Clone: Difference between revisions

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A '''clone''' (officially '''Echo Fighter''' ({{ja|ダッシュファイター|Dasshu Faitā}} ''Dash Fighter'') for certain clones in ''[[Ultimate]]'') is a [[character]] whose moveset, animations, and general properties are mostly derived from another character, as opposed to being unique to them. All clones have some sort of gameplay difference from their parent character, ranging from different animations (such as with {{SSBU|Daisy}}) to fully unique moves (such as with {{SSBU|Chrom}}), but on the whole, they will generally be very similar to their parent, to the point where a casual player might play either in the same way, and even competitive players will often play both a clone and their parent character. However, this is not to say that playing a clone like their parent will be successful: {{SSBM|Roy}} may be a clone of {{SSBM|Marth}} in ''[[Melee]]'' due to sharing all his attacks and animations, but as his movements, [[frame]] data, and [[hitbox]]es are all altered, resulting in the usage of his moves and his optimal playstyle being significantly different.

*A '''full clone''' (often shortened to just "clone") will have unique [[taunt]]s and [[victory pose]]s<ref>[https://sourcegaming.info/2018/08/22/more-information-about-the-smash-direct-sakurais-famitsu-column-vol-561/ "'More Information about the Smash Direct' Sakurai's Famitsu Column Vol. 561"]</ref>, may have unique attributes (such as being heavier or faster) or non-combat animations (such as running or jumping), and perhaps a unique attack or two. Otherwise, they share effectively all moves and animations with their parent. {{SSBM|Pichu}} in ''[[Melee]]'' and {{SSB4|Lucina}} in ''[[Smash 4]]'' are examples of full clones.

* A '''semi-clone''' has several unique attacks and animations of their own while retaining a significant amount from their parent. {{SSBB|Falco}} in ''[[Brawl]]'' and {{SSB4|Roy}} in ''Smash 4'' are examples of semi-clones.

* A '''pseudo-clone''' is, for the most part, their own unique character, but with enough moves or animations copied from their parent that it would be inaccurate to say they are not cloned to some degree. {{SSBB|Wolf}} in ''Brawl'' and {{SSBU|Luigi}} in ''[[Ultimate]]'' are examples of pseudo-clones.

It is not uncommon for a cloned character to receive further differentiating changes in later games, thus making them less of a clone. Some use the term '''Luigification''' for when a character is separated from their parent and forms their own identity, as [[Luigi]] has done in both his home series and the ''Smash Bros.'' series. However, it is debatable at what point a character who was once a clone is no longer a clone, or even which specific category some characters may fall into. For example, [[Luigi]]’s status as any type of clone post-''Brawl'' was a subject of heavy debate before the term “pseudo-clone” was accepted.

While all four of the unlockable characters were created with the premise of reusing some of the pre-existing characters' movements and models<ref>http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/12/13/sakurai-fe25/</ref>, two of them ({{SSB|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSB|Ness}}) are unique enough that they are not clones of their parents ({{SSB|Samus}} and {{SSB|Mario}} respectively), and mainly only copy from their skeletons rather than their movesets.

|Luigi's [[special move]]s all have different purposes: his [[Luigi (SSB)/Neutral special|Fireball]]'s lack of gravity alters where it controls space, while his [[Luigi (SSB)/Up special|Super Jump Punch]] and [[Luigi (SSB)/Down special|Luigi Cyclone]] are both one-hit power moves rather than trapping combo moves. In general, Luigi is slower than Mario with fewer [[combo]]s and an inferior ability to [[approach]], but has a better [[recovery]] and more [[KO]] moves.

Originally, [[Masahiro Sakurai]] was going to include significantly fewer playable characters in ''Melee''. However, with him knowing fans would want more characters while time was constrictive, Sakurai decided to add the six clones later in development to pad out the roster, as these characters would take a lot less time to develop than unique characters (with Sakurai stating that adding the six clones to ''Melee'' took less development time than adding a single unique newcomer would have). According to the Japanese website, clones were known as '''model swap characters''' ({{ja|モデル替えキャラ|Moderu kae kyara}}).<ref>http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/1211/index.html</ref> Clones are marked on the character selection screen as recessed icons next to the fighters they are based on.

|Dr. Mario's moves are all nearly identical in animation to Mario's and most function identically, though his moves have altered frame data, he throws [[Megavitamins]] for his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSBM|neutral special}} that act differently to Mario’s [[Mario (SSBM)/Neutral special|Fireball]]s, as well as has a few more unique properties.

|Dr. Mario has stronger attacks in general, with some of them having unique properties: his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSBM|forward smash}} is an [[electric]]al attack without a sourspot but has less [[reach]], his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSBM|forward aerial}} is a powerful [[angle|vertical]]-launching finisher that cannot [[meteor smash]], and his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSBM|neutral aerial}} is a [[sex kick]] with its later [[hitbox]]es being stronger than its initial hitboxes (in addition to having a slightly different animation). Dr. Mario also cannot [[wall jump]] and has a worse recovery, due to [[Dr. Mario (SSBM)/Side special|Super Sheet]] stalling Dr. Mario in the air for a much shorter duration, Dr. Mario's [[Dr. Mario (SSBM)/Up special|Super Jump Punch]] having a single frame of [[intangibility]] instead of four frames, and [[Dr. Mario (SSBM)/Down special|Dr. Tornado]]'s hitboxes having less reach and duration. Despite Dr. Mario's trophy describing him as "a tad slower" than Mario, the two have identical speed stats, with the exception of Dr. Mario actually having slightly faster [[air speed]], though all of Dr. Mario's aerials have higher [[landing lag]].

