Shotoclone

"Just how many of you Hadoken-throwers are there, anyway?"

— Fei Long, about Gouken, Super Street Fighter IV

Perhaps the most basic form of Fighting Game character. Usually Jack of All Stats, 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 Hadouken and Shoryuken). Their third attack is either a Spin Attack or an attack that rushes forward, or both (the standard version being Hurricane Kick which can do both). 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 (a "true" Shotoclone also uses the same Quarter-Circle Forward and Dragon Punch (Forward+Down+Down-Forward) joystick motions respectively).

The term Shotoclone (or "shoto") comes from the English localization of Street Fighter II for the Super NES, which misidentified the fighting style used by Ryu and Ken as Shotokan Karate in the instruction manual. The martial art of Ryu and Ken has never been given a proper name in the Japanese versions (or in the games themselves), although the back-story in later games reveals that Gouken (Ryu and Ken's master) developed the fighting style from the original assassination art called Ansatsuken (literaly, "assassination fist"^note Hence the name of the webseries, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist) he learned with his brother Akuma from their master Goutetsu. For the record, Ryu and Ken's original moveset is largely based on Shotokan karate (no, not the special moves!), while in later games Ken's technique - notably his kicks - moved towards Kyokushin, in a textbook example of Divergent Character Evolution.

The equivalent term of "Shotoclone" used by Japanese fandom is "Ryu/Ken-type"^note リュウケンタイプ, All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Game 1987-2000, page 285 (or "Ryu-type" for simplification purposes).

Also subjective to Spell My Name with an S, since the romaji of "shoto" can also be typed/written as "shōtō" or "shoutou" (hence, "shōtōclone" or "shoutouclone") due to being modeled after the karate term that's also subjected to this^note Shotokan/Shōtōkan/Shoutoukan; lit. Pine Wave Halls, but this largely depends on the writer.

Subtrope of Fountain of Expies and Moveset Clone.

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Examples:

Fighting Games

• Akatsuki from Akatsuki Blitzkampf is a rather curious case, in that he has quite the inklings of this, but by looking closely at his movelist and specially at his three-hit Hurricane Kick, one can see that he takes more leaves from Kyo Kusanagi's book rather than the traditional Ryu/Ken emsemble. Additionally, Elektrosoldat has almost everything included in Guile's moveset. While his original, Adler can considered to be one as he's the Shoto Guile than Elektrosoldat's original Guile playstyle.
  • The new protagonist, EN-Eins from EN-Eins Perfektewelt, he plays straight as has EN Pyrokinesis (a projectile), EN Teleport Raider (a screen traveling attack) and EN Levitator (a Dragon Punch with an additional input knocking the opponent down), though in practice he's more of a rushdown, combo-oriented character than a traditional Shoto.
  • To degree; Kati can consider this as she has Roaring Karusell (a Tatsumaki) and Splendid Wirbel (Shoryuken)but it lacks fireball, due to the type of project that use her wand can be used as a whip and whacks her opponents like a baseball bat.
• Among Us Arena: Ultimate Edition
  • Orange, mint and white represent this as a whole, each of them having one of the three signature shoto style moves, with mint having the Signature projectile, white using the Shoryuken, and orange using the equivalent of the dankuukyaku.
• Art of Fighting
  • Ryo Sakazaki qualifies, as his moveset was almost directly copied off of Ryu, but with a few unique tools of his own. While he has the traditional projectile and anti-air uppercut, his Hien Shipuu Kyaku is a tad more different than a Tatsumaki. And even Ko'oh Ken varies between an actual projectile and a close-up burst attack. He's also got his classic Zanretsuken which is a powerful close range tool, giving a little spice to the archetype mold.
  • Robert's moveset changes depending on the game. In the first two parts of Art of Fighting, he was essentially the same as Ryo. While in games such as KOF 2000, they're only loosely similar, due to Robert having charge motion inputs and different moves. And in KOF 2002 and Neo Geo: Battle Colosseum, his moveset consists almost entirely of kicks, like Kim Kaphwan and King.
• Astra Superstars: Test-kun is another parody of Ryu, being a blue, hand-drawn stick figure.
• Eiji Shinjo and Kayin Amoh from Battle Arena Toshinden are Ryu and Ken with swords. Kayin even incorporates more kicks in his style like Ken does in later Street Fighter games.

