Known in Japan as Ryūko no Ken ("Fist of the Dragon and Tiger"), Art of Fighting is a Fighting Game series by SNK that was released for the Neo Geo arcade and home video game systems. While the last installment of the series appeared in early 1996, several of its characters are still widely popular today and continue to appear in a number of Spin-Off series. The series also doubles as a Prequel to the Fatal Fury series.

Much of the gameplay of the first two games mimics that of Street Fighter II. The series, however, also came with a few innovations of its own. When special moves were used, an energy gauge under the life gauge, called the "spirit gauge", would deplete. The less power that is in the spirit gauge, the less effective and powerful the special moves are. Taunting (which Art of Fighting is the first Fighting Game to include) is done to drain the opponent's gauge. The gauge can be replenished by holding down one of the buttons, but leave the player open to attack and can be re-depleted and temporarily stopped if the opponent taunts the player.

Art of Fighting was also the first Fighting Game to feature powered-up special moves. The Super Death Blow featured in the first two games is a move done when the spirit/rage gauge is full, but must be learned in a Bonus Stage that appears throughout the games. The Hidden Death Blow, seen in all three games, is a move that can only be done if the spirit gauge is full and the player's life bar is very low and flashing red.

In the first two games, fighters can show facial bruising and torn clothing as the fight progresses. The third game has several prerequisites to finish and humiliate your opponent with Clothing Damage.

The series consists of:

Games

• Art of Fighting 1
• Art of Fighting 2
• Art of Fighting 3

Other media

• Art of Fighting, an animated TV special was also created; it was based on the plot of the first game.

Characters from Art of Fighting have continued to appear in other video games, most notably The King of Fighters and the SNK vs. Capcom series.

Ask for the trope examples of the series with your power!