|While nearly Falco's entire moveset has different functioning from Fox's due to different knockback or properties, all of his moves are completely identical in concept and animation.

|Falco is slightly bigger than Fox, and most of his moves have slightly larger range as a result (with the notable exception of his {{mvsub|Falco|SSBM|down tilt}} due to Falco's much shorter tail, and [[Reflector]], which has a smaller hitbox). Falco has a slower [[walk]]ing speed, [[dash]]ing speed, and [[jump squat]], and a shorter dashdance, but a higher vertical [[jump]] height, as well as slightly heavier [[weight]] and faster [[falling speed]]. While Falco's moves all look the same as Fox's, many have different properties and therefore applications. For example, Fox uses his {{mvsub|Fox|SSBM|up smash}} and {{mvsub|Fox|SSBM|up aerial}} as his primary high-power KO moves, while Falco instead relies on his {{mvsub|Falco|SSBM|forward smash}} and down tilt. Fox's {{mvsub|Fox|SSBM|down aerial}} is a multi-hitting drill with weak knockback that deals more damage if all hits connect, and can combo at any percent, but can be escaped using [[SDI]], whereas Falco's {{mvsub|Falco|SSBM|down aerial}} is a powerful single-hit [[spike]] that cannot be SDI'ed out of. As such, Fox's down aerial is more difficult to punish [[out of shield]] as a neutral opener, but is less reliable as a combo starter, while Falco's down aerial is a much more reliable combo starter and [[edgeguard]]ing tool. Fox's [[Fox (SSBM)/Neutral special|Blaster]] shoots faster and does not cause [[flinch]]ing, and is more suited for tacking on damage for free and [[camping|forcing approaches]], while [[Falco (SSBM)/Neutral special|Falco]]'s (which he additionally fires with a different animation) shoots slower and causes [[flinch]]ing, and so is more suited for facilitating and interrupting [[approach]]es. Falco's side special, [[Falco (SSBM)/Side special|Falco Phantasm]], travels a shorter distance than [[Fox (SSBM)/Side special|Fox]]'s, but has faster startup and meteor smashes the opponent when it hits. Falco's up special, [[Falco (SSBM)/Up special|Fire Bird]], charges faster and hits much harder, but covers significantly less distance than Fox's and has no hitbox while charging. Fox's [[Fox (SSBM)/Down special|Shine]] delivers set [[semi-spike]] knockback that facilitates [[waveshine]] combos on characters with a weight of 86 or higher, and makes a very potent edgeguarding tool, as well as being able to waveshine heavier characters across the stage; Falco's [[Falco (SSBM)/Down special|Shine]] deals more damage, delivers scaling vertical knockback, and is used for extremely potent vertical combos, especially on fastfallers, but loses its combo ability at higher percents, particularly vs. floatier characters. The lasers shot by Falco's {{mvsub|Falco|SSBM|back throw}} and {{mvsub|Falco|SSBM|up throw}} also produce knockback unlike Fox's; this causes opponents to launch in unpredictable directions, making them unreliable as combo starters, and Falco cannot [[chain grab]] or [[kill confirm]] with his up throw like Fox can.

|Ganondorf has a single-hit {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|neutral attack}} and a unique {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|forward aerial}}, that is an arching overhand punch instead of a [[Knee smash]]. The rest of Ganondorf's moveset is cloned, though he is consistently much slower but stronger than Captain Falcon, most notably in his {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|up tilt}}. Ganondorf is additionally bigger than Falcon, giving his moves more reach in general, though some of his moves also have larger hitboxes.

|Ganondorf is significantly heavier and much more powerful than Captain Falcon, and all of his movement specs are much slower, in particular his dashing speed, though most of his attacks do not lose too much speed. Functional differences in his moveset include his up tilt being a hail mary move that is one of the strongest moves in the game, in exchange for an absurd 81 frames of startup that also makes it the slowest move in the game, whereas Falcon's {{mvsub|Captain Falcon|SSBM|up tilt}} is a standard anti-air move with above-average horizontal knockback. Each of the two hits in Ganondorf's {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|up smash}} are individually very powerful whereas the first hit of [[Captain Falcon (SSBM)/Up smash|Falcon]]'s is meant to link into the second stronger hit, a functioning difference that applies to their {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|neutral aerial}} as well, though this functioning is reversed for their {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|down smash}}; the hitboxes of Ganondorf's neutral aerial are active for much smaller windows than Falcon's, making Ganondorf's neutral aerial less effective as an opener in neutral. Ganondorf's {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|forward smash}} launches vertically while [[Captain Falcon (SSBM)/Forward smash|Falcon's]] launches horizontally, while this launch angle difference is reversed for their down smash. Ganondorf's {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|up aerial}} has a late hitbox that semi-spikes opponents, which can be used as a deadly edgeguarding tool, while Falcon's {{mvsub|Captain Falcon|SSBM|up aerial}} lacks a late hitbox altogether. Aerial [[Ganondorf (SSBM)/Side special|Gerudo Dragon]] does not meteor smash whereas aerial [[Captain Falcon (SSBM)/Side special|Raptor Boost]] does; conversely, aerial [[Ganondorf (SSBM)/Down special|Wizard's Foot]] is a powerful spike while aerial [[Captain Falcon (SSBM)/Down special|Falcon Kick]] launches horizontally. Finally, many of Ganondorf's moves have different [[effect]]s; his forward smash, [[Ganondorf (SSBM)/Neutral special|Warlock Punch]], Gerudo Dragon, and Wizard's Foot hit with the [[darkness]] effect while Falcon's variations hit with the [[flame]] effect, Ganondorf's up tilt hits with a flame effect while Falcon's has no special effect, and Ganondorf's jab, {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBM|down aerial}}, and [[Ganondorf (SSBM)/Up special|Dark Dive]] hit with an [[electric]] effect while Falcon's variations do not.