• Gurianos and Diokles from Blandia. However, Gurianos originally wasn't a shotoclone when he was in Blandia's predecessor, the Taito-published 1986 Gladiator arcade.
• BlazBlue's male protagonists, Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi. Although Jin kinda subverts it by not having a rising uppercut move, though the moves he does have with the traditional input (Forward, Down, Down-Forward) functions the same anyway. Interestingly, they aren't the only pair like this as Makoto Nanaya and Tsubaki Yayoi have similar moves and functions. Both of their "Shoryukens" work in the traditional way, but their "Hadoukens" are different (Makoto needs to set hers and then launch it and Tsubaki's has a completely different input than the norm).
  • Celica A Mercury debuting in the third entry of the series Chrono Phantasma is a straight example as she was intentionally designed for newcomers. Her Type: Shooter "Breunor" and Type: Slasher "Griflet" function as her Hadouken and Shoryuken respectively and she even has a hurricane kick style rush move in the form of Lance Quiche. Her Shoryuken is different from the standard input though (236 + C like the hadouken motion rather than the traditional 623). Her fireball having an air version as well as a jumping command grab/overhead also makes her similar to Akuma's air fire ball and demon flip.
  • Also Es who debuts in Cental Fiction is a straight example. Her Arc Grillé and Hache Rotir function as her Hadouken and Shoryuken respectively and she even has a hurricane kick style rush move in the form of Type: Slasher "Mordred". Her Shoryuken, unlike Celica, has a standard 623 motion.
• Body Blows: Brothers Danny and Nik have some moves similar Ryu and Ken Masters, but they are more so modeled on the Bogard brothers and, to a lesser extent, Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia.
• In Capcom vs. games, Ryu, Ken, Dan, Akuma, Sakura, Morrigan, and Batsu all put in appearances, as do Cyclops, Spider-Man, Captain America, Ippatsuman, and the aforementioned Terry and Ryo.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom:
    • In X-Men: Children of the Atom, Cyclops fits this trope with his Optic Blast as his Kamehame Hadoken and the Gene Splice as his Shoryuken. Cyclone Kick is a reasonable Hurricane Kick, though with a bit more limit on the range, but his Limit Break mimics Ryu's later Shinnku Hadouken.
    • In Marvel Super Heroes, both Captain America and Spider-Man are this, but they replace the Hurricane Kick with their own rushing attacks - Charging Star for Cap and Web Swing for Spidey. These two follow this trope a lot more as Cap is a Jack of All Stats while Spidey is the Fragile Speedster.
    • Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes: Mega Man plays with the shotoclone archetype. The only shotoclone move that retains its original input is the Mega Upper, an obvious Shoryuken expy. His fierce punch is an automatic projectile with his Mega Buster (which can be charged), while his crouching fierce kick is his slide, which can hit enemies and dodge high attacks. His other special moves revolve around switching and using different Robot Master weapons.
    • Of the three Marvel heroes, Cyclops plays this trope the straightest with his own Hadouken (Optic Blast), Shoryuken (Gene Splice) and Hurricane Kick (Cyclops Kick), though he wouldn't gain this distinction until X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Cap and Spidey would be distinct from Cyclops as both of them don't have actual Hurricane Kicks; Cap has the rushing Charging Star while Spidey's is the swinging Web Swing. As well, Spidey's Spider Sting slaps an opponent back down to the ground while most Shoryukens keep them airborne.
• Jimmy Zappa and Saryn of Capoeira Fighter 3. Between the two of them are all of Ryu's basic moves.
• Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion features a direct equivalent to the archetype in Buttercup, who has a fireball for her neutral special, an uppercut for her up special and a series of rushing kicks for her side special.
• Ickybod Clay in ClayFighter 63 1/3 has a pumpkin throw as his Hadoken and Squirm Like a Worm as his Shoryuken. He is not a main character though, nor was there a Shotoclone in the previous Clay Fighter games.
• The Typhoon power in Copy Kitty gives Boki a basic shotoclone moveset, her default attack being a Shoryuken with a secondary Hadoken able to be performed the appropriate QCF input. The Yolomo of the Sun Fist - the enemy the Typhoon power is typically taken from - is basically Ryu as a squat, boxy robot, with all three of his trademark specials (though the kick is always performed in the air after a Shoryuken.)
• Cool from Daraku Tenshi: The Fallen Angels, has some similarities, but the move commands are quite different compared to Ryu and Ken's.
• Demitri Maximoff and Morrigan Aensland of the 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.
  • For Morrigan it's made more explicit in Super Gem Fighter where she's given Lilith's Hurricane Kick-style move as well as a super version that's a direct rip-off of Ryu's Vacuum Hurricane Kick.
• Dino Rex: Hilariously enough, the Rastan-like dinosaur trainers (which can only be played after a draw or against the final boss) have the basic Shoto repertoire, including Rhamphorhynchus projectiles. Given their lack of animations and oddly misplaced gameplay, it's safe to take it as an Affectionate Parody of Street Fighter II.
• Billy and Jimmy Lee in the Double Dragon fighting game based on the movie that was released for the Neo Geo. Their special moves consists of a Shoryuken-esque jumping hand slice (Rekkuha) and a hurricane kick (Ryubisen). However, instead of a projectile, their Hadoken-command move is a flying double punch (Soushuga) similar to Terry's Burn Knuckle from the Fatal Fury series (however, it replaced with a proper projectile during their transformed state). As if that wasn't enough, Billy's main super move is an enhanced version of the Hadoken-style move, while Jimmy's main super move is an enhanced version of the Shoryuken-style move, just like Ryu and Ken respectively.
