One of them will teach this to yet another person eventually.
"No! That's impossible! The only one who knows that technique is Goku! And Gohan. Aaaaand Master Roshi. And Krillin. And Yamcha. And me that one time I tried it just to see if I could—"
—Piccolo, Dragon Ball Z Abridged
A technique amongst members of a similar group, family, school of fighting, etc. Characters who share signature moves often have pre-established lore with each other; it could be a family member inheriting the technique from another, it could be practitioners of the same martial art learning the move, or perhaps a character is inspired seeing another performing it and decided to create their own unique version.
The Hero will often learn their Signature Move from a teacher or family member, and perhaps put their own twist on the move that expands on it or differentiates it from its predecessors.
Seeing a character using the same technique as another can be used to mark a Wham Shot and subsequent big reveal as it establishes a connection between the two.
Common amongst Moveset Clones, who often have lore ties to their character of origin. Characters who experience Divergent Character Evolution can retain similar attacks while gaining their own unique techniques, further enforcing this trope.
A Sub-Trope of Signature Move. If at least one version is better than the previous, see Superior Successor. Compare Moveset Clone.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Bleach: Ichigo's signature "Getsuga Tensho" is revealed to be inherited from his father-who likewise had a similar Zanpakuto.
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Hero Tanjiro's signature "Water Breathing Style", a style of sword-fighting that mimics the flow and adaptability of rushing water, is actually one he shares with several other demon slayers who learned it from the same master. Giyu Tomioka, one of the nine Hashira, also learned the style and is even more experienced than Tanjiro with it.
- Dragon Ball: The Kamehameha is a technique taught to students of the Turtle School, but ultimately evolved to be the Signature Attack of The Hero Son Goku. It was first invented by Goku's teacher, Master Roshi, and taught to Goku alongside his friends, Krillin and Yamcha. Goku's sons, Gohan and Goten, would later learn to use it too, as have two of Goku's nemeses Cell and Majin Buu who copied it for their own use.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Artistic Alchemy and excellent portrait drawing have been passed down the ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!!!
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Jotaro and Dio's Stands, Star Platinum and The World, are revealed to have the rare and powerful ability to freeze time. Oddly, Dio gained Stand abilities by assimilating the deceased remains of Jotaro's ancestor, Jonathan Joestar, which granted him a Stand similar to Jonathan's grandson, Joseph. The World however was gained from a Stand Arrow, meaning it's entirely Dio's own Stand, so how it's so similar to Jotaro's is unclear. Jotaro's time-stop let's him cancel out Dio's and allow the two to engage in more equal combat, after Dio spent the whole arc curb-stomping other Stand users.
- Lyrical Nanoha:
- Nanoha mentions to Shamal in the final StrikerS Sound Stage that she's planning on teaching Teana how to use her signature Starlight Breaker spell, since its Energy Absorption mechanics make it perfect for a Weak, but Skilled gunner. By the time of ViVid four years later, she's mastered it to the point that she can actually overpower Nanoha's during a team mock battle.
- Played with regarding Nanoha's other signature spell, Divine Buster. Both Subaru and Vivio have spells with the same name, though it works entirely differently (due to them both being close combat fighters using an entirely different magic system) and Subaru explicitly didn't learn how to do it from Nanoha as she's first shown casting it before Nanoha started training her.
- Thunder Rage appears to be something of a signature spell for the Testarosa family. While it's most commonly seen being used by Fate, both her mother Precia and adoptive son Erio have used it at various points.
- My Hero Academia:
- Most everyone in the Iida family share the same Engine quirk, and they're also a prestigious hero family. As a result, they also share a similar fighting style and Special Move, known as "Recipro Turbo". Tenya's older brother is even the one who explains how he can make the move stronger and faster, once he decided he was old enough to know.
- Midoriya, having inherited his quirk from his mentor All Might, emulates several moves from his predecessor. These moves are rarely used because of the heavy blowback on Midoriya's relatively weak body, but should the situation call for it he can channel attacks every bit as powerful as his idol.
- Naruto: The Rasengan has famously been Naruto's signature technique; a swirling ball of pure chakra that can land a devastating blast on whatever its aimed at. He also has other variations like "Rasenshuriken", a projectile variant, and "Big-Ball Rasengan", an even bigger and stronger ball of chakra. Unbeknownst to him at first though, this technique was actually invented by his father, Minato, who would then teach it to his master, Jiraiya, and his student/Naruto's teacher, Kakashi. Naruto's close friend, Konohamaru, later copied it after seeing it used multiple times, and then years later he'd teach it to Naruto's son, Boruto, who would iterate on it by turning the base Rasengan into an improvised projectile.