|Pichu moves slower than Pikachu with slower running speed, slower [[fast fall]]ing speed, and a shorter wavedash thanks to its higher traction, but all of its aerials have significantly less landing lag, making Pichu's aerials safer. Pichu is smaller which makes it harder to hit, but consequently its moves have less reach, often significantly so, especially those that involve Pichu's much shorter tail, and Pichu is much lighter, making it much easier to KO. Pichu's {{mvsub|Pichu|SSBM|down smash}} is a single-hit move that launches at a semi-spike angle and has no electrical effect, while Pikachu's {{mvsub|Pikachu|SSBM|down smash}} is a multi-hitting electrical move that launches vertically. Pichu's {{mvsub|Pichu|SSBM|up aerial}} have all of its hitboxes launch at an 80 degree angle, making it more reliable for comboing, but cannot semi-spike like [[Pikachu (SSBM)/Up aerial|Pikachu's]] and thus Pichu loses a very potent [[gimp]]ing tool. Pichu's special moves additionally have functional differences; Pichu's [[Pichu (SSBM)/Side special|Skull Bash]] can be charged for longer, where it then travels much farther and becomes much more powerful; [[Pichu (SSBM)/Up special|Agility]] is slower and has no hitboxes while dealing recoil damage to Pichu, but it can move in angles that [[Pikachu (SSBM)/Up special|Quick Attack]] cannot; and Pichu's [[Pichu (SSBM)/Down special|Thunder]] is a multi-hitting move that can deal a lot more damage than [[Pikachu (SSBM)/Down special|Pikachu's]] but lacks the knockback to KO high up opponents off the top.

|While Marth's sweetspot is at the tip of his sword, Roy's is at the hilt, which affects almost his entire moveset and so enforces a different style of play. Roy is additionally slower than Marth in most aspects, with Roy having a slower walk, dash, jumpsquat, shorter jumps, and a shorter wavedash, on top of most of his moves having more startup lag, ending lag, and/or landing lag. Roy does, however, notably fall faster and has higher [[gravity]], giving him a faster [[SHFFL]] in exchange for making him more vulnerable to combos. Roy is also slightly smaller, giving his moves less reach, and he weighs slightly less in [[NTSC]], which makes him slightly easier to KO horizontally, but he is light enough to get knocked down by Fox's Shine whereas Marth does not, making him less vulnerable to waveshine combos; however, Marth's weight was changed to match Roy's in [[PAL]]. When it comes to the functional differences of their moves, Roy's {{mvsub|Roy|SSBM|down tilt}} launches vertically and is thus more useful as a combo tool, whereas Marth's {{mvsub|Marth|SSBM|down tilt}} can more effectively edgeguard with its semi-spike knockback; Roy's {{mvsub|Roy|SSBM|up smash}} is a multi-hit move with no sourspots while [[Marth (SSBM)/Up smash|Marth]]'s hits once with the standard tipper mechanic intact; [[Roy (SSBM)/Neutral special|Flare Blade]] has an insubstantial [[shield damage]] bonus but can be charged for much longer and become [[OHKO|immensely powerful]]; [[Roy (SSBM)/Up special|Blazer]] is a slower multi-hitting move with set knockback, while Roy also has control of its trajectory in exchange for less recovery distance, while [[Marth (SSBM)/Up special|Dolphin Slash]] quickly hits once with considerable power and has no control over its trajectory; and Roy's [[Roy (SSBM)/Down special|Counter]] has a 1.5X damage multiplier with much higher knockback scaling, while [[Marth (SSBM)/Down special|Marth]]'s deals a set 7% no matter what hitbox it counters, with higher base knockback but lower knockback scaling. Roy's up smash and all of his specials additionally hit with a flame effect, while none of Marth's moves do.

*The Male and Female [[Wire Frames]] are clones of {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBM|Zelda}}, respectively, though without special moves. Unlike the previous game's Polygons, they also have altered, though mostly weaker movesets.

*{{SSBM|Master Hand}} and {{SSBM|Crazy Hand}} could be considered semi-clones, as they share most of their attacks while having some unique attacks and many unique animations.

*Although {{SSBM|Zelda}} is a unique character, many of her non-attack animations are derived from Peach, indicating she started development based off of Peach. They also have similar animations for their {{mvsub|Zelda|SSBM|dash attack}}s and {{mvsub|Zelda|SSBM|neutral aerial}}s.

