Shoto

Shoto or Shotoclone is a collective slang term that refers to the following characters:

• Ryu
• Ken

The term originates from what Street Fighter players call characters derived from Ryu, a phrase derived from "Shotokan", which is a colloquialism for anyone who fights using his style in the Street Fighter series of games—typically restricted to having a fireball, a jumping uppercut that functions as an anti-air, and a spinning kick that gives forward momentum. It is derived from an error in the instruction manual of the SNES version of Street Fighter II, which claimed this was the branch of karate that Ryu and Ken practiced (in reality, they practice an in-universe art called Ansatsuken). Since Ken is an Echo Fighter of Ryu in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, players may use this term to refer to both of them collectively when applicable.

In the context of Ultimate, Terry and Kazuya are occasionally incorrectly grouped as shotos, particulary in videos that feature them, Ryu and Ken because all four characters come from "traditional" fighting games, which feature 1-on-1 battles with command inputs and always face their opponent. In actuality, these do not meet the requirements of being considered a shoto. As such, this distinction does not apply to either Terry or Kazuya. They additionally are not any sort of clone of Ryu nor Ken in Smash, thus including them would dilute the term's primary usage to collectively refer to a pair of clone characters.

In non-competitive contexts, particularly those related to hypothetical moveset design, Mario and his clones may be referred to as shotos due to having some similar moves to Ryu and a similar "beginner fighter" role.

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