- One Piece:
- Most of the members of CP9 have their own unique variants of the Rokushiki techniques when the martial art first appears. Some of these have since been re-used by other world government agents, such as Who's Who using Lucci's Shigan Madara.
- In the Paramount War arc, a major Wham Shot occurs when Blackbeard uses Whitebeard's signature earthquake-causing punch, revealing he has somehow stolen the latter's powers.
- Portgas D. Ace's Signature Move, the "Fire Fist", is later used by his sworn brother Sabo, after the latter inherits Ace's flame powers post-mortem.
- Yamato is capable of using a version of his father Kaido's Thunder Bagua/Eight Trigrams technique. However, Yamato needs to use both hands rather than Kaido's one, leading to his version being mockingly dubbed "Thunder BADua" or "Four Trigrams" by Ulti, who insists she wasn't hurt even though she's coughing blood.
- In Slayers, Prince Philionel and his daughter, Amelia, share the unarmed combat signature move "Pacifist Crush." Black Sheep Naga, however, never went in for judo and thus doesn't use it.
Live-Action TV
- Ultra Series: Every Ultra in the franchise can perform the Ultra Beam by putting their arms in a cross formation. However, they can use it as base for creating variations, but ultimately the cross armed beam is the signature attack for the entire race in all universes. It was originally called the Spacium Beam when the first Ultraman aired, but eventually got renamed Ultra Beam once other series had different Ultras having their own names for the same beam attack. Additionally, Ultraseven reveals through a mindscope of the titular Ultra that the formula for element that allows Ultras to use the beams is "M2SH3GWAB1".
Pro Wrestling
- The Undertaker used the Tombstone Piledriver for most of his career.note When his "brother" Kane joined WWE he also used the Tombstone as his finishing maneuver, as well as miming the chokeslam as a setup or alternate finisher.
- Triple H has long used the Pedigree (a jumping double underhook facebuster) as his finisher. It tends to get used by his various loved ones and family members; Chyna, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Haitch's former student Seth Rollins all used it when allied with him.
- Tommy Dreamer and Raven, two rivals who faced each other for other 20 years, both used the DDT as a finisher.
- The Sharpshooter is considered the signature move of the Hart family with it being uses by Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and Natalya Neidhart.
Video Games
- Art of Fighting: As SNK's resident Shotoclones, practitioners of Kyokugenryu Karate, including most of the Sakazaki family and their fellow disciples, all share similar techniques and have a consistent selection of key special moves. These include "Ko-Ou Ken", "Kohou", "Hien Shippu Kyaku", and "Zanretsuken". Practitioners all have their own twists and names for these various moves. Comparing Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia for example, Ryo performs the traditional Zanretsuken with punches, while Robert has his own variant, "Gen-ei Kyaku", that utilizes kicks.
- Devil May Cry: One of Dante's most recognizable techniques is "Stinger", in which he unleashes a powerful sword thrust on an enemy while lunging forward. Other characters in the series who can use Stinger include Dante's father Sparda, his brother Vergil, and his devil-hunting partner Trish.
- In Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance, both Killia and Zeroken are practitioners of the Ultimate Demon Technique. They share some special skills, but they both perform it a bit differently. Killia's Exploding Tiger hits three spaces forward and deals Ice damage, while Zeroken's hits from the front and its sides and deals Wind damage. Their Hellfire Shot works almost exactly the same, but Killia launches a bunch of fireballs using his fists while Zeroken does it with kicks. Finally, Killia can use Avidya Holy Water by himself as a single-target move, while Zeroken can only use it as a Combination Attack with Killia and it hits multiple enemies.
- Elden Ring: Godfrey shares a similar move to his descendants, Godefroy and Godrick, in the form of winding up a massive, earth-shattering overhead slam with his axe (and in his second phase, just doing a massive Shockwave Stomp) which requires lifting up one leg in the air, sumo-style. Notably, both he and his descendants share this move with the Fire Giant, last of a race Godfrey and his armies drove to near extinction.
- In Final Fantasy XIV, the great wyrms of Hydaelyn share the attack "Akh Morn", dragonspeak for "Fated Death". It's an extremely powerful Spam Attack that causes a Pillar of Light to erupt from the point of impact as the wyrm tried to wipe the target off the face of the star. The only way to survive it is to use a Nigh-Invulnerability skill as a tank or have the entire party take the attack together while trying to heal away the damage faster than the boss can dish it out.
