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"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 Hado(u)ken and Shoryuken). Their third attack is either a Spin Attack or an attack that rushes forward, or both (the standard version being a 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 backstory 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 ) 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  (or "Ryu-type" for simplification purposes).

Also subjective to Inconsistent Spelling, 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 thisnote , but this largely depends on the writer.

Subtrope of Fountain of Expies and Moveset Clone.


Examples:

    Fighting Games 
  • Advanced V.G.:
    • In the original game, Yuka Takeuchi and Chiho Masuda had the same basic moveset, with Yuka being the more balanced one. However, the sequel introduced Tamao Mitsurugi (essentially TGL's rendition of Sakura), making her the series' new secondary Shoto character. So Chiho's old moveset was scrapped in favor of making her more like a traditional ninja.
    • Averted by Satomi Yajima, who plays more like gender-flipped version of Kyo Kusanagi instead.
  • Akatsuki Blitzkampf:
    • Akatsuki is a rather curious case, in that he has quite the inklings of this, but by looking closely at his movelist and especially 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. (Granted, Kyo was a traditional example of this archetype at first, but then received a nearly complete overhaul of his moveset in KOF '96, becoming more of a rushdown-oriented character with a string of chainable special moves.) 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.
    • EN-Eins, the protagonist of the sequel EN-Eins Perfektewelt, plays this straight as he has EN Pyrokinesis (a projectile), EN Teleport Raider (a screen traveling attack), and EN Levitator (a Dragon Punch with an additional input that knocks the opponent down), though in practice he's more of a rushdown, combo-oriented character than a traditional Shoto.
    • To degree, Kati can be considered this as she has Roaring Karusell (a Tatsumaki) and Splendid Wirbel (Shoryuken). However, she lacks a fireball, with the closest thing she has to one being to extend to her wand and, depending on the input, reel in her opponent and whack them like she's swinging 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 a Hurricane Kick (though it's closer to Dan's Dankukyaku than the actual Tatsumaki Senpukyaku).
  • Art of Fighting:
    • Ryo Sakazaki qualifies, as his design, moveset and even name were 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 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 NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, 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.
  • Asuka 120% has the titular Asuka, who possesses a fireball and a rising anti-air punch, but lacks a traditional rushdown technique. Torami, meanwhile, is an actual Shotokan Karate practitioner and even wears a gi (not unlike Ryu or SNK's Ryo), but, despite possessing some of the usual specials like a fireball and rising uppercut, plays somewhat differently from the traditional archetype. The closest fit is Shinobu, who uses the same standard Shoto playstyle and specials (fireball, hurricane kick and rising uppercut), and even looks like a Palette Swap of Street Fighter's Sakura Kasugano.
  • 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. There's also Sho Shinjo, who is the Akuma of the series.
  • 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:
    • Present with the 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 "Hadokens" 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 Chronophantasma (the third entry of the series), 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 Hadoken motion rather than the traditional 623). Additionally, her fireball has an aerial version and Celica possess a jumping command grab/overhead in the vein of Akuma's Zanku Hadoken and Demon Flip.
    • Es, who debuted in Cental Fiction, is a straight example. Her Arc Grillé and Hache Rotir function as her Hadoken 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 the Capcom vs. games, Capcom's own Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Dan, Sakura, Morrigan, and Batsu (mentioned elsewhere on this page) all put in appearances, as do Marvel's Cyclops, Spider-Man, and Captain America, Tatsunoko's Ippatsuman, and SNK's Terry and Ryo.
    • Marvel vs. Capcom:
      • In X-Men: Children of the Atom, Cyclops plays this trope the straightest with his own Hadoken (Optic Blast), Shoryuken (Gene Splice), and Hurricane Kick (Cyclops Kick), though he wouldn't fully gain this distinction until X-Men vs. Street Fighter. And while Cyclone Kick is a reasonable Hurricane Kick, it is a bit more limited in terms of range. One of his Limit Breaks (Mega Optic Blast) mimics Ryu's Shinku Hadoken, particularly the Kamehame Hadoken version seen in the Vs. series, though he has another variant (Super Optic Blast) that is narrower and able to have its trajectory altered mid-attack.
      • In Marvel Super Heroes, both Captain America and Spider-Man are this (the former a Jack of All Stats, the latter a Fragile Speedster), but also more distinct than Cyclops as they replace the Hurricane Kick with their own rushing attacks — Charging Star for Cap (a charging tackle) and Web Swing (Exactly What It Says on the Tin) for Spidey. Additionally, Spidey's Spider Sting slaps an opponent back down to the ground with an additional input while most Shoryukens keep them airborne, a distinction that wouldn't be seen in later, non-crossover Capcom fighters until Sean's Dragon Smash in Street Fighter III: New Generation and Second Impact.
      • 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.
  • 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.
  • Darkstalkers:
    • Demitri Maximoff and Morrigan Aensland 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 (Parasite Roll) as well as a super version that's a direct rip-off of Ryu's Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku.
  • 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" (however, it's 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. (It should be noted that while the Ryubisen is based on the spin kicks from the original Double Dragon games, neither move predates Ryu and Ken's Tatsumaki.)
