A list of tropes related to Fighting Games.
Character types:
- Assist Character
- Bonus Boss
- Ceiling Smash
- Climax Boss
- Close-Range Combatant
- Fighting Clown
- Guest Fighter
- Joke Character
- Lethal Joke Character
- Long-Range Fighter
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter
- Moveset Clone
- Puppet Fighter
- Secret Character
- Shotoclone
- SNK Boss
Matches:
Moves/Mechanics:
- Cherry Tapping
- Combo Breaker
- Combos
- Comeback Mechanic
- Counter Attack
- Criss-Cross Attack
- Enhanced Punch
- EX Special Attack
- Finishing Move
- Grapple Move
- Hurricane Kick
- Kamehame Hadoken
- Knockback Evasion
- Lag Cancel
- Launcher Move
- Limit Break
- Practical Taunt
- Recovery Attack
- Shoryuken
- Some Dexterity Required
- Special Attack
- Stage Fatality
- Stance System
- Super Move Portrait Attack
- Taunt Button
- Videogame Dashing
Other tropes:
- Ambidextrous Sprite
- Ass-Kicking Pose
- Backstory: The characters usually have one, and sometimes it's the only kind of story the game has.
- Character Roster Global Warming
- Death Cry Echo
- Defeat Means Playable
- Dream Match Game
- Fake Balance
- Fixed Floor Fighting
- Free Floor Fighting
- Hitbox Dissonance
- Hit Stop: To help players confirm into combos, most 2D fighting games actually have varying amounts of hitstop in all their attacks. For most non-special attacks though, the amount is so small (measured in 60ths of a second) that they're hard to notice visually.
- Idiosyncratic Combo Levels
- Idle Animation: The fighting stances of characters often include little nuances (such as Ibuki from Street Fighter III making hand seals while standing still).
- Immune to Flinching (also called Super Armor)
- Impending Clash Shot: A common promotional or cover art shot.
- Intimidation Demonstration
- Life Meter
- Mana Meter
- Multiplayer Difficulty Spike: In general, as players research and exploit things the computer can't.
- Nintendo Hard: If the SNK Bosses don't get you, tournament-level players will.
- Not Just a Tournament
- Power Creep, Power Seep
- Ring Out
- Serious Business (both in-universe and sometimes in Real Life)
- Sword and Fist
- Tournament Arc
- Training Stage
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating
- Victory Pose
- Would Hit a Girl: Unless the playable cast is one-gendered, this is unavoidable by default.