  • However, the Ryubisen is based on the spin kicks from the original Double Dragon games, but they still don't predate Ryu and Ken's hurricane kicks.
• Son Goku from Dragon Ball is this to a lesser extent. Though, he and his Kamehameha came before the first SF game, the thirteenth DBZ movie introduced his Ryuuken/Dragon Fist. In most of the current video games, Goku has a Kamehameha as one of his basic special moves, and the Ryuuken as one of his ultimate moves. In some games, he also has a rushing or another physical attack that compensates more or less for his lack of a Hurricane Kick. In Dragon Ball Fighter Z, his Kamehameha and Rapid Kick rush even use the same button inputs as Ryu's Hadoken and Tatsumaki.
• Both Klaus Garcia and Baekun Dosa from fellow Korean fighting game Dragon Master. Surprisingly, Klaus focuses on Hurricane Kicks to the point that he completely lacks a projectile, and Baekun's Shoruyken equivalent is a flying knee that goes diagonally.
• Fatal Fury
  • Terry Bogard is only marginally a shotoclone, as his moves all function differently despite being similar to a staple shotoclone setup. For instance, while Power Wave is a standard shoto projectile, it travels on the ground so it hits low, and in some cases only goes a few inches in front of him. Crack Shoot is his momentum-based special move but it travels in an arc and even raises his height. Rising Tackle meanwhile is his anti-air but is a kick, is mostly straight than having some horizontal reach, and has multiple hits. In some cases it's even a charge move. And there's not even accounting his other moves like Burn Knuckle and Power Dunk.
  • Andy Bogard meanwhile is more straightforward, having the fireball, uppercut, and rushdown specials that all lend to a well rounded kit. Though his desperation moves are different.
• Makoto Mizoguchi in the Fighter's History series, although he didn't get the uppercut until later, but it slides first before going straight up, while Ryu and Ken's go straight diagonally upward.
  • Whereas Ryu's SFII look was originally remodeled after Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, Makoto Mizoguchi was modeled after Momotaro Tsurugi from Sakigake!! Otokojuku.
• Kazuya from Global Champion and its updated version, Dan-Ku-Ga; however, his uppercut slides first before going upward.
• Granblue Fantasy Versus has three shotos: Gran, Katalina, and Djeeta. All 3 have a fireball, standard uppercut motion and invul, and some kind of rush move (Grans' boot, Katalina's forward stab, and Djeeta's rekkas where she kind spins while swinging.
• Guilty Gear':
  • Sol Badguy plays with this trope. He as a ground-travelling fireball, jumping uppercut and advancing spinning kick. However, instead of being a Jack of All Stats, Sol is more based around rushdown and getting opponents to the wall so he can wail them in even further. This makes him easy to grasp for beginners but with a really high skill ceiling. His moveset also takes more overt inspiration from Terry Bogard's than Ryu's.
  • Ky Kiske is a more straight example: he has several fireballs (all with different strength and travel time), a jumping uppercut, two different gap closers, and a lack of specialization while lacking any major weaknesses. True to the archetype, Ky rewards players who have mastered fighting game fundamental.
• Jago from Killer Instinct has everything a shotoclone needs: a projectile (Endokuken), an anti-air uppercut (Tiger Fury) and a kick move (Windkick). The only real deviation from the formula is his Laser Blade move which is used to extend combos.
• The King of Fighters
  • While Kyo's moveset has changed across the series several times, SNK introduced the Kyo Clones in the NESTS arc that were identical to Kyo and their movesets were based from previous incarnations. KOF 2002 and KOF 2003 added another clone named Kusanagi to give players the alternative of a Classic Kyo.
  • Iori lost this status in XII and XIII due to losing his powers at the hands of Ash Crimson (who is actually a Guile/Charlie/Remy knockoff, particularly the latter) and switches to a moveset centered around his slashing hands, but he gains said pyrokinetic abilities back at the end of XIII. A Downloadable Content version of his traditional moveset is available in XIII, complementing Kyo's switch back to his '95 fighting style (conversely Kyo has a DLC variation that gives him back his '96 attacks).
  • K' and Kula are readily apparent versions of this yet also distinct. They even have the classic inputs for their corresponding versions of the fireball, jumping uppercut and flying/spinning kick. The thing that makes them unique compared to other Shotoclones is the fact that they have follow-ups for each of their moves. Bonus points for K' being the protagonist of his story-arc and Kula his rival, and extra bonus points for them to share moves and be shotoclones but ultimately not be considered clones of each other.
• Most M.U.G.E.N characters fall into this, whether it's from laziness or for the sake of familiar controls.
• Nickelodeon fighting games:
  • Super Brawl, a Flash-based game on Nickelodeon's website, is a simplified Street Fighter clone featuring a cast of Nick characters. Of all characters, SpongeBob SquarePants is the shotoclone; he has a bubble hadoken, an uppercut, and a hurricane kick. He's even dressed up like Ryu! The next game had two playable SpongeBobs, with the main one having a more comical moveset and "Classic SpongeBob" remaining a shoto.
  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, which is more inspired by Super Smash Bros., also has SpongeBob as a shoto. This time, he keeps a balance between his more comical aspects and the traditional shoto elements. He has a Bubble Gun projectile for his neutral special, two types of uppercuts (his up strong uses a karate glove, and his up special uses his Hydrodynamic Spatula), and three types of hurricane kicks (his light dash is a Spin Attack, his heavy dash is a kick, and his down special is a move that lunges forward).
• Rival Schools