  • Son Goku is this to a lesser extent in various Dragon Ball fighting games. Though he and his Kamehameha came before the first SF game, the thirteenth DBZ movie introduced his Ryuuken/Dragon Fist. In most of the more recent video games (particularly starting from the Budokai), Goku has a Kamehameha as one of his basic special moves, and the Dragon Fist 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 have the same functionality and button inputs as Ryu's Hadoken and Tatsumaki.
  • Both Klaus Garcia and Baekun Dosa from Korean fighting game Dragon Master. Surprisingly, Klaus focuses on Hurricane Kicks to the point that he completely lacks a projectile, and Baekun's Shoryuken 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 as opposed to having some horizontal reach, and hits multiple times. In some cases, it's even a charge move, and at least one game (Wild Ambition) has the move start with a sliding kick before the main attack. And there's not even accounting his other moves like Burn Knuckle (a rushing forward punch), Power Dunk (a basketball-inspired move consisting of a flying shoulder tackle into an overhead punch on the way down), Round Wave (a larger, stronger Power Wave that sacrifices range for size), and so on.
    • Andy Bogard, meanwhile, is more straightforward, having the fireball, uppercut, and rushdown specials that all lend to a well-rounded kit. His Desperation Moves are different, however.
  • Makoto Mizoguchi in the Fighter's History series, although he didn't get the uppercut until later, and it has the quirk of sliding first before going straight up, while Ryu and Ken's go straight diagonally upward. Additionally, whereas Ryu's look in Street Fighter II was originally modeled on 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 three have a fireball, standard uppercut motion and invulnerability, and some kind of rush move (Grans' boot, Katalina's forward stab, and Djeeta's rekkas where she 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 fundamentals.
  • 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.
  • In addition to other examples brought over from pre-existing SNK series (such as Terry and Ryo), The King of Fighters has its fair share of Original Generation Shotos.
    • Kyo Kusanagi, the protagonist of the Orochi Saga, began life as one, albeit with quirks. Notably, his Yami Barai is a fireball that travels across the ground and his Oboro Guruma, which appears to be his Hurricane Kick equivalent, functions more as an anti-air. Then, due to a defeat suffered between the events of KOF '95 and '96, Kyo completely revamped his fighting style, losing his projectile in favor of close-ranged special moves that could be chained together in various sequences. Ironically enough, his Oboro Guruma was replaced with the R.E.D. Kick, a leaping overhead kick somewhat closer in functionality to the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. While Kyo would undergo several more (but less significant) moveset changes over timenote , SNK would find ways to include his classic moves in later games (such as EX Kyo in '97 and '98 or Kyo Kusanagi Classic in Maximum Impact 2), even bringing in actual clones and doppelgangers of his in later arcs (Kyo-1 in '99, Kusanagi in 2002 and 2003) to emulate his original style and give players the alternative of a Classic Kyo.
    • Kyo's father Saisyu, playable in The King of Fighters '95, '98, and '94 Re-Bout, also counts, having access to most of Kyo's original moves (most notably the Yami Barai and Oniyaki) along with a few others his son (normally) doesn't, such as the Nataguruma (a shoulder tackle followed by a leaping overhead kick). Justified in that the Kusanagi style of martial arts is a hereditary one, with Saisyu being the clan's current head.
    • Iori Yagami, Kyo's rival, plays similarly to Kyo, particularly with his own Yami Barai and Oniyaki. However, while Kyo began as an all-arounder, Iori was a rushdown character from the beginning, employing the use of a three-hit Rekka (Aoibana), lunging command grab (Kototsuki In), and command grab that forcibly switches sides with the target while momentarily stunning them (Kuzukaze) in his very first appearance. He then lost this status in XII and XIII due to losing his powers at the hands of Ash Crimson, switching to a moveset centered around his slashing hands, but gained said pyrokinetic abilities back at the end of XIII. A Downloadable Content version of his traditional moveset was made 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), while XIV would see Iori incorporate aspects of his flameless moveset back into his main style.
    • 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. And if that wasn't enough, they have Kyo's DNA and are considered "clones" of him, yet are very dissimilar from him in terms of playstyle.
  • 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.
  • 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:
    • Batsu Ichimonji (and all versions thereof), Hinata Wakaba, and Hideo Shimazu all count, employing the standard "projectile-rising uppercut-forward advancing attack" kit, though with some variation. And since Rival Schools takes place in the same setting as Street Fighter, this often gets lampshaded, either in-game or in crossovers.
      • Despite his status as the intro character, Batsu changes it up a little bit more compared to the other shotos; his projectile (Guts Bullet) is a ball of thunder that lacks the full-screen range of most traditional fireballs, his regular Dragon Punch (Guts Upper) is an anti-air flaming uppercut that doesn't require him to leave the ground (Burning Batsu's Burning Elbow is a jumping elbow strike followed by a flaming punch), and his Tatsu (Crescent Moon Kick) is a crescent kick that travels in an arc. He also possesses the Shooting Star Kick, a Diving Kick more analogous with Akuma's Tenma Kujinkyaku though much quicker.
      • Hinata shares some traits with Sakura and Dan, though without the latter's drawbacks. Her projectile is a short-ranged burst of ki (something Sakura would be shown using in Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Ultra Street Fighter IV's OMEGA Mode), and Project Justice even sees her throwing it one-handed like Dan does his Gadoken. Her Sunrise Punch mimics the Shoryuken and Sakura's Shouoken, but can begin with a sidestep feint depending on the button combination. Fiery Dance Kick is a series of spinning kicks that cover ground, with one version being an exact duplicate of Sakura's Shunpukyaku. And, in line with the general wackiness of the setting, she has an air projectile a la Akuma... but uses her shoes as the projectile.
