Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Style Shifter

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 STYLE SHIFTER

Another odd kind of character to add to a fighting game roster, the Style Shifter has at least two different fighting styles that they can switch between in the middle of battle, giving them a completely different set of attacks to use in a match. Normally a jarring find in a roster of regular characters, Style Shifters are normally found in games that are focused around the concept, like the Bloody Roar series or the early 3D Mortal Kombat games. It is in the former series that we find our addition to our custom roster.

The fighters in the Bloody Roar series are Zoanthropes, people that can each transform at will into their own Beast forms, changing them into half-animal/half-human creatures that use a completely different set of attacks from their human selves. The cast is made up of lots of different were-creatures, including werewolves, were-lions, were-tigers, and even were-rabbits. This change is monitored by a meter and the fighters change back into humans when that meter is depleted. To stand out from a crowd where every character could count for this category, our pick for the Style Shifter would rely on what forms the character has and how they make use of them.

Our pick for the Style Shifter is…

Cronos from Bloody Roar.

Unlike most of the Bloody Roar cast, Cronos has two Beast forms. The first one is a penguin, which seems like a joke of an addition, but is still tough to fight against, especially considering how short it is, so some attacks go straight over his head in this form. 

The second one is a more menacing-looking phoenix that can use some powerful moves, taking him from “not looking like a threat” to “definitely looking like a threat”. While the penguin has a bit of a surprise factor and its size can throw some people off, the phoenix is what Cronos can count on for pure strength.

For having multiple forms and being able to use them effectively in combat, we now add Cronos 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. Thanks for coming.