• Roy Bromwell is mainly an expy of Terry Bogard, but also borrows Ken's Shoryuken, Shoryu Reppa, and performs a twin Shinryuu Ken with his tag team partner as his Team Up attack.
• Sakura from Street Fighter also makes an appearance, bringing over her classic kit that riffs heavily on Ryu's.

• The Trope Maker 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, who is considered a Joke Character, tends to at least share Ryu and Ken's basic techniques; although his specials are different, they tend to fit the fireball/uppercut/special-kick roles. Sakura may or may not be a Ryu-type; her unusual permutations of Ryu's special moves (and some different basic moves) shift her away from the model, but how different she is varies from game to game.
  • In Street Fighter EX, there are Allen Snider and Kairi, though the former mixes in some kickboxing moves and a command throw with the usual fireball and uppercut, while the latter has a Dan-style flying kick and gains a different fireball and supers in later games.
  • Sagat shares Ryu's projectile/uppercut profile with his Tiger Shot and Tiger Upper/Tiger Blow, and like Ryu, it's frequently the bread-and-butter of his strategy. However, Sagat lacks any true Hurricane Kick equivalent (his Tiger Knee/Tiger Crush is really more like a knee-based version of the Shoryuken, though it moves forward a lot more) and can fire his projectile low. Canonically the Tiger Uppercut is his answer to the Shoryuken, being the move that left him with the chest scar and he uses it to mock the Shoryuken.
  • Gouken from Street Fighter IV is a subversion. Despite being the one who trained Ryu and Ken and practicing the same martial art as them and Akuma, his actual play style is very different. His Hadoken can be fired at different angles, his "Shoryuken" input is a horizontal dashing punch that travels through projectiles, and his Hurricane Kick travels straight upward. He can only use the Shoryuken proper as a Super Combo or Ultra Combo.
  • Seth from Street Fighter IV certainly counts, having both a Quarter-Circle Forward projectile and a Dragon Punch.
  • Sean, like Gouken, is a subversion. Despite having learned his moves by mimicking Ken, and being a straight up head swap of Ryu and Ken, his only projectile is one of his Super Arts.
    • Accounting for the three games, Sean would more accurately straddle the line between Sakura (what with being to Ken what she was to Ryu) and Dan.
    • He was likely supposed to be the only Shotoclone of New Generation as Ryu was originally going to be the only returning character, but due to the roster not being filled out enough, Ken was added.
  • Oni is like Akuma only really far gone. As such he retains the standard "Shoto" moves (fireball, jumping uppercut, and spinning kick) but with some variation (his Hadokens won't travel full screen unless they are charged and his Shoryuken can become a Shin Shoryuken-like move if done up close). He also has some non-standard moves like a jumping chop or a mid-air ki burst while at the same time lacking some of Akuma's unique moves (teleport and air fireball).
  • An interesting case: prior to Street Fighter V, Cody could have been considered this, as he had a projectile, an anti-air uppercut, and a kick-based attack. However, he played nothing like the other shoto-clones of the series, so he is generally not grouped with the shotos, and as of SFV, his moveset is changed to the point that he could no longer even be mistaken as a shotoclone.
  • In Street Fighter V, the newcomer Luke, who is later made the main character of Street Fighter 6, ticks all the boxes, as he has a projectile move (Sand Blaster), a Shoryuken-style attack (Rising Rocket), and an attack that allows him to quickly shorten the distance between himmself and the opponent (Flash Knuckle).
• Super Smash Bros.:
  • Most characters in have at least the uppercut portion of this trope. In a game where the only way to lose is falling off the stage, it's important to have a move that grants extra recovery. Given this, quite a few of these characters end up loosely adhering to this trope by also having a projectile or energy move and spinning and/or rushing attacks:
  • Mario, Luigi and Dr. Mario play the role of the game's "standard" shotos; they have Super Jump Punch for the jumping uppercut, fire balls, and the Mario/Luigi/Doctor Tornado instead of hurricane kick in the spin jump. Mario himself would diverge a bit from this from Brawl onward as his spin was made a normal attack, but he still largely fulfills the other functions of the "base shoto" otherwise. Mario and Luigi mirror Ryu and Ken further in that Mario's 'Hadoken' is powered up into his Mario Finale Final Smash, and Luigi's 'Shoryuken' is powered up into the Fire Jump Punch if he connects with the beginning of the attack. When Dr. Mario returned for U/3DS, he got his own variant of Mario's Final Smash, powering up his 'Hadoken'.
  • In the fourth game, Ryu himself is Downloadable Content, and is a Mechanically Unusual Fighter that brings his native Fighting Game inputs and combos into a Platform Fighter. The Hadoken, Shoryuken, and Hurricane Kick are all there in their raw pure form. Ken is added in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with the same inputs as Ryu and the slight differences that he had in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
  • Mega Man has direct analogues to the Hadoken (Charge Shot), Shoryuken (Mega Upper), and Tatsumaki (Top Spin), but the rest of his moveset is projectile-based.
  • DLC Fighter Corrin functions as one, with a flying kick follow up on their Side B being a hurricane kick analogue, a basic projectile on neutral B and, of course, a rising anti-air mirroring the Shoryuken.
  • The Game Mod Project M turns Lucario into a straighter example, with chainable attacks and the three signature Shotoclone moves, complete with an alternate costume somewhat resembling Ryu himself.

