attack. Though its leap attacked more forward then upward.
- The Katana may be an even better fit. It has a horizontally-spinning attack like the Hurricane Kick, an invincible Dragon Punch equivalent, and, when fully powered up, a Fireball.
- Avdol in the fighting game incarnation of Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure. Considering how absolutely crazy most of the other characters' fighting styles are, it can actually be refreshing to have someone normal.
- The Dagger fighting style in Soul Calibur 3. The Hadoken is throwing an infinite supply of bombs.
- X, in Mega Man X and X2, alternately can get the Hadoken and Shoryuken as secret moves, with the same joystick input as Ryu. He can't have them both at the same time, though, since they appear in different games.
- The Xtreme Gaiden Game series have a secret capsule allowing X to use both.
- Samurai Shodown. Haohmaru's Senpuuretsuzan and Kougetsuzan.
- God hand lets you give the main character jumping spin kicks, ballerina uppercuts and a couple projectiles. It is a Capcom game...
- Little Fighter 2 character Davis uses the Shoryuken and also has energy blasts. His uppercut is easily his most powerful and useful move. The Tatsumakisenpukakyu also makes an appearance in the game, through another character.
