Clone

Ryu and Ken.

In fighting games, a clone describes two characters with near exact movesets and special attacks. From the developer's perspective, a given character's model can be used as a base template from which to build another, and it is usually evident which one is the original and which is the clone.

Overview

In their infancy, fighting games often focused on a single playable character fighting against a variety of computer opponents rather than other players. Games that offered competitive multiplayer did so by pitting two identical fighters against one another, such as Street Fighter letting players fight with Ryu and Ken. Street Fighter II's expanded roster gave players the option to choose from eight characters, however Ryu and Ken remained identical as a result of World Warrior not having alternate colors to differentiate two players picking the same character. Once the option for mirror matches was added in Championship Edition, Ken saw many alterations, such as trading a slower Hadoken for a stronger Shoryuken, giving way to the concept of clones as they are known today, variants with similar movesets to a base character but with alterations to offer a unique playstyle. The prominence of both clones and the Shotokan style associated with not only Ryu and Ken, but a variety of other fighting game protagonists and rivals led to the term "shotoclone", referring to both the derivative character and the further derivatives from them.

The direct clone character has mostly fallen out of common usage and replaced with characters fitting archetypes general to various fighting games rather than being directly based on another character in the roster. Even characters considered clones often have entirely different animations and properties on their attacks, such as Kage and Ryu

Street Fighter

Clone

• Ryu and Ken: Exact movesets and character model, the only difference is a color swap. Ryu was the base character for Player 1 and Ken was for Player 2.

Street Fighter II series

Clone

• Ryu, Ken and Akuma: Extremely similar movesets, though exactly how different differs from which version. In the original, both were practically indistinguishable, but over the many updated releases, Ken has gained a more powerful, wider arcing and multi-hitting Shoryuken and a multi-hitting Hurricane Kick that does not knockdown, while Ryu has a faster and more powerful Hadoken, a single hit Shoryuken and Hurricane Kick. In applicable versions, their Super Combos were different from each other. Akuma, introduced in later iterations as a 'master' clone, is a fusion of the two. Akuma lacks a Super Combo in his first appearance, but gains the Shun Goku Satsu in the later versions, Turbo Revival and Turbo HD Remix and more recently, Ultra Street Fighter II.

Semi Clone

• Sagat to Ryu and Ken: Shares the same projectile and uppercut based game. Differentiates himself by being able to launch his projectile high or low, lacks the Hurricane Kick but has the Tiger Knee that functions as a horizontal Shoryuken, and different normals.

Street Fighter: The Movie

Clone

• Ryu, Ken and Akuma: as usual.
• Khyber to Dhalsim: Very similar moveset, he might have been intended as a replacement for Dhalsim, who was not featured in the game.

Semi Clone

• Sawada is similar to Fei-Long in appearance, but completely different in terms of moveset.
• F7 has all of Blade's, Arkane's and Khyber's moves, essentially making him a mash-up of all three troopers.

Street Fighter Alpha series

Clone

• Ryu, Evil Ryu, Ken, Akuma and Shin Akuma: Extremely similar movesets, with minor differences. Ken retains the flaming Shoryuken, Ryu has one hitting, Akuma (and his Shin counterpart) can hit a few times with no flaming effects. Evil Ryu has Akuma's Shoryuken in Alpha 2, but Ryu's single hitting version in Alpha 3. Ryu's Hadoken's are faster, Ken's are weaker, Akuma's are somewhere in the middle, though he can launch them in the air. His Shin variant can launch two of the aforementioned aerial Hadokens. Akuma and Ryu have a different version of the Red or Shakunetsu Hadoken which Ken lacks. Ken's Hurricane Kick is multi-hitting, Ryu's hits once, Akuma and Evil Ryu's can hit thrice if placed correctly. Similar normals, different command moves. Akuma also has a flip kick, the Hyakkishu, with further cancelable inputs and is able to teleport, a trait he shares with Evil Ryu. All have Super Combos with some overlap.
• Guile & Charlie: Charlie was introduced in Street Fighter Alpha, and is essentially a clone of Guile. Charlie initially was based on Guile. However due to their storyline, Charlie is portrayed as being more efficient than Guile in their similar techniques.
• Cammy, Juni and Juli: Result of the same genetic enhancing experiments, similar normals, specials and supers. Though there are some differences in their movesets.