• The '70s: This is the time that this series of games takes place.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: Ryo and John were very blatant attempts at SNK versions of Ryu and Guile, respectively, from Street Fighter II. While not as blatant, Robert being Ryo's wealthy rival with the same set of attacks as Ryo makes him SNK's version of Ken, also from Street Fighter II.
• Awesome, but Impractical: At least prior to the third entry, the Haoh Shou Koh Ken. A supercharged version of the standard KouOuKen projectile that is 6 ft tall and does much higher damage. It sounds awesome, but it's also rather useless. First, in order to learn this technique, you must sacrifice a chance to permanently increase HP or Spirit. That shouldn't really matter on itself, but the problem is, HaouShouKouKen requires nearly 3 seconds of concentration, during which time you are basically a sitting duck waiting to get trashed. It also eats all (or almost all) your spirit meter, meaning that A) you can not cast it if you used some specials and didn't "recharge" and B) Once you cast it, you are basically back to 0 spirit. And if that isn't enough, in the extremely likely possibility you get hit while trying to cast it, you will lose an insane amount of HP, and you will stand still a full second after casting it. Throw in the fact that the movement is a really difficult one and you have a prime example of the trope.
• Big Bad: Mr. Big in 1, Geese Howard in 2 and Wyler in 3.
• Calling Your Attacks: Almost everyone, as expected for a 90's Japanaese fighting game.
• City of Adventure: Parts 1 and 2 take place in Southtown, SNK's loose equivalent of 80s era New York, which is portrayed as a crime infested city. AOF 3 is set in the equally fictional of Glasshill, Mexico.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The spirit meter in the arcade and Neo Geo versions is color coded to show the strength of special attacks when performed.
• Compilation Re-release: Art of Fighting Anthology (PS2)
• Death or Glory Attack: The Super Death Blows and Desperation Attacks required complex joystick motions to pull off and were extremely unsafe. The payoff being, they did absurd amounts of damage if you managed to connect with any of them and the desperation attacks were unblockable.
• Demoted to Extra: While the series does have characters that have become SNK icons, a huge chunk of the series' cast has been essentially relegated to cameo-only characters in every game past the Art of Fighting series. Several characters like Ryuhaku Todoh and Temjin cease to be playable after their first appearances, as does the entirety of the third game's newcomers except for Kasumi. And barring some very big breakout picks like King and the main protagonists, most characters that reappear in The King of Fighters don't see nearly as many appearances as characters from other series like Fatal Fury and Athena.
• Derivative Differentiation: It was initially percieved by gamers to be a cheap cash-in of rival company Capcom's Street Fighter. Despite this, Art Of Fighting set itself apart by introducing several new gameplay mechanics such as taunting, the addition of a spirit gauge to regulate use of specials, along with supers and desperation attacks. The game's scaling feature also became a series trademark.
• Desperation Attack: All three games have extremely damaging moves that can only be done when your character's life is close to empty.
• Denser and Wackier: Disregarding the Gag Dub of AoF 2, Team Kyokugen progressively became this with every passing year in The King of Fighters where they (sans Garcia) are portrayed as a bunch of penniless Butt-Monkey losers. Many of their endings also involve Ryo and Robert pulling off rubbery Gonk faces, after getting stuck in some zany situation or another.
• Double Standard: Ryo and Takuma are both guilty of it, in regards to Yuri's attraction to Robert.
  • They have no problem with Robert helping to represent their school at the annual King of Fighters, or that he bankrolls their dojo during times of financial difficulty. Yet, they won't allow him to date Yuri, 'cuz they're convinced he'll just take her for granted.
  • Likewise, Takuma has no problem with Ryo dating and actively encourages it, because he wants grandkids^note seen in their team endings in KoF 2000 and XI. Yet, he won't let Yuri have boyfriend; even if it's the guy who stuck his neck out to help save her.
• Dual Wielding: Mr. Big with rattan sticks and Rody Birts with tonfa.
• '80s Hair: The cast of the whole series add up to a total of six mullets!
• Expy: Robert Garcia is an expy of early 90's Steven Seagal.
• Extremity Extremist:
  • Mickey Rogers, a boxer who can only do punches. Sinclair, who fights with a scimitar, only does sword attacks.
  • Initially, Mr. Big uses just botan attacks. In KOF '96, he gains kicks.
• Fanservice: The player gets rewarded with a bit of eye candy for finishing King and Yuri with special attacks, so long as it's done in the final round. Their tops get shredded, exposing their cleavage, doubly so in King's case!
• Fantastic Fighting Style: The Sakazaki Family are all practictioners of Kyokugenryuu Karate, while Robert is Famed in Story as the first foreigner to ever practice and master the style.
• Following in Relative's Footsteps: Ryo Sakazaki is both son and successor to his father, Takuma's, legacy. By the time of Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Ryo was the new Headmaster of the Kyokugen Dojo and had inherited the mantle of "Mr. Karate II".
• Go-Karting with Bowser: In Art of Fighting, Mr. Big and his cronies kidnapped Ryo's sister. In Art of Fighting 2, they all compete in a casual tournament and their dialogue, while still somewhat antagonistic, is a lot friendlier than one would expect.
• Gratuitous English: A lot of them, but mostly Mickey Rogers, who is played by an English speaker.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Subverted. Ryo and Robert have been training together since their early teens, whereas Yuri has only studied for little over a year. She isn't as strong as they are, yet she's mastered the basics of Kyokugen-ryu and is a regular at the annual King of Fighters tournament.
• Hour of Power: As mentioned below, if you play the game on their birthday, each character can use their Desperation Attack regardless of how much life they have left.
• Ki Manipulation: More relevant here than in the average fighting game due to the need to charge them up.
• Large and in Charge: Mr. Big really lives up to his name.
• Luke, I Am Your Father
  Yuri: "Don't do it, brother. That man is our, our...."
• Mana Meter: Each fighter has a color-coded spirit meter. When it is green or cyan, special attacks are performed at full strength. When it is yellow, special attacks that can be performed are at reduced strength. When it is red, special attacks that can be performed are weak.
• Mirror Match: All three games allow it, but in Art of Fighting 2's story mode, the characters would have some funny dialogue to exchange pre-match.
• Moveset Clone: There was hardly any distinction between Ryo and Robert's movesets in the original. That began to change, starting with AOF2.
• Numbered Sequels: Art of Fighting 2; The Path Of The Warrior: Art Of Fighting 3
• Perfect Play A.I.: Let's just say, the first and second games are definitely not for the uninitiated. And not for some of the initiated either.
• Period Piece: This series takes place in The '70s, so clothes that came from that period are worn by the people in this game.
• Prequel: To the Fatal Fury series, as it is established in Art of Fighting 2 that a younger Geese Howard was behind the events of the first two games.
• Shows Damage: In the first two games. The more damaged dealt, the more it's visible on the fighters, including the facial area. to add to that, when low on health, the characters will go into a more tired-out stance.
• Sunglasses at Night: Mr. Big and John, who wear them in battle until they get knocked off by the opponent.
• Super Special Move: Ryo and Robert can both perform "Haou Shoukou Ken" ('Supreme King Soaring Howl Fist"), a stronger version of the standard "Kou'ou Ken". The projectile used in the super version is bigger, faster, and sometimes is rendered a brighter color like orange rather than blue.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: King, who did this to compete in Muay Thai tournaments before the first AOF.
• Vice City: Art of Fighting came to establish Southtown's nasty reputation as the city where "only the strong survive and the dreams of the weak are torn apart and left for dead". And in the 1970s no less, when the Rust Belt economic recessions and unemployment were on the rise, and where even New York City was becoming to be feared as "The Most Dangerous City In The World" and Detroit was taking up "Detroit: Where the Weak are Killed and Eaten".
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In the first two games, getting hit in the stomach makes any character bend back and throw something out of its mouth, likely spit or vomit, in the vein of Street Fighter II.