Clone character

A clone character is a character that is created by copying another character's files and making adjustments. It is a concept used in many video game series to quickly increase the size of the playable roster. They are far easier to create than a character made from scratch, but in exchange, have many of the same attacks and animations as their source, though their properties may be adjusted, giving them a sometimes significantly altered gameplay style. Overall, a clone's status as a clone is usually primarily aesthetic.

Historically, clones have proven to be controversial additions to the roster, both in the official  titles and in the Super Smash Flash series, as they are often erroneously perceived to be taking the place of a more unique character. The error lies in that the time and labor required to add a clone is incomparably low compared to that required to create a character from scratch. For example, was able to be created within a two-month period between the release of Super Smash Flash 2 Beta in late May 2017 and Super Smash Con 2017 in early August to be released in a relatively minor patch, something that would not have been possible with a more independent character.

The term semi-clone is occasionally used for characters such as that are clearly inspired by another character but have too many significant differences to have been directly copied. However, the line drawn between clone and semi-clone is typically completely arbitrary, and the term has no firmly agreed-upon definition.

In Super Smash Flash
In the original Super Smash Flash, there are four clone characters, all unlocked by beating a single-player mode with their source character.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Clones in Super Smash Flash 2 are more difficult to add than they were in SSF because of the higher number and quality of sprites required. However, they do exist, as a part of the labor in initially creating hitboxes and physics is still saved.

Every character has had a direct file connection to at one point, as he was the first character to be programmed. Even with entirely independent characters, copying an existing one is often done first as a template to minimize the possibility of missing animations, bugs, and crashes during the character creation process. For example,, when initially shown at APEX 2014, periodically appeared to turn into when the game tried to load animations that did not exist at the time. However, despite this, Chibi-Robo is not a Samus clone, as none of Samus' design remains in Chibi-Robo's final character.

Trivia

 * Both clones currently known in SSF2 were revealed at Super Smash Con, in consecutive years.