Fighting games possess some of the most iconic and recognizable rosters of characters across the entire medium of video games. Fighting games allow players to express and represent themselves and their playstyle via diverse rosters of characters that each come alongside their own strengths and weaknesses.

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Across the breadth of fighting games, numerous archetypes of characters have formed that function similarly across countless titles, helping players easily identify characters whose play styles may resonate with a given player. So today, we're going to dive into the most iconic of these fighting game character archetypes.

Updated on January 6, 2025, by David Heath: At this stage, it's hard to imagine there being any fighting game archetype not covered by this list. Yet most fighting games today have huge rosters with characters that serve as examples of one, two, or several entries on this list. For example, Street Fighter 3's Makoto is a rushdown character who's often played as a grappler because of how important her Karakusa throw is to her setups.

While the debate over which characters are shotos or not has become ironic with the difficult, fireball-less Kazuya being promoted as a member of this projectile-slinging, easy-to-grasp class as a gag. Yet there are still more standout examples of fighting game archetypes that have left an impression on the genre, be it in their gameplay or their design. This is why they've been added to this list, alongside a few tweaks here and there.

Gameplay Archetypes

Shotos

The Original Archetype

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 1 (Ryu & Ken)
• Characters: Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury), Jago (Killer Instinct), Haohmaru (Samurai Shodown)

Named after Shotokan Karate, the basis for classic Street Fighter duo Ryu and Ken's fighting style, Shoto characters are defined by their well-rounded move sets, which are typically comparable (or even identical) to the aforementioned karate men. Shotos will often possess a projectile, a strong anti-air option like a rising uppercut, and a move that provides some kind of forward momentum.

They tend to possess few glaring weaknesses, serving as jacks-of-all-trades who reward the use of strong fundamentals. For example, players who get the hang of Ryu may then prefer the more glass cannon output of Akuma or the keep-away game Sagat offers. As such, they're usually good characters for beginners to start with.

Charge Characters

Calculated Offense And Defense

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2 (Guile)
• Characters: Vatista (Under Night In-Birth), Parasoul (Skullgirls)

Charge characters are named after the inputs of their special moves, as they require players to hold back or down for a bit before pressing forward or up+attack. This means they have to block or hold the direction during moves or other actions (aka "charge buffering") to do their special moves. These charge moves are often very powerful, incentivizing defense-oriented gameplay in order to access them.

While they're not the most mobile characters, charge characters are often incredibly difficult to approach. Especially when they're crouch-blocking, because they can flexibly react with different moves based on their opponent's actions. They also recover faster afterward, so they can fit in a quick combo on contact, or even walk alongside their projectiles to pop open their opponent's defense.

Grapplers

Getting Up Close And Personal

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2 (Zangief)
• Characters: Tizoc/King of Dinosaurs (Garou: Mark of the Wolves, King of Fighters), King (Tekken)

Often characterized by their slow speed and range, the grapplers' biggest strengths are their large pools of health, high damage output, and most importantly, their command grabs. While characters in most fighting games tend to have some standard grabs, grapplers often possess numerous throws that can be used in different scenarios that can deal huge sums of damage, like Zangief's Spinning Pile Driver.

While they're a force to be reckoned with up close, they suffer from a lack of mobility and options when facing characters who can fight from a distance (e.g. Zoners, keep-away, etc.) Some grapplers have powerful anti-air options to punish opponents for jumping out of their command grab range, which can then give them time to close the gap and either throw them on the ground, or even grab them in midair.

Semi-Grapplers

Quicker Than The Average Wrestler

• Debut Game: King of Fighters '94 (Clark Still)
• Characters: Alex (Street Fighter 3: New Generation), Potemkin (Guilty Gear), Beowulf (Skullgirls)

Not every grappler is a giant hunk of muscle, but the smaller ones can be quite rare. Most of the time, they end up as semi-grapplers. They still rely on catching opponents in command grabs, but they'll often be shorter, more mobile, and have more striking options. In fact, their striking moves will often be imperative for getting them within grabbing distance.

Street Fighter 3's Alex's Slash Elbow, Flying Cross Chop, and Air Stampede see him fly across the screen to knock his opponent down or stun them long enough for a Headbutt or Power Bomb. While Guilty Gear's Potemkin can't dash normally, he can cancel his Hammer Fall punch to close the distance, or bait opponents into his Heavenly Potemkin Buster super.

Big Bodies

Large And In Charge

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2 (Zangief), Samurai Shodown (Earthquake for a non-grappler example)
• Characters: Abigail (Street Fighter 5), Kuma (Tekken), Bowser and Ganondorf (Super Smash Bros)

Big-Body characters are unsurprisingly defined by their big bodies! These characters usually have large hitboxes, slow walk speeds, and pack huge amounts of damage per hit. Thus, they tend to lack options for dealing with zoning and projectiles due to their massive bulk. Most grapplers tend to also be Big Bodies, but to set them apart from their throw-happy brethren, they tend to focus more on their strikes.