• Shades and Aska from Raging Fighter have Hadouken-like moves, while Miyabi has a Tatsumaki Senpū Kyaku-like move.
• The Schmeiser mech (piloted by Hiro) from Schmeiser Robo only has a flying, electric uppercut move like Ryu's Shoryuken.
• Syoh and Zazi from Dead Dance; however, their uppercut moves slide first before moving straight upward.

• Raiya Mikazuchi from Tōkidenshō Angel Eyes; however, her projectile can be shot in multiple directions, while her Shoryuken-style move isn't that similar by how it flows. Instead of the pushing effect of Ryu's Shoryuken, Raiya's stays attached to her opponent before unleashing. Her desperation move also resembles Ryu's Shinku Hadouken, but only smaller while shot with one hand.
• Lau Tak, an actor from some Jackie Chan films, has a similar move set in Jackie Chan: The Kung-Fu Master, and its updated version, Jackie Chan in Fists of Fire: Jackie Chan Densetsu.
• Han Baedal and Kim Hoon from Fight Fever; however, due to Fight Fever being modeled after Fatal Fury 2/Fatal Fury Special and Art of Fighting both than Street Fighter II, they appear to also mock Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia by having flying kicks and exclusive special rapid moves (Han's is a rapid punch move like Ryo Sakazaki's, while Kim's is a rapid kick move like Robert Garcia's). And while Han Baedal is Korean, he seems more faithful to the legendary Karateka also from South Korea, Masutatsu Oyama than Ryu is. For Kim Hoon, his look and stage match Ryo Sakazaki more than Ken Masters. In fact, Fight Fever's developer Viccom was SNK's Korean distributor who exchanged ideas with SNK while KOF '94 was in development at the same time and had the Art of Fighting characters' stage take place in Mexico (Which is likely why Kim Hoon is Mexican in spite of being named Kim Hoon).
• Mortal Kombat:
  • Johnny Cage became one, starting in Mortal Kombat II where he first gained his Shadow Uppercut. Shao Kahn is also one, having the Light Spear or Explosive Ball for a projectile, the Charging Spikes for his forward rush, and the Uplifting Knee or the Upward Shoulder for an anti-air attack. In MK3 Sonya took the Shotoclone spot with her purple Energy Ring projectile and her Rising Bicycle Kick. This is one of the main instances wherein the role of a shotoclone does not apply to a series' main protagonist (Liu Kang^note While he does have a fireball and two advancing moves, he lacks an anti-air special move.) or the mascot character (Scorpion).
  • Cassie Cage, due to her having multiple gun projectiles, several advancing moves (like her command normal Shadow Kick or her optional special Shoulder Charge in Mortal Kombat 11) and an anti-air move (Glow Kick).
• Galaxy Fight: Universal Warriors
  • Rolf is a Jack of All Stats and has the same special move motions.
  • Bonus-kun from the same game and Waku Waku 7 is a flat-out parody of Ryu, being a sentient punching bag with Ryu's headband and moveset. Also, from the second game, there's Rai, who has a Shoryuken-like uppercut move, but a projectile move similar to Terry Bogard's Power Wave and Round Wave moves. And Arina.
  • The Superboss after your character's ending is someone who appears to be a very old Ryu.
• Max from Power Quest. However, it was published in Japan as Gekitō Power Modeler by Capcom.
• Jonathan Joestar in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle, to an extent. He has a spammable projectile and flaming uppercut, and can spend meter to change properties of his specials. However, his projectile operates more like a Power Wave than a Hadoken, and he lacks a hurricane kick-type move.
• Avdol in the Capcom-produced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage For The Future. Considering how absolutely crazy and unusual most of the other characters' playstyles are, it can actually be refreshing to have someone familiar.
• Tiger and Neo in Joy Mech Fight, but with rapid kicks like Chun-Li's Lightning Kick. However, Joy Mech Fight appears to be paying tribute to Capcom's Mega Man and Street Fighter franchises.
• In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Batsu refers to Ryu's fighting style as "Shimazu fighting style", and says "it seems like everyone's using it these days."
• In Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2, Hinata claims to be a student of the "Masters style of Karate", a reference to Ken Masters, which explains why some of her special moves have a flame effect to them.
• Referenced again in Project × Zone, where pairing Batsu with Ryu and Ken has Batsu remark that several friends of his took Ken's online correspondence course on Shotocon karate. Ryu then admonishes Ken for teaching school children an assassination art.
• In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters games, Leonardo becomes the Ryu-type. Michaelangelo would be one as well, if his uppercut attack weren't a charge move.
• Kirby's Fighter copy skirted the edge of this trope, but the Capcom-developed Amazing Mirror took it all the way. Return to Dream Land even features the same button input for a Hadoken.
• In the Humongous Mecha Fighting Game One Must Fall: 2097 the Jaguar mech had a projectile and a leap attack. Though its leap attack went forward more than upward, it does have some invincibility, making it arguably both the "Shoryuken" and "Hurricane Kick" combined.
  • 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.
• In a non-fighting game example, the basic melee moveset in Jak and Daxter weirdly enough checks off most of the boxes:
  • Jak's basic attacks are a punch that sends him rocketing forward a short distance, and a spin-kick, analogous to the Hurricane Kick's uses.
  • By punching from a crouch, Jak can also do a flamboyant, corkscrewing uppercut.