None of the newcomers in ''Brawl'' are full clones, though there are two new pseudo-clones and one new semi-clone. In addition, four out of the six full clones from ''Melee'' were cut, with the two that returned, {{SSBB|Falco}} and {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, now becoming semi-clones. As a result, there are no full clones in ''Brawl''.

|Falco has a different {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|neutral attack}}, {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|up tilt}}, {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|forward smash}}, {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|neutral aerial}}, {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|forward aerial}}, {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|back aerial}} and {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|up aerial}}. His {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|down special}} has the same English name and concept, but is practically a different move with a completely different animation and functioning, as he now kicks it out instead of being able to hold it in place, functioning as a long-reaching [[transcendent]] [[disjoint]]ed move that can poke through opponent's moves in addition to reflecting, but loses any ability to work as a [[combo]] or [[disadvantage]] tool.

|Falco keeps many of his other differences from ''Melee'', such as which of his attacks are more powerful than Fox's, and keeps most of his differences in attributes, though he now has slightly faster [[air speed]] than Fox while also [[falling speed|falling slower]] than Fox. Falco's moves have a few more new functional differences from Fox's' Falco's {{mvsub|Falco|SSBB|down throw}} launches at a different [[angle]] that allows it to effectively setup combos and [[chain grab]] into itself, while Fox's {{mvsub|Fox|SSBB|down throw}} launches at an even more vertical angle with much more knockback, serving as a throw to just put opponents in disadvantage; [[Falco (SSBB)/Up special|Fire Bird]] now has hitboxes during its charging phase, but is now a multi-hitting attack with much weaker knockback than the still single-hit [[Fox (SSBB)/Up special|Fire Fox]]; and Falco's [[Landmaster]] shoots weaker blasts than Fox's, but can fly up faster and much higher, allowing it to more effectively carry opponents off the top [[blast line]]. Then finally, Falco's [[Falco (SSBB)/Neutral special|Blaster]] now shoots blue lasers instead of red lasers.

|Ganondorf has a wide variety of new animations for general actions, and all of his remaining moves that are still conceptually the same as Falcon's have altered, stiffer animations to differentiate them from Falcon's equivalents. The most obvious examples of Ganondorf's shared moves with altered animations are his {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBB|down aerial}}, [[Ganondorf (SSBB)/Neutral special|Warlock Punch]], [[Ganondorf (SSBB)/Up special|Dark Dive]], and [[Ganondorf (SSBB)/Down special|Wizard's Foot]]. Dark Dive additionally now has an uppercut animation at the end of it, which has a corresponding hitbox to hit opponents without grabbing them, giving it a significant functional difference from [[Captain Falcon (SSBB)/Up special|Falcon Dive]]. Ganondorf still maintains the same motif of being a slower but stronger semi-clone of Falcon, but it's even more exaggerated than it was in ''[[Melee]]'', with most of Ganondorf's movement specs and frame data being harshly [[nerf]]ed.

|Lucas's only similar moves are his {{mvsub|Lucas|SSBB|forward smash}}, {{mvsub|Lucas|SSBB|up aerial}}, {{mvsub|Lucas|SSBB|pummel}}, special moves, and [[PK Starstorm]]. The rest of his moveset is unique, and even then his shared moves feature different properties.

|Having mostly a unique moveset of his own, Lucas's similarity to Ness is primarily in his weight and skeleton being identical to Ness', while they both also uniquely suffer an additional 10 frames of [[grab release]] lag that no other character has, making them uniquely vulnerable to many grab releaese setups. However, Lucas's movement attributes are all faster than Ness' with the exception of a slower [[walk]]ing speed, and he has lower [[traction]] that makes it more difficult for him to [[punish]] [[out of shield]]. His special moves are fairly similar in animation and concept to Ness's, but with major functional differences; [[Lucas (SSBB)/Neutral special|PK Freeze]] [[frozen|freezes]] per its namesake while also traveling faster and farther, whereas [[Ness (SSBB/Neutral special|PK Flash]] is a very powerful KO move when sufficiently charged with no special effects; Lucas' [[Lucas (SSBB)/Side special|PK Fire]] launches opponent away with moderate knockback while he also fires it with a different animation and cannot fire it diagonally when using it in the air, unlike Ness' [[Ness (SSBB)/Side special|PK Fire]] that can be fire diagonally in the air and still functions by trapping opponents within it; Lucas' [[Lucas (SSBB)/Up special|PK Thunder]] does not dissipate when it hits opponents but produces negligible knockback on contact, and Lucas' PK Thunder 2 travels much farther but is a multi-hitting move with drastically weaker knockback than Ness' [[Ness (SSBB)/Up special|variation]]; and Lucas' holds his [[Lucas (SSBB)/Down special|PSI Magnet]] outward in front of him instead of surrounding himself with it like Ness does with his [[Ness (SSBB)/Down special|PSI Magnet]], while additionally producing a small hitbox with moderate knockback in front of him when he releases it. This is the only clone pair where the derived character is the starter and the parent is unlockable.