Semi Clone

• Sakura to Ryu, and Ken: The female "shoto". Her specials function differently but are clearly copied from moves used by Ryu and Ken, According to the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, her attacks are changed for her due to size, emulation, and personality.
• Dan to Ryu, Ken and Akuma: Dan was designed to be a weaker, joke version of the others with ineffective special and super moves, the joke being reinforced by him having several taunts in later games

Street Fighter EX series

Clone

• Ryu, Ken, Akuma and Evil Ryu: Same as before, though the shoto characters are now given a different Tatsumaki. Ken still maintains the original version of the Tatsumaki in EX2 and EX3.
• Allen and Kairi to the Shotoclones: Allen is similar to other shoto characters, except that some of his moves are different and he lacks a Tatsumaki-type special move. Kairi, on the other hand, was a straight Shoto in the first Street Fighter EX, though in later games he was developed to make him more unique, such as his QCF + P move no longer being a Hadoken but a stationary energy ball, among other things.
• C. Jack to Balrog: C. Jack's main moves are very similar to Balrog's, though unlike him he can also kick and use a baseball bat, plus he has other different moves.
• Hokuto and Bloody Hokuto: The latter has some different moves, but this is natural as she is an "alternative" version of Hokuto.
• Bison II and Shin-Bison to M. Bison: More powerful versions of him.

Semi Clone

• Blair and Pullum to Cammy: Similar fighting style and the latter uses a move similar to the Spiral Arrow.
• Darun to Zangief: Same as above.
• Shadowgeist to Skullomania: Similar outfit and premise, but different moves.
• Cycloid Beta and Cycloid Gamma have moves from other characters.
• Ace's moveset can be customized by the player using other character's moves.

Street Fighter III series

Clone

• Ryu, Ken and Akuma: As in Street Fighter II, although Ryu does gain the High-Blade Leg Kick as an extra special.
• Urien and Gill: Urien plays as a toned down, tournament legal version of the boss character Gill. Urien is slightly slower, weaker and his specials are charge moves compared to the quarter and half circle moves of his brother.
• Yun and Yang: Initially designed as variants of one another, but were later differentiated with new attacks.

Semi Clone

• Sean to Ryu, Ken and Akuma: Sean lacks a projectile attack as a special, has an exclusive takedown
  move, and does a different version of the Dragon Punch. Sean can also be seen as the "joke" character of Street Fighter III, similar to Dan's status in the Alpha and IV series; however, his ineffectiveness as a playable character is tied more to his story (specifically his lack of experience) as opposed to being just ineffective or an actual joke character.

Street Fighter IV series

Clone

• Ryu, Evil Ryu, Akuma, Oni and Ken: The standard deviations between Ryu, Ken and Akuma noted before still exist. Evil Ryu plays more like Akuma than Ryu compared to his previous appearances and has one extra move, the Dragon Claw Kick. Oni functions as a slower, more brute power-based version of Akuma with a dashing slash, overhead smash and air dash while losing the Hyakkishu and the ability to teleport along with a unique take on the standard shotoclone specials.
• Yun and Yang: Same as the Street Fighter III series.
• Decapre and Cammy: Decapre is a charge character, and her Spiral Arrow only hits midair, whereas Cammy's one only works on the ground. Scramble can be comparable to Hooligan Combination, as both are midair moves that have varied follow-ups.

Street Fighter V series

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Clone

• Ryu, Ken and Akuma: Ken and Akuma's Heavy Tatsumaki now travel differently than Ryu's. Akuma's Hadoken also fizzles now unless in EX Move V-Trigger I. Their Hadoken becomes clearly distincts in the usage of V-Trigger, with Ryu gaining the Raiko Hadoken, Ken obtaining a Shakunetsu Hadoken, and Akuma gets a 2-hit Gohadoken that travels the whole screen.
• Urien and Gill: While Urien remains mostly the same, Gill puts more emphasis on his fire and ice abilities, as well as losing Psycho Headbutt.

Semi Clone

• Sakura to "Shotoclones": Mostly unchanged.
• Guile and Nash: Nash has many of his attacks modified, particularly changing from a charge character to a motion character.
• Kage to Evil Ryu and other "Shotoclones": Similar to Evil Ryu, but more focused on close range, with his Hadoken being akin to a mid-ranged poke as opposed to a full-screen projectile.

Trivia

• Since both are now in Smash Ultimate, since the game calls clones "Echo Fighters" Ryu and Ken are referred to as such in Ultimate while Clones in Street Fighter.