  • Projectile fireballs are not part of the basic moveset, but picking up yellow eco or a gun fixes that issue.
• The Dagger fighting style in Soul Calibur 3. The Hadoken is throwing an infinite supply of bombs.
• Mega Man
  • 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.
    • Mega Man X4 features Magma Dragoon, who is an Expy of Akuma and uses many of the latter's moves, actually shouting the names for the attacks. Defeating him gives Zero a Shoryuken-style move. X only shoots fireballs upwards, but if charged he does a proper Shoryuken.
    • Mega Man X8 also grants X the Shoryuken as an unlockable move.
  • The two arcade gaiden games for the original series (Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters) give Mega Man a very shoryuken-esque attack, and Bass' victory pose in the second game has him "powering up" like Akuma. (Though not the same pose, the similarity is apparent.)
  • Stretching the definition a bit, Zero is basically a shotoclone. His main attacks are short-range, and he complements them with techniques that vary from game to game — but the two you can count on are a long-range projectile (e.g., Z-Buster, slash wave) and a rising slash move that's usually on fire. His signature attack is also a blade spin while jumping, though it's a vertical spin rather than horizontal, so it's a little different than the usual Hurricane Kick. He can also be counted on to have a move involving a ground punch and energy (or rocks in one case) blasting upwards. Akuma would later have a similar move in Kongou Kokuretsuzan, though more often than not it's unusable in gameplay.
• Samurai Shodown: Haohmaru is the samurai equivalent of Ryu.
  • Charlotte has her similarities. Ironically, in II her inputs are reversed: the dragon-punch motion is for her 'Tri-slash' projectile, while a quarter-circle (albeit DB-D-DF) will bring out her 'Power Gradiation' uppercut.
• God Hand lets you give the main character jumping spin kicks, ballerina uppercuts and a couple projectiles.
• Little Fighter 2 character Davis uses the Shoryuken and also has energy blasts. His uppercut is easily his most powerful and useful move. The Tatsumaki Senpukakyu also makes an appearance in the game, through another character.
• Arm Joe features a nameless, rank-and-file Policeman as one of the playable characters, and his moves are heavily based on Ryu, Ken, and Akuma, with even a little bit of Ryo Sakazaki thrown in for good measure; he has the fireball, the rising uppercut, super versions of both, and does Akuma's signature Shun Goku Satsu. This is probably a parody; the Ryu-type in this game is a nameless policeman and not remotely the main character.
• Super Cosplay War Ultra features Rario, who is Ryu and Mario put into the Brundlefly machine.
• Sho Kamui from Breakers and its updated version, Breakers Revenge, has some moves that resemble Ryu and Ken's, as well as some by Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia's (e.g., rapid punch).
• Reiji Oyama in the Power Instinct series; Keith Wayne and his successor Chris Wayne from Groove on Fight: Power Instinct 3 follow the formula somewhat but he's a more obvious riff on Terry Bogard from the Fatal Fury series, even having Terry's long hair from Garou: Mark of the Wolves in Matrimelee.
• Gowcaizer from Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer is Jack of All Stats, while the only move he has that resembles one of Ryu and Ken's moves is his flying uppercut move, while his projectile is more like Terry Bogard's. One of his winning taunts also resembles one of Ryu and Ken's.
• Parodied in Bleach: Dark Souls with Kon, a 1-foot tall, sentient plush lion whose moves are almost exact copies of "Hadoken", "Shoryuken", and "Tatsumaki Senpyukyaku", even using most of the same commands.
  • The main character, Ichigo, is also a Ryu-type. He differs from most Ryu-types in that his projectile is a tall arc of energy that travels along the ground, and his anti-air hits on the way up and on the way down.
• The joke behind this picture of Lyoto Machida◊, being the only high-profile MMA fighter with a Shotokan karate background, much less actually using any of it in the cage.
• Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter, a Japanese-only Bishoujo Series fighting game released on the Super Famicom and later ported to the Sega Saturn, featured Marin, a sailor fuku-clad young woman who was able to execute both a Hadoken and Shoryuken-esque special move, and doubled as the Jack of All Stats for the game.
• Andy's Living Drawing Astronots in Rakugakids: fitting with the Captain Space, Defender of Earth! gimmick, the Hadoken-equivalent is a sci-fi ray gun, and the Shoryuken-equivalent involves a rocket pack.
• Suikoden II features characters equipped with runes which allow them to execute shotoclone moves, such as Zamza and his Fire Dragon Rune and Wakaba with her White Tiger Rune. Also present in Suikoden III if you equip a martial artist-type character with the Lion Rune.
• The Murasame brothers from Whispered Words are clearly modeled after Ryu, and are copypasted as if they were on an assembly line, right down to their expressions and poses.
• Heart Aino of Arcana Heart has a virtually identical moveset to roughly half of Ryu/Ken's — the non-projectile parts. The other half is on her default Arcana. Given the way Arcana work, you can add Shotoclone moves to any other character, or pair it up with Heart to get the full set.