|Toon Link retains many of the same differences from Link that Young Link had in ''Melee'': he is smaller, lighter, faster in most aspects (with Link only having faster falling speed, [[fast falling]] speed, and [[gravity]]), is generally weaker, and can [[wall jump]], while having having a {{mvsub|Toon Link|SSBB|forward smash}} that only launches on the second hit and a multi-hit grounded [[Toon Link (SSBB)/Up special|Spin Attack]]. In addition to having a handful of unique moves, several of Toon Link's shared moves have different functioning; Toon Link's {{mvsub|Toon Link|SSBB|dash attack}} launches opponents away at a [[semi-spike]] angle while [[Link (SSBB)/Dash attack|Link's]] launches vertically; the first hit of Toon Link's {{mvsub|Toon Link|SSBB|down smash}} leads into the second stronger hit while both hits of [[Link (SSBB)/Down smash|Link's]] are individually powerful; Toon Link's {{mvsub|Toon Link|SSBB|down aerial}} is a [[stall-then-fall]] that meteor smashes while Link's {{mvsub|Link|SSBB|down aerial}} has no momentum-altering properties; the arrows fired by Toon Link's [[Toon Link (SSBB)/Neutral special|Hero's Bow]] are much floatier and slower; Toon Links [[Toon Link (SSBB)/Side special|Boomerang]] also travels much slower and does not have any [[windbox]]es like Link's [[Link (SSBB)/Side special|Gale Boomerang]]; and Toon Link's [[Toon Link (SSBB)/Down special|Bombs]] function very similarly to Link's [[Link (SSBB)/Down special|Bombs]], but their explosion have a much more cartoonish appearance. Toon Link also has different animations for general actions, generally faster frame data on his moves, and much shorter reach on his attacks due to his much shorter sword. For one more odditity as a result of the cloning process, there is an error where Toon Link's forward throw is treated as a [[Foot]] attack like [[Link (SSBB)/Forward throw|Link's]] even though it is a shoulder tackle.

|Historically, Wolf's status has been very unclear and heavily debated ever since ''Brawl''{{'}}s release, until the adoption of the term "pseudo-clone". Like Lucas, his main similarity to his parent is similarly-themed special moves, but Wolf's are even more distinct; his Blaster is unique by only firing a single shot with a completely different animation, while the laser it fires is completely different in appearance from those shot by Fox's Blaster, and it has an attached bayonet to hit opponents in melee range; Wolf Flash hits with his body instead of producing damaging afterimages, while Wolf additionally travels in a slight diagonal trajectory during it (which allows [[scarring]]), and is weak at the start but hits with a powerful hitbox at the end that either meteor smashes or semi-spikes opponents; Fire Wolf has a completely different animation and has no distinct "charging" phase, with the only functional similarity to [[Fox (SSBB)/Up special|Fire Fox]] being that the player can control which direction Fire Wolf travels in; Wolf's [[Wolf (SSBB)/Down special|Reflector]] remains more similar to [[Fox (SSBB)/Down special|Fox's]] than his other specials, but has a distinctly different "shine" graphic, while possessing some functional difference in its much greater amount of [[intangibility]] that starts on frame 1, making it a much more effective disadvantage tool; and then Wolf's Landmaster has a difference appearance to match the [[Wolfen]] theme, while being much more powerful and more mobile than Fox's, in exchange for a much shorter duration. In addition, many of Wolf's non-combat animations (such as dodges, getups, and item actions) remain exactly identical to Fox's, even in cases where they do not connect properly into his other animations as a result.

''Super Smash Bros. 4'' re-introduces full clones, adding one such veteran and two such newcomers. These clones were originally developed as [[alternate costume]]s, but it was later decided to give them a difference in moveset, resulting in them being split into their own characters — as "even a small difference in abilities" requires a unique roster slot. There are no new semi-clones, and returning semi-clones were not given much in the way of new differences. Full clones are marked on the character selection screen by being listed outside of the rest of the characters from their series, near the third-party characters.

|Dark Pit has a different [[Dark Pit Staff|Final Smash]], though it is still cloned (from [[Light Arrow|Zelda and Sheik]], specifically). All of his attributes and nearly the rest of his moveset is completely identical.

|Dark Pit was made into a clone because Sakurai did not like the idea of him using Pit's [[Three Sacred Treasures]] for his Final Smash. Another noticeable difference is his side special, [[Dark Pit (SSB4)/Side special|Electroshock Arm]], which deals [[electric]]al damage with stronger knockback while hitting opponents at a horizontal trajectory. Besides this, his other differences from Pit are extremely minimal — he has a smaller [[hitbox]] on his {{mvsub|Dark Pit|SSB4|neutral attack}}'s rapid jab finisher (which is due to only Pit's [[Pit (SSB4)/Neutral attack|equivalent attack]] getting buffed in [[1.1.0 (SSB4)#Pit|patch 1.1.0]], which was never applied to Dark Pit's presumably by mistake), his {{mvsub|Dark Pit|SSB4|forward tilt}} has significantly weaker base knockback, and the arrows fired from his {{mvsub|Dark Pit|SSB4|neutral special}} travel with less control but are stronger and faster. Due to his extreme similarity to Pit, most [[tier list]]s do not even give him his own placing, instead having him share Pit's spot, including the [[Smash Back Room]]'s [[Smash 4 tier list]].