For example, Marisa in Street Fighter 6 has long-range punches and thrust kicks that do a lot of damage. She and other Big Bodies are still susceptible to Hadoukens and projectiles, but they often have high defense and health bars to power through light attacks. Then their attacks will often have armor attacks as well, so any projectile-spammers can find themselves on the business end of a heavy boot to the face.

Heavy Weights

Too Much For Others To Take

• Debut Game: Super Smash Bros (Donkey Kong)
• Characters: King Dedede, Incineroar, Kazuya (Smash Bros series)

What separates Heavy Weights, or Powerhouses, from Big Bodies? For one, the term is largely Smash-specific, or at least more key to platform fighters than the usual 1-v-1 match. They're not always big either. Bowser and King Dedede have been able to tank hits since Melee and Brawl respectively, but Tekken's Kazuya can do the same while being smaller in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

They're also really strong, with the potential to KO opponents when they're still relatively fresh. One well-timed, fully-charged hammer strike from King Dedede could send a 30-40% fighter off into the stratosphere. However, to make up for that, their extra weight makes it hard for them to recover in the air or reach platforms to avoid a pitfall, so they can be just as easily KO'd if they're kept away from the platform edges.

Bullies

Putting Pressure on Their Opponents

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2 (Sagat)
• Characters: Broly (Dragon Ball FighterZ), Urien (Street Fighter 5), Ralf (King of Fighters)

Bullies, or pressurizers, are one of those archetypes that are hard to define but are recognizable once players see them in action. They're all about shutting down their opponent's attacks, often with their own heavily armored strikes. Their attacks can reach far to catch them, then pressure them into the corner for more punishment. Whatever the opponent does, the bully forces them to stop and either block, or get beaten up.

Street Fighter's Sagat is a classic bully. From a distance, he can irritate players with a barrage of projectiles before catching jumping opponents with his Tiger Uppercut. His normal kicks reach far too, either stuffing their opponent's attacks or pressing through them with their armor. They can even open them up for his devastating super combos too. It's no wonder he's been a nightmare in games like Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Street Fighter 4.

Zoners

Chucking Everything At the Wall

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2 (Dhalsim)
• Characters: Peacock (Skullgirls), Cyclops (Marvel Vs Capcom 2), Duck Hunt Duo (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

Perhaps one of the most salt-inducing archetypes for fighting game newbies (and many veterans to be honest), zoners are characters whose core strategy relies on throwing out attacks from afar to keep opponents at bay. While they're often rather frail, having little health and weaker normal attacks than nearly everyone else on the roster, their abilities excel at longer ranges.

They'll throw everything from fireballs to objects, or even stretchy-limb attacks, to keep their opponents at the far end of the screen. Even jumping opponents can be vulnerable if they have anti-air attacks, like Dhalsim's Yoga Blast in the Street Fighter games. Still, they can be taken down with patience, as even the most oppressive of projectile barrages can be overcome with correctly utilized jumps, blocks, and reads.

Footsies/Mid-Rangers

Taking Center Stage

• Debut Game: King of Fighters '94 (Benimaru as a dedicated mid-screen poker character)
• Characters: Karin (Street Fighter Alpha 3), Luke (Street Fighter 5), Kilik (SoulCalibur)

Many fighting game terms have rather fluid definitions because it can take one new character, one new technique, or some other event to change them. The term "footsie" is already complicated as different people apply it to different situations. Most of the time, it usually involves players who fight for control of space in the middle of the screen, rather than getting up close like grapplers or staying away like zoners.

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By  Rhenn Taguiam

Any character with strong poking attacks is good at pulling off footsies, like Street Fighter's Cammy, or most of the cast in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. However, there are some characters that seem designed for footsies. Karin's moves in Street Fighter Alpha 3 are particularly strong at mid-range, from her chain specials that push the opponent back, to her throws and setups that leave them vulnerable in the middle of the stage.

Rushdown Characters

The Best Defense Is A Good Offense

• Debut Game: Street Fighter 2 (Ken)
• Characters: Chipp Zanuff (Guilty Gear), Yamcha (Dragon Ball FighterZ), Dudley (Street Fighter 3: New Generation)

Rushdown characters are all about getting in their opponent's face as quickly as possible and hammering them with fast combos. They tend to be some of the more popular characters in their respective games, if not top-tier, because they're simple to pick up and play, and not too hard to master after practice. But they have their drawbacks.

They need to get up close to make the most of their combos, making them susceptible to throws, reversals, and counters. Zoners and Footsie-characters can also keep them at bay with their projectiles and poking attacks. This is why some rushdown characters, like Street Fighter's Guy and Dudley, have special dashes to get around them, complete with follow-up attacks players have to master. As such, they can be more technical than they seem.