• Marisa Kirisame's default specials in the later Touhou fighter games (Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Hisoutensoku) include a Shoryuken-style broom uppercut (done with a DP motion) and a barrage of star-shaped projectiles (quarter-circle forward motion). All characters have a QCF move, and all but one have one triggered by the shoryuken sequence; most QCF attacks are a projectile, laser or other forward-oriented attack, and the dragon punch one is most frequently an anti-air attack or forward dash. Marisa is still the most complete example, as she also has a Tatsumaki in the form of riding on her broom.
  • Marisa is also this in Touhou Gensokyo Reloaded, a M.U.G.E.N fangame that gives the Touhou characters movesets more similar to prototypical fighters like Street Fighter. Not only does she retain her Shoryuken and Tatsumaki analogues, but her QCF move has been modified to be even more like the Hadouken. The game even acknowledges this with one of her win quotes being a variation on Ryu's "You must defeat my Shoryuken to stand a chance" quote, and two palettes for her that resemble Ryu and Ken.
• Word of God states that this is Filia's intended fighting style from Skullgirls, although in practice she plays quite differently. Though her Shoryuken is identical to that of Ryu or Ken's, her "fireball" isn't even a true projectile, instead being an attack that comes up off the ground in a different areas depending on the button pressed, a la C. Viper's Seismic Hammer, and her "Hurricane Kick" is closer to Felicia's Rolling Buckler in properties. Her Moveset Clone Fukua, meanwhile, sacrifices a traditional Shoryuken, but does have a Hadoken-equivalent.
• Monks in World of Warcraft can learn the projectile (Chi Wave) and hurricane kick (Spinning Crane Kick). In addition, Pandaren characters also feature a Shoryuken-type uppercut as their "enemy interrupt move" (e.g., Monk's Spear Hand Strike) animation, giving Pandaren Monks the entire Shotoclone repertoire.
• Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force has Hound Dog, the player's main mecha, which has a cannon that shoot fireballs not unlike Ryu's Hadoken and a rising uppercut move with its blade. However, it does have a blade dash attack as well.
• Ranma from Ranma ˝ could be considered this. He is more balanced than most of his rivals, and by the end has both an uppercut (Hiryū Shōten Ha) and a projectile attack (Mōko Takabisha).
• The Umineko: When They Cry fighting game Spin-Off Umineko: Golden Fantasia:
  • Battler, being the main character, gets this moveset:
    • Blue Truth is a projectile attack similar to Ryu's Hadoken.
    • Blue Strike is an anti-air Shoryuken-style attack.
    • Sommelier Finger moves Battler forwards while attacking, similar to Tatsumaki Senpukyaku.
    • Of note is Blue Raid, which doesn't directly correspond to any Shotoclone attacks, being a Diving Kick.
  • Black Battler, the SNK Boss, has slight variations of Battler's specials:
    • Black Truth is not quite a projectile, but it creates an explosion near the opponent, fulfilling the purpose of ranged attack.
    • Black Strike is similar to Battler's Blue Strike.
    • Deathfinger is his version of Sommelier Finger, which moves much faster.
  • Beatrice also has special moves that fit the archetype:
    • Arise, Seven Stakes! is a projectile attack that travels much farther than Battler's Blue Truth.
    • Red Truth is her Shoryuken, although it's done straight up while Battler's Blue Strike is at a more diagonal angle.
    • I Am The Golden Storm! lets Beatrice attack and advance by splitting up into a cloud of golden butterflies.
    • Seal of Misfortune is a unique attack that can only be used in the air, creating a large damaging seal in front of Beatrice.
• Vivio Takamachi in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid. She has a Divine Buster as her Kamehame Hadouken, Accel Smash as her Shoryuken, and Revolver Spike as a Round House Kick. She's a Fragile Speedster rather than a Jack of All Stats, but becomes a Lightning Bruiser when she's in her Sei'ou Form. She would later become a Boxing Battler in ViVid Strike!.
  • Due to the different game mechanic of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny, Vivio's moveset works very differently than a shotoclone's. Her Divine Buster is a grab move, her Accel Smash is her high long-range move, and her Revolver Spike is her block attack.
• Pikachu from Pokkén Tournament. Ironic since he's the game's Mishima clone, whose family is known to have a different reputation.
  • Of course, for a more traditional one, there's Lucario, with Aura Sphere as the fireball, Extremespeed as the anti-air and Bone Rush as a forward-moving attack.
• Chel of Rising Thunder is a shotoclone with a focus on zoning, using a very spammable projectile fired from an Arm Cannon (with a more powerful one as a Limit Break), a choice of two different kinds of Shoryuken, and a Hurricane Kick. Vlad is similar but focused on aerial combat with a jetpack, a projectile that goes faster while in the air but can't be spammed as much as Chel's, a chargeable Shoryuken, and forward arm spin that's functionally similar to a Hurricane Kick.
• In Pocket Rumble, Tenchi is the shoto of the game. He has a standard fireball, an attack where he charges head first (w/energy antlers) towards his opponents, and two anti-air attacks. If he fills his meter up from using those specials, he can fire a powered-up fireball that hits multiple times.
• The moves are all there in the Kunio-kun series, but there wasn't any one character that had all three of them. The closest is Andy/Ryuji, who possesses a Tatsumaki and a Shoryuken. His brother Randy/Ryuichi also possesses a Tatsumaki, but his signature attack is a jumping knee strike. Saotome's Aura Punch is the series' main Hadoken-like skill. Also, none of these moves use the standard commands, instead using simplified commands like holding down punch for Aura Punch.
  • River City Ransom: Underground, however, has Glen, who is a full-on Ryu-type.