- While Ike is Fire Emblem's most well known Aether user, the technique is also learned by Chrom and Lucina. This is shown prominently in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where Chrom, despite being a Moveset Clone of Roy, can also perform Ike's Aether.
- Garou: Mark of the Wolves: Rock Howard is the son of Fatal Fury's Big Bad, Geese Howard, who was then adopted by The Hero Terry Bogard. He thus incorporates many of the two's Signature Attacks into his own repertoire. From Geese he can perform the "Reppuken"/"Double Reppuken", "Rashomon", "Deadly Rave", and "Raging Storm". From Terry he learned how to perform "Rising Tackle", "Crack Shoot", and variations of "Burn Knuckle" and "Power Dunk" called "Hard Edge" and "Rage Run - Type Dunk" respectively.
- Guilty Gear: Sin Kiske, son of the series deuteragonist Ky Kiske, can perform his father's signature move "Ride the Lightning", enveloping himself in electricity and rushing down his opponent. Sin adds his own flair by being able to strike thrice and in a different direction for each one.
- The King of Fighters:
- Kyo Kusanagi uses his family's ancient martial art that utilizes pyrokinesis. Iori Yagami, who comes from a branch of the Kusanagi clan, possess similar abilities but using the corrupted purple flames of Orochi. Kyo and Iori shared many similar abilities in KOF '95 including Yami Barai and Oniyaki. Starting with KOF '96 though, Kyo's moveset was reworked to replace many of his old tools, and the two are now much more unique fighters.
- Ralf and Clark, the co-leads of Ikari Warriors, could both originally perform "Super Argentine Backbreaker" and "Vulcan Punch". Though overtime it's Vulcan Punch that's become more associated with Ralf, while Clark gets the Backbreaker.
- League of Legends: Brothers Yasuo and Yone were both trained in the powerful "Wind Technique", allowing them to harness the power of the winds through sword fighting. This is reflected in-game by the two sharing similar Q abilities, "Steel Tempest" and "Mortal Steel". The move involves a single powerful sword thrust, but when landed twice, the brothers can each perform an empowered version that knocks their opponents skyward. Yasuo fires off a long-ranged projectile in the form of a tornado, and Yone dashes forward with a powerful cross slash that knocks up enemies right in front of him.
- Mega Man:
- All of the playable characters have a variant of the Power Copying pioneered by the original Mega Man. Many have their own spin on it and copy other aspects than a weapon.
- In Mega Man X all the way to Mega Man ZX, whenever someone acquires a variation of Zero's Laser Blade, they get access to his Signature Move the double buster then slash combo. This has the unusual distinction of being the only way for the player to have access to it, as playable Zero cannot use it.
- Overwatch has the two Shimada heroes, both of them sharing in the ability to summon the magic of dragons carried on from their bloodlines. Both of them have ultimate abilities using this magic, but with vastly different implementation: Hanzo's "Dragonstrike" has him fire an arrow summoning a duo of giant spirit dragons that are unstoppable and will rip apart anyone in their path, while Genji's "Dragonblade" has him infuse the dragon spirit into his katana, making it strong enough to slice through enemies in one or two hits. During the cinematic short "Dragons", Hanzo attempts to fire a Dragonstrike at Genji, but since he has control over the same force, Genji's able to use his Dragonblade to harmlessly deflect it away (something which is doable in-game, though some details are fudged aroundnote ). Seeing Genji do this makes Hanzo realize that he's been fighting his long-lost brother the whole time.
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Many characters including Sonic are able to use the Spin Attack and its various derivatives; the character curling up into a ball for a mobile offensive maneuver. Tails and Knuckles were the first two to share this move starting in the 2D games, then after them came characters like Mighty, Vector, Shadow, Amy, Cream, Blaze, and many others.
- Street Fighter:
- Practitioners of Ansatsuken ("Assassination Fist") and its derivative styles all share variations of the three same special moves: the Hadoken, the Shoryuken, and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Compare Ryu and Akuma for example; Ryu's Hadoken set the precedent for other characters' usage, being a simple fireball that travels straight forward at varying speeds and powers. He can also power it up to stronger variants like Shinku Hadoken ("True Void Surge Fist"), Shakunetsu Hadoken ("Scorching Surge Fist"), and Denjin Hadoken ("Electric Blade Surge Fist"). Akuma can perform Shakunetsu Hadoken as well as his own version called "Gohadoken" ("Great Surge Fist") which imbues it with dark power. He can also perform one-handed Gohadoken in the air, something other characters including Ryu haven't mastered, which shows just how proficient he's become with the technique.