|Dr. Mario was made into a clone, instead of being turned into alternative costume for Mario, because Sakurai felt fans of his ''[[Melee]]'' incarnation would be disappointed to lose his uniqueness. Many of his moves lost their subtle functional differences, but some of the more notable ones retain their unique functioning; his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSB4|forward smash}} is still an electrical move that's stronger with less [[reach]], his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSB4|neutral aerial}} retains the unique trait of being a [[sex kick]] whose later hitboxes are stronger than in its initial hitboxes, and his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSB4|forward aerial}} is a very powerful [[angle|vertical]] KO move instead of being a [[meteor smash]]. Dr. Mario now acts more truly to his original intention as a slower but stronger Mario; he has built-in [[equipment]] multipliers that significantly nerf his movement specs across the board, and his [[aerial]]s retain their higher [[landing lag]], but he also has equipment modifiers that give him a damage increase modifier to all of his moves. Dr. Mario has an additional new difference in that his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSB4|up special}} now only hits once without spawning coins, but he has gained the ability to [[wall jump]], removing a difference between him and Mario. Overall Dr. Mario remains very similar to Mario, with even his {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSB4|Final Smash}} and [[custom move]]s being all direct copies of Mario's (or Luigi's, in the case of [[Dr. Tornado]]'s customs), though [[Doctor Finale]] fires two large Megavitamins instead of shooting a large fire blast.

|Not much has changed for Falco; aside from getting a new up smash and back aerial (the latter of which was already different from Fox's), and up aerial's animation being significantly altered (with Falco flipping on the horizontal axis instead of the vertical axis, making it more obviously unique from Fox's {{mvsub|Fox|SSB4|up aerial}}), he retains his differences from Fox from the previous game. Notably, while he shares no [[custom move]]s with Fox, he and Fox both have custom {{mvsub|Falco|SSB4|neutral special}}s that replicate the other's default. Overall, Falco is still a clear semi-clone, though slightly more distinct than he was in ''[[Brawl]]''.

|Ganondorf has not received any major changes that affect how much of a clone he is, though he did get a few minor animation- and functionality-related tweaks. Among their shared moves, his {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSB4|neutral aerial}} became functionally more similar to Falcon's {{mvsub|Captain Falcon|SSB4|neutral aerial}}, as now the first kick is a weak hit to link into the second stronger hit, instead of both kicks being individually powerful, but Falcon's {{mvsub|Captain Falcon|SSB4|up aerial}} now being a vertically launching [[juggle]] tool gives its distinct functionality from Ganondorf's {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSB4|up aerial}} that remains a very strong horizontally-launching move that can semi-spike. He notably shares no custom moves at all with Captain Falcon, so he can become significantly more distinct when customs are enabled.

|Lucas' only similar moves are his {{mvsub|Lucas|SSB4|forward smash}}, {{mvsub|Lucas|SSB4|up aerial}}, {{mvsub|Lucas|SSB4|pummel}}, special moves, and {{mvsub|Lucas|SSB4|Final Smash}}. The rest of his moveset is unique.

|Lucas received no additional moves to distinguish himself from Ness. In fact, he now shares some non-attack animations with Ness despite having unique ones in ''Brawl'', such as his Final Smash animation, dash ending animation, [[idle animation]] when holding items, and his clapping animation. In addition, all of Ness's special moves have custom variants that cause them to act like Lucas's (whereas Lucas, like all [[Downloadable content (SSB4)|DLC characters]], has no custom moves). Lucas otherwise retains all of differences from Ness that he had in ''Brawl''.

|Luigi's jumps are animated differently, being a scuttle instead of a block-punch, and he has a different skidding animation when he stops dashing. He has a new down throw as well, where he Ground Pounds the opponent. He also does not share any customs with Mario, aside from one that makes his Fireballs act like Mario's default ones. The rest of Luigi's differences he had in ''Brawl'' are retained.

|Link being given a new {{mvsub|Link|SSB4|dash attack}} makes Toon Link's more unique, and Link's {{mvsub|Link|SSB4|up aerial}} has a new animation to differentiate it from [[Toon Link (SSB4)/Up aerial|Toon Link's]], though Toon Link himself has received no new substantial decloning changes. The two Links do not share many custom moves, and Toon Link retains his other differences from ''Brawl''.

*Many standard and special attacks of the {{SSB4|Mii Fighter}}s are cloned moves from existing characters. Several of the {{SSB4|Mii Gunner}}'s moves are similar to {{SSB4|Samus}}' or Fox's (with a couple similar to Ness' and {{SSB4|Robin}}'s). Similarly, the {{SSB4|Mii Swordfighter}} shares moves with the swordfighters (most predominantly Link and {{SSB4|Ike}}), while the Mii Brawler shares moves with Mario, {{SSB4|Little Mac}}, and Captain Falcon.

*While Wolf is not present in this game, Fox's [[Fox Illusion]] has a custom variation that mimics Wolf's, even being named "[[Wolf Flash]]".

*Datamining has revealed that {{SSB4|Cloud}} and {{SSB4|Corrin}} started development cloned off of Ike, and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}} started development cloned off of {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}}, though the characters would be so radically changed during development that little traces of their initial cloning remain. Little Mac similarly has evidence that he started development based off of Captain Falcon, with a trace remaining of them having identical animations when climbing off a {{b|ladder|stage element}} and Little Mac's {{mvsub|Little Mac|SSB4|back aerial}} being very similar to Falcon's conceptually, though like the aformentioned characters, he is so radically different otherwise that he cannot be classified as any sort of clone.<ref>https://sourcegaming.info/2018/07/03/bayo106/</ref>

As stated above, ''[[Ultimate]]'' uses the term "Echo Fighter" to refer to certain clones based on development time. The term is only loosely related to how unique a character is, as some full clones are not marked as Echo Fighters despite their similar movesets. Certain Echo Fighters are considered the same character as their base fighter competitively; Daisy, Richter, and Dark Samus, due to their differences from their base fighters being competitively negligible, and Dark Pit, who only has notable differences in two of his attacks but who is otherwise completely identical. On the character selection screen, Echo Fighters are positioned directly after their base fighter, and there exists an option to merge the portraits of the base fighter and the Echo Fighter in certain modes.

