Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Long Ranged

This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed.

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.


The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE LONG RANGED

Dipping back into gameplay for this next entry, the Long Ranged character, also known as the zoner or the keep-away, is one who specializes in long-ranged attacks, whether that be from extendable limbs, weapons with a long reach, or several projectile attacks. Several characters in fighting games can use long-ranged projectiles, but this character has these as an integral part of their move set and, more so, a way to effectively protect themselves against enemy projectiles.

Our choice for the Long Ranged is… 

Min Min from ARMS.

ARMS, the latest new fighting IP from Nintendo, is the stand-out series for this category. In this game, all the characters have long, stretchy, extendable arms with different gloves that can produce multiple different effects. In any other game, any of these characters could count as the Long Ranged, but here, one would need to have a special use of their arms, the gloves that can be used with them, and what other special attributes they could have to stand out.

Enter Min Min. This kung-fu trained noodle chef with ramen noodle arms offers some extra quirks in ranged offense and defense, setting her apart from the other ARMS fighters. While dashing, she can deflect attacks with a spin kick move, throwing their attacks back at them. After a long charge or a successful throw, her left arm can turn into a dragon for a beam attack. Along with those, her default ARMS (the gloves that the characters can wear) include a large wrecking ball that can produce electric shocks, a red chakram that ignites when charged, and, again, dragons that can fire energy beams, so her attacks carry a lot of power as well.

For standing out as an exceptional fighter of and against long ranged attacks among a large cast of long range attack users, we now add Min Min to our roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thank you for coming.

Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Femme Fatale

This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed.

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE FEMME FATALE

The anti-heroic counterpart to the Heroine, the Femme Fatale is an edgier, more morally ambiguous character. Often dressing sexier and more seductively than the Heroine, she also has motives that are more selfish or even sinister, from a plot for revenge to assassinating a certain character to even working for the game’s main villain. Our pick for this character would not only be one that looks the part of a deadly seductress but has the darker motivations to go along with it.

Our choice for the Femme Fatale is…

Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers.

You know you’re dealing with a dark series when the Femme Fatale is one of the main characters. One of the most powerful demons of the Makai Realm (basically the world all monsters originate from), the succubus Morrigan Aensland is one of its most powerful beings. The daughter of one of its most powerful rulers, eventually taking over for him after his passing, she frequently slips into the human world for some amusement, usually in the form of seducing men by appearing as a beautiful human woman, then stealing their souls for sustenance right when they least expect it. She also enjoys getting into fights with other powerful beings, even challenging characters to battles if she feels they are strong enough opponents.

Again, she doesn’t do this for the greater good, for revenge, or even for money. She does this just because she’s bored. Morrigan finds herself in the hero role when greater threats like Jedah or Pyron show up, but otherwise, she fits all the hallmarks of the Femme Fatale.

For having the sultry looks and the motivations to go with them and not letting any occasional heroics distract from her true nature, we now add Morrigan to the roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thank you for coming.

Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Anti-Hero

This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed.

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE ANTI-HERO

A bit darker than the hero, the Anti-Hero’s motivations for fighting aren’t as altruistic as others might be. Carrying sometimes as much prominence as the main characters of the fighting game’s story, if not being the actual protagonist, the anti-hero has some dark element to their personality and backstory that drives them to seek revenge for some great wrong or makes them more willing to resort to shady or underhanded tactics to gain an advantage over someone.

Our choice for the Anti-Hero is…

Jin Kazama from Tekken.

Starting out as the main protagonist in Tekken 3, Jin Kazama has gone through a lot over the course of the series. He was once firmly the hero of the series, the positive force of good to set against darker characters like Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, and Ogre. However, at the end of Tekken 3, when he was betrayed by his grandfather Heihachi after believing him to be a good-hearted mentor figure, it sent him down a slippery slope. In his quest to take down anything related to the Mishimas, he took over the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation from his great-grandfather Jinpachi and used it to grind large parts of the world into submission. That isn’t even mentioning the Devil Gene, an evil super-powerful side to Jin that turns him into an unstoppable force.

Are we sure this guy was a protagonist?

For starting as a somewhat sympathetic and heroic character that became a borderline villain over time, with even the dark powers to match, but still staying as a prominent character, we now add Jin Kazama to our roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thank you for coming.