Character archetypes

Character archetypes are used as a way to define a character's playstyle in a fighting game. In these games, it's common to see characters that function in a particular manner, so much so that they can be divided up into different categories that give the player an indication of what to expect when fighting them. Often times, these archetypes are used by game developers as a tool for balancing characters while maintaining diversity in playstyles.

Stat-based archetypes
Typically, characters have three basic stats: attack, defense, and speed. Stat-based archetypes are those that are primarily driven by the character's stat spread. In platform fighters such as the Super Smash Flash games, these stats can be attributed to the following traits:


 * Attack - Damage, knockback, KO power, combo game, shield-breaking ability
 * Defense - Weight, shield strength, armor, recovery, dodge speed/intangibility, combo-escaping capabilities
 * Speed - Movement speed, jump height, gravity, fall speed, frame data

Jack of All Trades
Sometimes referred to as master of none, all-rounder, or balanced. These characters are capable of doing most tactics at a competent level due to their balanced stats and overall design. Usually they are easy to learn, being designed to introduce new players to the basic concepts of the game. When mastered, they often have solid matchups across the board, being capable of taking on any character in the game due to their flexibility granting them unprecedented adaptability. However, they are by no means the best at anything, and will often times fall behind more specialized characters that are better in specific areas that grant them a greater advantage in the meta.

Fragile Speedster
These characters are some of the fastest in the game, possessing strong movement options and frame data that makes it hard to land even a single hit against them. However, their defense is poor enough that they can't really afford to take many hits. Their damage racking capabilities and KO power also tend to leave a lot to be desired, often requiring multiple favorable exchanges in neutral or a lengthy combo to get the same result another character could do with just one punish. Due to their speed, this archetype generally favors aggression, though players would be ill-advised to get too reckless if they want to keep hold of their stocks.

Mighty Glacier
These characters are the polar opposite of the Fragile Speedster. Very, VERY slow, but strong and tanky. Expect them to compensate for their poor frame data by having lots of armor on their attacks. In many platform fighters, this archetype, despite the high defense, paradoxically has a weak recovery compounded by a vulnerability to getting comboed that completely undermines the point of these characters and results in them sitting near the bottom of the tier list. This archetype tends to favor defensive strategies, forcing the opponent to approach before stuffing them out with strong high-priority attacks.

Glass Cannon
Also referred as lightweights, these characters may appear to be unbeatable at a glance. Not only do they have fast mobility, but they have strong attacks to match, often combining the two to melt stocks off of their opponents in seconds. However, out of all the archetypes, the glass cannon has the weakest survivability in the game. These are the kinds of characters that have the potential to be KO'd off of a stray hit at 50% or a simple combo that exploits their terrible disadvantaged state. They can dish out damage very fast and often have superior range. As such, they are generally some of the strongest fighters, with a difficulty curve to match. A vast majority of these characters specialize in aggressive close-range combat; at the expense of possessing low defensive capabilities. Aside from slow mobility, weak survivability and a frail defense, they typically possess a series of exploitable weaknesses: low speed in attacks, short range in their attacks, low priority, light weight, and a terrible approach. This causes them to get easily outmatched by characters that can outperform them.

Stone Wall
The Stone Wall is the ultimate defensive character. They can't move very well and don't have much attack power, but they are hard to approach and even harder to KO. Fighting this archetype is like trying to fight a literal stone wall - it's an exercise in futility. Often the most frustrating archetype to fight in the game.

Gradual Grinder
This archetype has strong mobility AND survivability, being hard to catch while effortlessly slipping out of combos or tanking hits like no one's business. These characters need these things, because they sure aren't knocking out their opponents any time soon. The Gradual Grinder takes "death of a thousand cuts" quite literally, gradually wearing their opponent down while outlasting them in the battle of attrition. Often times, they keep away from their opponent, pelting them with fast projectiles from afar, though more offensive grinders will employ hit and run tactics. Either way, both sides will struggle.

Squishy Wizard
These characters are slow, yet lack the proper defense to justify it. However, this archetype is known for one thing and one thing alone: pure, concentrated power. A Squishy Wizard is usually just that, a wizard who compensates for their weakness by casting extremely powerful magic to overwhelm their opponents before their opponents can do the same. This archetype often appears as a skill gate character: overpowered at low levels of play, but dropping off severely in higher levels when players learn how to get around their gimmicks. Despite this, all it really takes is one mistake for these characters to steal the game away. Needless to say, it's typical for this archetype to employ bait and punish style strategies.

