Homer performing a Supercancel
A cancel, as the name implies, is the ability to break out of the animation of a move with another move, usually done during the recovery frames of a move. It should not be confused with linking.
The concept of cancels were first seen in Street Fighter II and have been in almost every fighting game since. Though each fighting game has its own rules on what moves can be cancelled and what these moves can be cancelled into, most games follow the same general formula:
Normal Move -> Special Move -> Super/Hyper Move
In The King of Fighters, cancelling a Special into a Super is referred to as a Supercancel, while cancelling a Super into another Super is known as a Dreamcancel.
A special case exists in some fighting games, most notably in the Marvel vs. Capcom games, where a Normal can be cancelled into a higher strength Normal. These types of cancels are known as Chains or Chain Cancels. A related mechanic in the Street Fighter series exists known as Target Combos, which are character-specific chains that act as exceptions to the game's general chaining rules.
Some games also have special mechanics that allow for different types of cancels. For example, Street Fighter IV has a mechanic known as Focus Attack Dash Cancel, which allows the character to cancel the animation of any move with a short dash at the expense of half of their super meter.
See also[]
- Roman Cancel - A special type of cancel in the Guilty Gear games.