"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. Wearing a
gi or headband is optional. As you may have guessed, this character is essentially
an utter ripoff of "inspired by" built with the same tropes as 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. Funnily enough, though, the use of charge inputs instead of the usual quarter circle forward and forward->down->downforward will dispose of the label handily.
When the developers start to make them different, that's
Luigification.
The term
Shotoclone comes from English localization of
Street Fighter II for the Super NES, which identified the martial art used by
Ryu and Ken as Shotokan Karate. Ryu and Ken actually use an unnamed fighting style taught to them by Gouken. This style is incorrectly referred as
Ansatsuken by fans, which is actually a Japanese term used to denote a fighting style made for killing (like
Hokuto Shinken in
Fist Of The North Star).
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. Five of the six shotoclones; Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Dan, and Sean; are all but Palette Swaps of each other, and their stories and origins are partially connected to each other. (Dan doesn't exactly play like the others, by virtue of being a Joke Character. Sean's moves are mostly unique as well, but he's also considered a joke). Sakura meanwhile, is a little different based on her size and trying to copy Ryu's style on her own. In Street Fighter III, there would be another pair of shotoclones; and Urien & Gill.
- And in the Alternate Continuity Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, there's Allen Snider and Kairi, though the former mixes in some kickboxing moves with the usual fireball and uppercut.
- Wait what?! People think Sean is a SHOTOCLONE?!
- Haomaru and Genjuro in the Samurai Shodown series, who both manage to carry the Shotoclone theme without also being Ryu And Ken.
- There's also Rasetsumaru.
- The King Of Fighters has had several of these. Terry and Andy Bogard are perhaps the original, a carry-over from their Fatal Fury fighting styles. Ryo and Yuri Sakazaki also qualify, as they did in The Art Of Fighting. In fact, Ryo and Robert were basically copies of Ryu and Ken when the game first came out. Capcom then created Dan as a parody of the two copies. Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi started as Shotoclones, but have since evolved into their own characters. 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.
- 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 Fumma from World Heroes were complete and total Shotoclone ripoffs of Ryu And Ken, with the only noticable difference being that they were Ninja.
- 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 and Sho Shinjo from Battle Arena Toshinden are basically Shotoclones with swords. Kayin Amoh has a similar fighting style, but he incorporates kicks into more of his attacks.
- Cyclops, 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 Hideo in Rival Schools. Sakura from Street Fighter also makes an appearance.
- 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.
- Sol Badguy(Ryu) and Ky Kiske(Ken) 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...