Lightning Bruiser
This archetype is a borderline game-breaker, possessing strength, speed, and tankiness. While most characters with this archetype fall into the realm of playable bosses, it's not uncommon for one to be balanced with some kind of highly exploitable weakness or a near-vertical learning curve.

Joke Character
Joke Characters have pitiful stats all-around, suitable for a character that's intentionally designed to be weak. Occasionally, the Joke Character will be balanced by having a seemingly mundane ability that becomes lethal in the right hands.

Shoto
Named after Ryu's fighting style, the Shoto is a character who is equally skilled at fighting offensively and defensively, at close range or long range. These characters usually possess a good projectile, a strong anti-air/rising attack, and a fast approach option that may or may not involve lots of spinning. While the Shoto typically is used in conjunction with the Jack of All Trades, this is by no means a requirement.

Rushdown
A Rushdown character is one who specializes in aggressive close-ranged combat. This typically involves rushing in and quickly overwhelming the opponent with many rapid-fire attacks before they can properly react. They usually have a weak long range game, often lacking any projectiles.

Turtler
The opposite of a Rushdown character. The Turtler prefers to let the opponent do the approaching, and has a variety of tools designed to prevent them from doing just that. While usually fairly slow, a Turtler will occasionally have a faster movement speed to strengthen their ability to camp or keep away from their opponent. This archetype often goes hand-in-hand with the Stone Wall archetype for maximum frustration.

Zoner
This type of character is very strong at long range due to their strong projectiles, which are used to zone out their opponent. To compensate, the Zoner tends to have a much weaker close range game, forcing them to constantly create distance with their opponent to maintain their effectiveness.

Grappler
The Grappler places a large emphasis on throwing the opponent around. They have numerous different types of throws that can be used to start combos, force stage control, or deal ridiculous amounts of damage. Grapplers are very strong against characters that rely on defense due to their throws being able to bypass that altogether, though they tend to struggle against faster characters and projectiles.

Hit & Run
One of three mid-range fighters, the Hit & Run archetype is all about getting in close, taking a few potshots, then getting out of there quickly. They tend to have a strong neutral, but a weak punish, requiring them to win more exchanges to get the same result as another character.

Bait & Punish
Bait & Punish characters are like more defensive Hit & Run characters. Instead of making the first move, they weave in and out just outside of the opponent's range, baiting them into attacking first. Once this happens, they dodge the attack and retaliate with a punish of their own.

Spacer
This archetype has a weak close and long range game, but are strong in the mid range. Spacers tend to have a long reach or some other mechanic that makes their attacks more effective if they maintain a specific distance with their opponent. Usually they will fight with a weapon, most commonly a sword.

Confusion-Fu
Characters that use Confusion-Fu rely on their unpredictability to succeed, above everything else. Often, this archetype employs tricks that include being able to prematurely cancel attacks to "fake out" opponents, having moves with similar startup animations that do completely different things, or being able to turn invisible for short periods of time. Usually, but not always, this archetype is on the weaker side from a gameplay perspective if the player attempts to use them in a more straightforward manner.

Wind Fish
The Wind Fish is a character who excels in the air, but struggles to fight on the ground. Attributes-wise, this type of character tends to have a high air speed and air acceleration, strong aerial attacks, and a great recovery. On the other side, this character has weak or slow ground speed and slow ground attacks.

Land Shark
The Land Shark is the complete opposite of the Wind Fish. They have an unprecedented ground game, but have great difficulty taking the fight to the air.

Trap Master
This archetype is almost like a variation of the Zoner with a much greater emphasis on stage control. This is because instead of firing projectiles directly at the opponent, the Trap Master creates stationary projectiles that the opponent falls into. These projectiles have a very long lifespan and a number of them can exist at any one time, setting up unique punish opportunities for the player.

Assist Fighter
Assist Fighters possess the ability to summon other characters onto the battlefield to aid them in the fight. These assists usually react similarly to a fighter, including being able to take damage and knock back, or even be KO'd outright. Others function more like glorified projectiles.