With ''Ultimate'' bringing back all veterans, every clone that was originally cut returns. However, most returning full clones did not receive many new differences. In the transition from ''Smash 4'' to ''Ultimate'', however, Luigi and Ganondorf were both significantly decloned (with Luigi commonly being agreed to have become a pseudo-clone),  and Link's new changes based off of ''The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'' subsequently decloned both of his counterparts to an extent.

|Daisy's entire moveset is completely identical to Peach's, with her only gameplay difference being slightly altered hurtboxes as a result of her different [[idle]] and [[dash]]ing animations.

|Alongside the different idle and dashing animations, Daisy's attacks have some different aesthetic effects, namely she has flower-based visuals replacing Peach's heart-based visuals, and she has distinctly different facial animations, but other than that, she has no gameplay differences whatsoever. The differing animations she has alter her hurtbox placements marginally when she stands still or runs, but this is not enough to change any of her matchups. Prior to [[Version 3.0.0#Daisy|Version 3.0.0]], Daisy's [[Daisy (SSBU)/Down special|Vegetable]] had higher base knockback but lower knockback scaling; as this was purposely changed to match Peach's version, it is clear that Daisy was not intended to have any gameplay differences from her at all.

|Dark Pit's minor differences have been removed from all of his standard attacks, making him even more similar to Pit. His Final Smash is unchanged, though since Zelda and Sheik have both received new ones, it can be argued whether it is still a cloned move. Other than that, Dark Pit retains his two other differences from ''Smash 4''.

|Most of Dark Samus's properties and hitboxes are the same as Samus's, with the most major difference being that most flame attacks involving the Arm Cannon are now [[electric]] ones. Dark Samus also has a large variety of unique non-attack animations, which does affect hurtbox placement during many actions, and many of her moves (such as her {{mvsub|Dark Samus|SSBU|dash attack}}, all [[smash attack]]s, as well as her {{mvsub|Dark Samus|SSBU|neutral special}} and {{mvsub|Dark Samus|SSBU|side special}}) have altered animations, which has subtle effects on their hitbox placement (such as allowing some moves to more effectively hit short or [[crouching]] characters, while Samus' equivalents are more difficult to high-profile over). Additionally, Dark Samus's [[roll]]s are faster, though she does not turn into a morph ball during them, and her shield is bigger. Overall, while the hitbox and hurtbox placement during Dark Samus' actions can marginally affect some [[matchup]]s, it's not considered meaningful enough to differntiate the two in [[tier list]]s nor matchup charts

|Dr. Mario is relatively unchanged compared to Mario. He received a new back throw, and both he and Mario received new, differing animations for their functionally unaltered {{mvsub|Dr. Mario|SSBU|side special}}s; he also received a new down aerial, though this does not declone him any more than before because he already had a different one. He retains his external multipliers, which have been made slightly more extreme, and his [[traction]] is now slightly higher. Dr. Mario retains all his other differences from ''Smash 4'', but overall he remains a close clone of Mario.

|Ganondorf received a new set of smash attacks involving his [[Ganondorf's sword|sword]], making him now only share about half of his moveset with Captain Falcon (though Ganondorf's up smash is very similar to Ike's {{mvsub|Ike|SSBU|up smash}} and his down smash is very similar to {{SSBU|Cloud}}'s {{mvsub|Cloud|SSBU|down smash}}). Ganondorf's general animations have been tweaked, and his remaining moves have generally had their animations unstiffend to reflect being reverted back to his younger ''Ocarine of Time'' appearance, most notably seen in his {{mvsub|Ganondorf|SSBU|down aerial}}, while Falcon has also received some animation changes in addition to a new {{mvsub|Captain Falcon|SSBU|forward smash}}, though these changes do not impact their clone status. Ganondorf is overall the least cloned he has been in ''Smash'', but is still a definitive semi-clone.

|Ken has a unique held far {{mvsub|Ken|SSBU|neutral attack}}, held {{mvsub|Ken|SSBU|forward tilt}}, {{mvsub|Ken|SSBU|forward smash}}, {{mvsub|Ken|SSBU|neutral aerial}}, {{mvsub|Ken|SSBU|up aerial}}, {{mvsub|Ken|SSBU|back throw}}, and Final Smashes. His special moves also have different properties or animations, and he has two entirely new moves only accessible via command inputs (the [[Ken (SSBU)/Command input/Command input 1|Nata Otoshi Geri]] and [[Ken (SSBU)/Command input/Command input 2|Oosoto Mawashi Geri]]), while losing access to the [[Shakunetsu Hadoken]].  

|Ken is the only Echo Fighter that is a semi-clone rather than a full clone, with his various differences being taken from ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo''. As such, some of Ken's attacks involve fire, his [[Hadoken]] is a different shape, and his [[Focus Attack]] is a kick (slightly modifying the placement of its hitbox). Some of Ken's standard attacks, including his forward smash, neutral aerial, up aerial, and back throw, are different from Ryu's. Additionally, Ken has access to two unique "crazy kicks", command-input roundhouse kicks that can be canceled into his Inazuma Kick. His [[Heavy Shoryuken]] has a flame effect while hitting multiple times with high knockback on the finishing hit as opposed to hitting once, and his [[Tatsumaki Senpukyaku]] hits multiple times, repurposing it into a combo starter and combo extender. Ken also walks and runs slightly faster. However, he shares most of his non-attack animations with the character he is based on, like Dr. Mario and the other Echo Fighters, as well as his other attributes.

