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Y'know, I was just thinking about Super Smash Brothers and Street Fighter. Although the two games control quite differently, it would seem that at first glance, Mario and Luigi are clones of would Ryu and Ken. After all, two characters sharing a brotherly bond with a flying uppercut and the ability to shoot fireballs from their hands seems to be the trademark characteristics of Ryu and Ken, not to mention that street fighter was the earlier fighting game. Isn't that right?

Well perhaps it is, but if you recall the earlier Mario platformers, the most notable example being the first Super Mario Bros. you'll note that Mario and Luigi, who're actually brothers, had similar abilities already. Most notably the Mario Brother's jumps look like an uppercut and has brick breaking power, and also that the Fire Flower also allowed the brothers to shoot fire from their hands also.

It seems almost as clear to me as it possibly can be, that Ryu and Ken aren't copies of Mario and Luigi, at least not intentionally, and it's highly possible that Nintendo simply just took advantage of the similarities to parody the infamous fighting game icons. If I didn't know any better, I might even think that with Super Mario 64, that Nintendo may've been setting up the potential for additional similar moves between the pairs with the addition of a variety of the punches, kicks and so on. Take a look at the basic standing jump kicks between the four characters for example. They all launch straight off of the ground, extend one leg up at similar angles, while the other leg remains in a neutral position. Still, Mario and Luigi had the two most identifiably similar moves first and with their clear seniority could've hardly been intended as Ryu and Ken ripoffs. At least, not without some mind bendingly crazy Chrono Trigger styled temporal interference at the least.

For the most part, I just find the coincidence of incredible interest and intend this thread to not only discuss this particular instance of similarity, but also to discuss other such character similarities in addition. The coincidental sort are preferable as I find the conundrum behind them more interesting, but blatant rip-offs are acceptable too if not only for the sake of making conversation. Goku and Sonic are both searching for the seven magical jewels and both transform into golden haired creatures of incredible power? Sure, that's fairly close. Sherlock Holmes and Batman are both the world's greatest detective within their relative settings? Why not? This phenomena need not be limited to video games in the least bit. Bonus points if you can make somebody's eyes pop out of their skull from the utter shock of a realization.

Just try not to mention the instances where two characters from the same creators or continuity seem to be identical here, as this may be simply be stylistic or intended as referential nods to the fans. The way I see it, those sorts of things can be topics all their own amongst their respective fan bases and really have very little to do with social consciousness overall.

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Role reversal at its finest.

Well, I may (and probably am) speaking nonsense here, since I'm not much of a Dragon Ball fan, but there's Zidane and Goku.


Both have tails.

Both are so carefree, it's almost annoying.

Both enter a Zuppamode. (Trance and Super Saiyan)

Both their most powerful forms involve fur. Red fur.

They're alien superbeings that came to new worlds to, well, kill everyone. They don't.

Both their brothers (Kuja and Vegeta) are evil, greedy, and want to be leaders, while also having pride issues and believing friends are for the weak. (This may concern a bit of Dissidia plot here. Feel free to ignore this "friendship" part if you want, as it's not that showy in the original game)

Also about their brothers, besides Ultima looking like a Kamehame, they're both traitors. Kuja betrayed Garland, to an extent. Vegeta betrayed Frieza. To an extent.




It's probably not a ripoff, not even just an inspiration. But it's a wonderful coincidence anyway.

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Snooping as usual, I see?