An Introduction to Character Archetypes & Playstyles

SubrosianDimitri

The King of Poor Decision Making
Crowdfund Backer
I figured this would be a helpful thread to newbies to the genre who are jumping on with TFH, especially relating to our cast of Pummeling Ungulates, so I'll give the basic archetypes you see in FGs and relate them to TFH. Possible expansions to other FGs can happen, it depends on what people say.

As a quick note, I highly recommend you check this thread in order to understand some of the terminology I'm using.

Alright, here we go:

Rushdown - Their range isn't the longest, but they're good at getting close to the enemy, either by pulling them closer or, well, rushing them down in some way. They usually hit much harder than other archetypes and are some of the simpler characters to pick up.
- Tianhuo is a rushdown who is very heavy on aerial combos and using her magic to extend them, though a bit easier to figure out than other rushdowns of this type.
- Arizona is a far more typical rushdown, with a heavy emphasis on her lasso and the resulting magic stocks to close space between you and the enemy. Combos are relatively easy to pull off and deal high damage.
- Paprika falls under this category to an extent with her strong normals and teleports, her ability to close space isn't as good as Tina or Arizona though.
Zoners - Good at controlling screen space, which can consist of traps, projectiles, and/or long-range normals/specials. Some have teleports, others don't, and what kinds of zoners you see varies from game to game.
- Velvet is a good example of a Zoner, with a heavy focus on setting up her projectiles and using her twirls to push and pull the enemy so they stay where she wants them for maximum output.
- Oleander has zoning capabilities with her felsparks and pages, but she falls under a different major archetype.
All-Rounders - They can do pretty much everything, very much "Jacks of All Trades". They're usually balanced, have ways to close space or control it, but not nearly to the level of Rushdowns or Zoners. How they play and what moves they have can vary drastically from game to game, but the core idea of an All-Rounder is the same.
- Oleander is the closest thing to a Ryu TFH has. She has zoning abilities with her felsparks, good normals and the ability to close or create space with her teleports, and her damage output it okay all things considered.
- Paprika has this with her magic stocks which give her more range than Arizona does with attacks, and they can act as traps giving her minor space control. Her general playstyle is for more rushdown heavy though.
Grapplers - Command Grabs are the core of their mix-ups. They usually have some rushdown elements mixed in unless they're a pure grappler (which you don't see too often). There are currently no grapplers in TFH, but if you want notable examples from other fighters, look at Zangief (Street Fighter) and Cerebella (Skullgirls).

Now for some Sub-Types:
Puppet Characters - I'd classify them as a subtype of Zoners, but they don't have to be. These guys are exactly what they sound like, they have one or more puppet units at their command who fight alongside them (or for them). Usually these guys have weak normals and rely on their puppets for their damage output and combo potential. These characters often have very high execution requirements, so I recommend that beginners to the genre don't start with these guys.
- Pom is a pure puppet character, with her dogs being the main way she gets combos and damage going. Her normals aren't terrible, but they are fairly weak compared to everyone else and some of them are incredibly easy to punish. There's a reason her fireball and reverse fireball motions are what calls the dogs, because she needs them to fight.
- Oleander kind of has this when Fred is out of the book. He is controlled alongside her and is the way for Ollie to reach maximum output, but she can succeed without him and he's overall a lot less to keep track of.
Charge Characters - You don't really see pure charge characters (at least not to my knowledge), and the ones I've seen tend to be rushdowns, but there are some exceptions. Instead of your standard fireballs, dragon punches, etc for special inputs, they require you hold a direction for a certain number of frames and then press another direction (usually the opposite direction) with the attack button. Some characters have charge moves but are not charge characters.
- Paprika's 2 main specials (the cartwheel and teleports) require charging, which can be done while she's attacking. The exceptions to that rule are her supers and the "kissy face".

There are other subtypes, but they aren't seen nearly as much as the ones listed. Any feebdack or suggestions are appreciated.
 

Jordan Jackson

Crowdfund Backer
Crowdfund Backer
Feb 4, 2016
16
9
I have a question.
What's the purpose of a charge character? Couldn't you just have all the same moves on quarter circles and dragon punches?
 

QuoteMarks

This is a bug.
Nov 23, 2017
52
220
Charge moves prevent the usage of moves while moving in a direction. Paprika can't sprint rush you from across the screen into cartwheel because she has to hold backward in order to use it. Pom can't use Bark as an approach option. Jump-in's/out's being the exception. Charge moves exist to remove the usage of those moves in certain situations.
 
Top