Obsolete - No longer valid and used since I wrote it.[]
In Senran Kagura, the fighter girls are, in term of fighting, all different, which leads to interesting variations of Gameplay, which make some character fun, others less.
In this wiki, it seems that there isn't any clear way to classify characters fighting styles. Some go with Pokemon-like using abstract elements, but this isn't enough to describe what all characters have here: Thematics and Type.
Every characters are themed by 3 types of thematics:
Guardian, the only confirmed thing we know about the character's thematics, as it tends to be the most explicit in some cases, or "passive" in others.
Example: Ryoki's Guardian is the Chimera.
Style: The esthetic and overall look, only based on the Ninja outfit, which was supposed to be representative of the character, followed by how the character acts, reacts, talks, and who she is generally (her Behavior so).
Example: Ryoki "Style" Thematic is Princess, more by my personal opinion and idea.
Armory: The trickiest, based on the character's weapons. Mostly based on historical, current or mythological kinds of fighters.
Example: Ryobi armory is sniper, obviously because of the long-barreled Kar98k.
Special Cases:
-Some are their own thematics, lack one type, or have a type the same as one other. Kagura is the only one responding case, as she is herself in all her thematics, and doesn't have any Guardian.
Defining all of these is tricky job, as it is mostly subject of interpretation. Everyone interpret each thematic his own way, only the Guardian is an exception to the rule.
To further continue, each character have a role in combat, which is defined by his techniques, type of weapon and efficiency. There is 6 types:
Type 1: Leader: Team leaders, they represent their teams and constitute their strongest asset (not counting Champions). Generally very fast and strong, most of the time they have approching techniques as heavy attacks, and special attacks are generally medium-ranged in the common case. Examples: Asuka, Homura, Miyabi and Yumi are the main teams' leaders.
Type 2:
Piercer: Are mostly the Second in the groups, they have heavier weapons, mostly big swords like broadswords, or 1km long katana (like Hien) as main weapon. They are efficient against group of ennemies, and lone characters. Their technics can be ranged or approaching technics, and special attacks are most of the time Frontal attacks (attacks that affects mostly the foes in front of the character.). They're a bit slower but stronger than Berserkers.
Examples: Yomi and Ikaruga, both Seconds of their groups. Yomi attacks slowly with strong damage, have ranged attacks while Ikaruga, who attacks fastly with medium damage, have approaching techniques (= teleporting on the target).
Type 3:
Hybrid: Generally the Third member of the team, with medium-ranged weapons or double function ones, they ally both good melee attacks and good medium-ranged attacks, are both fast and strong, and are as efficient against groups as against others characters. They have a close-range simple heavy attack, and a ranged held heavy attack generally, and special attacks consist of one Frontal as light and one Ranging as heavy.
Examples: Ryoki and Katsuragi. Ryoki has a shotgun and fights mostly by point-blank shots and suppressive fire techniques, while Katsuragi use boots to kick her foes, and can shoot green fireballs.
Type 4: Skirmisher: Generally the Fourth member of the team, they have ranged weapons, and attacks generally far from the enemy. They have ranged heavy attacks, sometimes only as simple ones, potent melee attacks, with, as specials, one Ranging as light, and one Frontal as heavy. Distance is an important asset for them in fights, through they can have potent melee attacks.
Examples: Ryobi and Mirai. They're the only efficient Skirmishers. Ryobi has a sniper rifle, and a buckshot held heavy attack, while Mirai has a Thomson SMG, but with all her attacks being ranged, except her held heavy attacks which is a charge, and her specials that are both Frontals.
Type 5: Fodder (To Be Renamed): Mostly the Fifth member of the team, they are the most annoying to fight against, but can be found fun to use. They use small weapons or their Guardian to fight, their attacks are fast but rather weak. They generally lack ranged attacks and approaching techniques.
Examples: Hibari, Minori, Ryona and Haruka constitute the main examples.
Type 6: Champions: Special kind of fighter who doesn't belong to a team while they can be associated with one. They are the most efficient techniques and attacks, and the most resistant characters. They tend to vary between characters, and are never the same nor similar. They're the hardest to deal with, and thus the exact polar opposite of Fodders. There is only 4 Champions: Kagura, Sayuri, Rin and Daidoji. Jasmine is considered as a Champion as she is just another version of Sayuri.
A bit of Trivia to better understand:
- Ranging attack: an attack that affect the nearby ennemies and which generally throws away them.
- Frontal attack: an attack that affect the ennemies in front of the fighter.
- Approaching Technic: a technic and attack which consists of drawing near of an ennemy. Sometime its charging him, or teleporting on him.
- Buckshot shot: Refers to the buckshot variation of a 12 gauge shell, it's an frontal close-ranged attack.
This is how i define every character in the game. Obviously subject of interpretation. It may seems hard but it's actually simple. Let me give some last examples:
Ryoki: Chimera / Princess / Riot Policer, with the role of Hybrid.
Kagura: Kagura / Kagura / Kagura with the role of Champion.
Ryobi: Deer / Hunter / Sniper with the role of Support.
Asuka: Toad / Ninja / Ninja with role of Berserker.
The reason of creating this page is for having the opinion of someone else about the fiability of this classification, as I would want to use it for character' pages. Thanks.