The act of keeping the opponent at a distance, taking advantage of a superior attack range while moving little or not at all.

A sudden interruption of a thrown move to immediately place another one in order to follow up. A move that can be interrupted in this way is called "cancellable".

Dizziness that can be reversed, usually by mashing some buttons.

A type of combo where each punch can be chained with a kick of the same strength, and where an attack of lower strength can be combined with the more powerful version of that punch (small fist and medium fist for example), forming a chain. The name comes from the title Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge (Vampire Hunter: Darstalker's Revenge in Japan). Variations exist in several other games, the most common being a two-chain (where only the first rule applies), a three-chain (where only the second rule applies) and a five-chain (where it is not possible to combine the big fist with the big foot). This mechanic is very present in the X-Men vs Street Fighter and Marvel vs Street Fighter series.

Channeling is the redirection of an attack to its target before completion, whether the target is front or back.

An attack that requires you to hold down (charge) a button to perform it, either an attack or a directional command. This technique is very popular in 2D games, but can also be found in some 3D games although in these cases the button to be charged is very often an attack rather than a direction.

Being cheesy or cheap means using a technique that is considered overpowering, or repeating the same actions over and over. Such practices are often to be avoided when playing with friends, especially if you abuse a broken technique, but are completely accepted during tournaments or among pro players. It is not uncommon for a strategy considered cheap by casual players to be considered weak or easy to counter by professionals. In Capcom games, this term means finishing off your opponent with damage done in the guard thanks to super or a special move.

Term derived from "cheat code", a cheat code that is entered to gain advantages in a video game (more life, power, etc.). A character is said to be "cheated" when it appears to have too great an advantage over the others.

Term mainly used in the Capcom vs SNK and Capcom vs Marvel licenses, used to describe a situation where a player prefers to jump to block an attack rather than blocking it by staying on the ground. The idea is to take advantage of the interruption of the Block Stun when a player touches the ground, to counter-attack on the aggressor who is still in recovery from the blow he has just launched, and therefore cannot defend himself. During the time he is in the air, a player only needs to block in one direction, as there is no mix up low/high in the air. Many players find this technique to be a wimpy technique, hence the name.

Damage, often minimal, taken by protecting oneself from a special blow or fury, also called 'scratch damage'.

Seizure, projection achievable in hand-to-hand situation.

A clone character is a character whose range of techniques is very similar or completely identical to another character's, but who does not have the same physical appearance as the original character. In the first Street Fighter, Ryu and Ken were clones. It is not uncommon for clones to gain different techniques as the saga evolves: besides Ryu and Ken, there were, for example, Ralf and Clark in KoF, or Fox and Falco in Melee. A clone is not just a costume change, it occupies a well-defined character slot in the roster and usually has a different story from the original character.

A series of blows to the opponent which, if correctly executed, cannot in principle be interrupted.

A Command Grab (or Command Throw) is different from a standard grab. While the latter can be tech'd (i.e. countered, usually by another hold), Command Throws cannot be tech'd and sometimes inflict more damage than a classic, counterable hold. Their only drawback is that they sometimes require quite complex manipulations to get out, and are therefore slower to send than a traditional grab. They are very useful for Tick Throw, as they have several active frames, which allows to enter the command before the end of the Block Stun, leaving little opportunity for the opponent to escape.

Used for the first time in Street Fighter, it is a move that is sent while pressing a direction, like Ryu's famous low fist. While these moves aren't much different from the regular moves, they allow for a wider range of actions and techniques, without the need for additional buttons. Most of these moves have special features, such as the ability to strike downwards or overhead. In King of Fighters, it is possible to cancel a normal attack with a Command Move, which loses its specificity but can also be cancelled by a special technique, while some normally launched Command Moves can also be cancelled by a special attack or a super.

An advanced tactic, aimed at giving the opponent a false sense of security by repeating the same play sequences. For example, a player can always attack down at the top, so that the opponent always anticipates this, while his goal is to place an overhead at the top to follow up with a devastating combo.

Players touching a character in the air can convert this juggle into a combo. Conversions are harder to achieve than combos, as players must react to the smallest movement of the opponent to keep them in the air, using well timed (and often improvised) attacks.

The corner at the far left or far right of the screen, the end of the arena in the 2D fighting game.

A character's corner play. The better a character's corner carry, the more pressure he will put on his opponent in the corner, literally destroying his life bar if he manages to open the guard.

The act of being trapped in a corner by the opponent.

Counter-strike. A move that hits an opponent who is attacking or moving.

This mode was exclusive to KoF 99 and KoF 2000, cost 3 stocks and was triggered by pressing ABC. The player character will assume a specific pose and be surrounded by a red aura, for a brief period of time indicated at the top of the screen. During this time, the player's Power Gauge disappears, and he can no longer accumulate Power Gauge. Despite this disappearance, he can use Guard Cancel Attacks and Guard Cancel Slides in any direction, and as many times as he wishes. During Counter Mode, the attacks inflict more damage. Even if the player has no power gauge left, he can use Desperation Moves as many times as he wants during the Counter Mode. While in this mode, he can cancel his Dodge Attacks in the same way as a normal move, and can even cancel a special technique with a DM. At the end of this mode, the player's power gauge only reappears after a certain amount of time, preventing the player from collecting energy/stocks until he returns.

A situation where a player takes a character with a significant statistical advantage over the character chosen by the opponent. Some players denounce this practice, while others consider it to be a tactic like any other. Counterpicking is allowed in tournaments, as long as the character played is not on the banned list.

A special move in which the first directional input must be held for one second before it can continue. A character with such attacks is called a charged character.

Criticals are moves that can do more damage than they are normally supposed to. In games using this mechanic, critical hits usually happen randomly.

The act of passing underneath an opponent when the latter is in the air, so as to be able to attack him in the back when he falls back down.

The act of passing behind the opponent from above, usually by leaping over them.

The crouched position of the character, usually achieved by pressing the down button.

A dash performed in a crouched position, or whose mechanics include crouching at some point. Dashes are more prevalent in 3D games, notably the Tekken series, where the command is usually forward, back to neutral, down, low-front. Most characters have moves they can throw after a Crouch Dash, and members of the Mishima family can chain two Crouch Dashs together, creating a move called a Wavedash (not to be confused with the Wavedash in Melee). In Tekken, the Crouch Dash naturally avoids all high attacks, and can also parry some low attacks.

A type of attack after which the opponent slowly collapses to the ground.

Cancellable stun. Stun can be cancelled by entering several commands. Recognisable by yellow flashes.