      • According to supplemental materials and official character bios, Hinata actually learned how to fight from online correspondence courses taught by none other than Ken himself. In Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2, Hinata directly claims to be a student of the "Masters style of Karate", a reference to Ken, which explains why some of her special moves have a flame effect to them (though this was apparently something Hinata picked up on her own rather than through Ken's teachings). This is 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.
      • Hideo's Shimazu Style has his own versions of the Hadoken (Seihaken), Shoryuken (Jicchokken), and Tatsumaki (Shin'en Kyaku), with most of the same strengths and drawbacks, though his Shin'en Kyaku spins slower and the number of kicks/rotations is dependent on button strength. He also has an aerial Seihaken that can fire twice not unlike Shin Akuma and additionally possess an anti-air projectile (Taikuu Seihaken) — something that wouldn't be seen in Street Fighter proper until Gouken's debut in Street Fighter IV. (Sakura had access to diagonal Hadokens in her Marvel vs. Capcom appearances as well as Rival Schools, but couldn't use them in a mainline game until SFIV and SFV.) 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."
    • Roy Bromwell is mainly an expy of Terry Bogard, but also borrows Ken's Shoryuken, Shoryu Reppa, and performs a twin Shinryuken with his tag team partner as his Team Up Attack.
    • Sakura from Street Fighter also makes an appearance in the first game as a Guest Fighter, bringing over her classic kit that riffs heavily on Ryu's.
  • The Trope Maker is the Street Fighter itself.
    • Ryu and Ken began purely as headswaps and introduced all the staple moves and attributes of the archetype. As the series continued, more and more fighters were introduced who iterate on the template. Akuma's style is not far from Ryu and Ken's but with more of Glass Cannon angle, having way more options and aggression than the norm while being frailer to compensate. Dan, who is considered a Joke Character, has similar basic techniques but that are all laughably inept in execution. 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 is also 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 Uppercut, 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. His playstyle as a result is more of a bully/long-ranged fighter who limits the opponent's options.
    • 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 playstyle 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 plays with the trope, having both a Quarter-Circle-Forward projectile and a Dragon Punch, but an unconventional kick special.
    • 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, and his well-roundedness is questionable due to the weaker properties of his tools.
    • 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 borderline-Super 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).
    • In Street Fighter V, newcomer Luke, who later became 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 close distance (Flash Knuckle).
    • Sheng Long, Ryu and Ken's supposed master, made his first canonical appearance in Street Fighter 6 as the most difficult opponent in World Tour Mode; unsurprisingly, he uses Ryu's moveset.
  • 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 3DS/Wii U, 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 was 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 Hick analogue, a basic projectile as their neutral B special 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 rather 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 few instances wherein the role of a shotoclone does not apply to a series' main protagonist (Liu Kangnote ) 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).
    • Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 1 finally conforms to the archetype with the addition of his anti-air Dragon's Breath special move, complementing his fireballs and Dancing Dragon (a reworked Bicycle Kick). His flying kick is also reworked with Dragon's Tail being another fireball which transitions into the kick on hit or block unless the enhanced version is used.
  • 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 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 Soulcalibur III. 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, possessing a projectile and rising uppercut that use the same inputs as the Hadouken and Shoryuken. The key difference is that these moves are done with a katana instead of hands, while the classic Tatsumaki Senpukakyu input causes him to attack his opponent with a sake jug rather than a flying kick.
    • 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.
  • Likewise, Kaede from The Last Blade is his game's Ryu equivalent, possessing sword-based variants of the Hadouken and Dragon Punch, as well as a dash attack. The major difference is that he can also enter a Super Mode that changes his hair color to blond and gives him access to powered-up moves.
  • God Hand lets you give the main character jumping spin kicks, ballerina uppercuts and a couple of projectiles. Notably, the Laughing Dragon Uppercut is a Shoryuken that is a fixed part of his move set rather than being part of the pool of customizable attacks.
  • 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 a spike attack that spawns on the ground at different distances depending on the button pressed; and her "Hurricane Kick" is a Rolling Attack. Her Moveset Clone Fukua, meanwhile, sacrifices a traditional Shoryuken, but does have a Hadoken-equivalent. Later Downloadable Content addition Annie of the Stars is a straighter example, with all three requisite moves, though her Hurricane Kick is more of a dashing punch and she has a second, stationary Hurricane Kick.
  • 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 ½ 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!.
  • 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.
  • 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.

    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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