Charge

While the act of charging can allow a player to potentially create massive damage it is also not without its drawbacks and liabilities. Charging can root the player in place or make them more susceptible to damage if they are hit. Lack of mobility must be considered given the time that is often required for a charged shot to be performed.

Fighting Games & The "Universal Charge"

Fighting games are known to have "Charge Characters", which, like a "throw character", centers his or her style around landing a certain (in this case, charged) move. This can be accomplished by charging the joystick in a certain direction, ala Guile, or by holding a button like in the Smash Brothers or even Soul Calibur games. With the joystick-holding characters, Turtling is often utilized, as what is known as the "universal charge" comes into affect. Since most charging moves of this type require you to hold either down then up or back and then forward, holding down and back at the same time not only keeps you blocking in most fighting games, but also leaves you able to hit up or forward after leaving the position, unleashing either move that needed charging. For example, while holding down and back while using Guile, hitting forward and punch will throw out a Sonic Boom, while hitting up and kick will initiate his Flash Kick.

As Guile isn't actually committed to an action with this joystick-based charge, he can cancel the charge at will by doing an incompatible action like jumping forward, however the charge can be started during these actions which allows players to mask their charge and deliver aggressive combos despite the defensive toolkit.