|Lucas's only similar moves are his {{mvsub|Lucas|SSBU|forward smash}}, {{mvsub|Lucas|SSBU|pummel}}, special moves, and his {{mvsub|Lucas|SSBU|Final Smash}}. The rest of his moveset is unique, and even then, many of his shared moves have different properties.

|Luigi now has an extended grab utilizing the Poltergust, which also alters his {{mvsub|Luigi|SSBU|pummel}} and most of his throws except for his {{mvsub|Luigi|SSBU|down throw}}, which was already different from [[Mario (SSBU)/Down throw|Mario's]]. He additionally has a new running animation, and his {{mvsub|Luigi|SSBU|neutral aerial}} has a slightly different animation, while he retains his other differences among their shared moves from ''Smash 4''. However, his up tilt has been changed to slightly resemble Mario's, though that doesn't set him back enough to prevent transitioning from being a significantly decloned semi-clone to a pseudo-clone.

|Uniquely for transformation characters, the two are semi-clones of each other. Pyra and Mythra share their standard attacks, but Mythra is much faster than Pyra in all aspects and her moves have faster frame data, but Pyra's moves in exchange are generally much more powerful with farther reach, while several of her shared moves have the flame effect whereas Mythra's don't. Farther functional differences of their standard moves include Mythra's {{mvsub|Mythra|SSBU|neutral aerial}} being a weak multi-hitting move while [[Pyra (SSBU)/Neutral aerial|Pyra's]] is a strong single-hit move, and Pyra's {{mvsub|Pyra|SSBU|down aerial}} can [[meteor smash]], whereas [[Mythra (SSBU)/Down aerial|Mythra's]] cannot. Additionally, Mythra uses Foresight for her dodge while Pyra has no special mechanic of her own. Aside from [[Swap]], Pyra and Mythra have entirely diffrent special moves, including different Final Smashes, with Pyra's being [[Burning Sword]] and Mythra's being [[Sacred Arrow]].

|Aside from different taunts, the only gameplay difference Richter has is that his [[Holy Water]] uses the [[aura]] effect rather than the flame effect due to emitting blue flames, which is a very minor change - under tournament conditions, it only marginally affects his matchup with {{SSBU|Olimar}} and characters with [[explosive]]s. As such, they're considered the same entity competitively, and so share the same spot on tier lists and matchup charts.

|Wolf’s non-attack animations have been changed, including those that used to be directly copied from Fox, but many of them remain quite similar. In addition, he got the same Final Smash rework of having [[Landmaster]] replaced with [[Team Star Wolf|an airstrike attack]]. Aesthetically, he also now holds a device in his hands to use his {{b|Reflector|Wolf}}, just like Fox does. Wolf has also received a new {{mvsub|Wolf|SSBU|forward smash}} and {{mvsub|Wolf|SSBU|dash attack}}, while the functioning of his {{mvsub|Wolf|SSBU|back aerial}} has been altered significantly, though these moves were already unique from Fox's variations. However, his {{mvsub|Wolf|SSBU|neutral aerial}} was changed to a sex kick very similar to Fox's {{mvsub|Fox|SSBU|neutral aerial}}, removing one of his unique moves, although it does have an altered animation. All other differences Wolf had in ''Brawl'' are retained, but overall he retains just enough similarities with Fox to still be called a pseudo-clone.

|Young Link did not receive many changes, effectively acting as a legacy version of the changed parent Link. For his attributes, Young Link retains his wall jump, faster running speed, and higher jumps, but now has faster falling speed, faster air speed and [[air acceleration]], and faster frame data across the board, allowing him to more effectively act as a faster but weaker version of Link. The fire arrows from Young Link's {{mvsub|Young Link|SSBU|neutral special}} additionally now launch vertically, making them a combo tool unlike Link's [[Link (SSBU)/Neutral special|arrows]], and Young Link's {{mvsub|Young Link|SSBU|down aerial}} can no longer meteor smash but Link's {{mvsub|Young Link|SSBU|down aerial}} now does. Young Link retains his other differences from Link that he had in ''Melee'', and is overall more distinct, being close to the borderline of being considered a semi-clone

*In the [[Nintendo Direct]] of November 1, 2018, when Sakurai was talking about {{SSBU|Ken}}, he humorously noted that {{SSBU|Luigi}} (although now a pseudo-clone as of ''Ultimate'') could be considered the original “echo fighter”, as he was initially introduced as a simple palette swap of {{SSBU|Mario}} in 1983's ''Mario Bros.'' Likewise, Luigi was originally a full clone of Mario in ''Smash 64''

*Similarly to {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}} in ''Melee'', {{SSBU|Inkling}} shares multiple attributes with {{SSBU|Mario}}, despite otherwise not being a clone of him in the slightest. These include traction, short hop height, double jump height, air speed, air acceleration, air friction, gravity, and the ability to wall jump.

**To refer to Pit and Dark Pit, Samus and Dark Samus, or Link, Toon Link, and Young Link, the most common method is to pluralize the parent character's name; i.e., "Pits" and "Links".