- Guile learned his iconic Sonic Boom projectile from his good friend, Charlie Nash. To show his superior proficiency, Charlie can perform the technique one-handed as opposed to Guile's two. The two of them also have their unique variations of the attack; Charlie can perform a double Sonic Boom by burning his super meter, and his super move in V has him strike an opponent with a melee variant that slices them down the middle. Guile can power up his Sonic Boom into "Sonic Hurricane", a powerful super move, or perform "Sonic Blade" where he creates a vertical Sonic Boom that can combine with the base projectile.
- Users of the Satsui No Hado, including Akuma, Evil Ryu, and Kage, have access to similar abilities. There's "Ashura Senku" which is a short-ranged teleport that lets the user phase through enemy attacks, lending to aggressive close-range combatants like the aforementioned. But more iconic than that is the "Raging Demon" technique, a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that strikes at an opponents soul. It's so fast and so brutal that the screen is completely blacked out most of the time, and is a perfect showcase for how far an Ansatsuken user can fall to darkness.
- Street Fighter 6 shows that Chun-Li trained her adoptive daughter Li-Fen her signature techniques. While lacking in power next to Chun-Li, she has enough grasp of the skills to be a fighter herself and helps the avatar in the Mad Gear questline.
- Super Smash Bros.:
- The Smash games are chalk full of Moveset Clones who've all gone through significant Divergent Character Evolution and have found their own unique styles while retaining moves with their base characters. Characters from the same franchise will also share similar attacks to each other.
- Mario and Luigi began as clones in 64 before gradually becoming their own unique fighters overtime. But they still retain many superficially identical moves like their classic fireball (based on the fire-flower powerup from their series of origin), Super Jump Punch, and Mario/Luigi Tornado. The attributes of these moves though differ greatly and lend to different playstyle archetypes, Mario being a Jack of All Trades and Luigi being a combo-centric Fighting Clown.
- The three Star Fox fighters all share similar special moves, consisting of a Ray Gun, Dash Attack, directional up-special, and Attack Reflector. Falco was originally Fox's clone in Melee but was significantly changed in Brawl to become a more unique fighter. Brawl also introduced Wolf who has little in common with the previous two in terms of playstyle, but still has functionally similar specials.
- Tekken:
- The Mishima family all share similar, iconic techniques with each other, including "Flash Punch Combo", "Wind God Fist", and "Dragon Uppercut". Kazuya and his father Heihachi in particular were Moveset Clones in their debut before gradually differentiating across the series. Then Tekken 3 introduced Kazuya's son, Jin, who later distanced himself from the family and recreated his fighting style, but with some Variant Power Copying to retain functions of the first. Though his Superpowered Evil Side, Devil Jin, retains his original Mishima style.
- While Jin has stopped using any of the Mishima family's moves, Devil Jin shares his "Devil Beam" with his father Kazuya. His unwillingness to use the Devil Gene's abilities contrasts Kazuya who milks the abilities for as much power possible.
- Heihachi's pet bear, Kuma, can perform some of his master's techniques like the leaping "Hell Axle", "Stone Head" throw, and "Demon Uppercut". Panda retains these moves as Kuma's Moveset Clone.
- Roger the kangaroo and his Moveset Clone Alex the velociraptor were both taught many of King and Armor King's signature moves by Armor King, including the Flying Cross-chop, the Frankensteiner, the Tombstone Piledriver, and the Giant Swing. Roger later taught his son, Roger Jr, these moves, though Roger Jr added a few variations to some of them.
- Undertale:
- Toriel and Asgore can both summon fire from their hands that attacks the player from above. Makes sense given that they were once a couple.
- Brothers Sans and Papyrus can both summon columns of bones to attack their opponents. But in particular they can perform the "Fabled Blue Attack". This inflicts a status effect on their opponent that limits their mobility, making them more susceptible to consecutive attacks. In his boss fight, Sans uses this ability to more relentless extremes, bombarding the player character with onslaughts of attacks including the aforementioned bone attacks and his "Gaster Blasters", though updated text has since heavily implied that Papyrus can also summon those, but elects not to.
Western Animation
- Steven Universe: Amethyst and Jasper both have the ability to roll up into a spiky ball and charge at opponents ala Sonic the Hedgehog. This is justified by the two of them both being quartz gems, who on Homeworld are made to be frontline soldiers. Jasper's roll is significantly stronger due to her being immensely strong for the average quartz, considered the perfect solider on Homeworld.