• Within the Tekken franchise, the Mishima family of characters (Kazuya, Heihachi, Tekken 3/Tag 1 Jin and his Devil variant from 5 onward) have superficial similarities to the Shotos (they tend to wear gis or pants to partially evoke Ryu and Ken, and the Thunder God Fist/Dragon Uppercut and the Hellsweep were possibly inspired by the Shoryuken and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku respectively). With fireballs being almost completely absent until more recent entries, they instead form their own eponymous archetype centered around shared tools like the Crouch Dash, Flash Punch Combo, the aforementioned Thunder God Fist and Hellsweep, and the iconic (Electric) Wind God Fist. Also unlike the Shotos, the Mishimas have a reputation for being among the most execution-demanding characters in the cast.
  • Characters like Armor King and Bob are also considered "Mishima-lites" for sharing a few of the tools, primarily the Crouch Dash but usually lacking their own "Electric" variant of their respective "Wind God Fist."
  • Tekken 7 finally puts an official Shotoclone for the Tekken franchise in the form of Eliza (she was actually introduced in Tekken Revolution, but in that game she lacked the Shoryuken to properly qualify as a Shotoclone), and Akuma from the Street Fighter series is also present as a Guest Fighter.
• World Heroes: Hanzo and Fuma were ADK's ninja equivalent of Ryu and Ken, right down to wearing their respective colors. But thanks to Divergent Character Evolution, they soon ceased being pallete swaps of each other and gained their own individualized moves and specials.
• Knuckle Heads: The American Karateka Rob Vincent has a Hadoken-style projectile (called "Blast Wave") and an attack that operates similarly to the Shoryuken ("Spiral Cutter"). His equivalent to the Tatsumaki involves him performing spinning-kneeling lariat type of attack.

Tabletop Games

• Kyoryu in Street Masters is the suggested beginner character, dressed in a karate gi, has cards depicting him doing Shoryukens and Hadoken-like chi attacks, and, oh yeah, his name combines

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