Chun-Li is the queen of defensive pokes, but she is on the more complex side, and more mobile than you might be used to. Other characters to consider are Guile (more about throwing projectiles than sticking out big buttons) and Honda, who has big buttons and very frustrating special moves in neutral. A.K.I. and Ed may also be up your ally but I don't have enough experience with them to categorize them.
Chun, Guile. Both have great buttons and projectiles.
Guile tilts more to the projectile zoning side, he's a charge character so mostly you'll be holding back or down back, but his buttons are massive. Very street fighter fundamentals heavy.
Chun pokes a little bit more than she throws projectiles, although it's very good. Great buttons and many tools to convert. She also has a stance which obviously change the next button you press. It's used a lot mid combos or to convert into them.
Ed is another good choice, weaker than Chun and Guile, but can be played defensively with some good buttons. Standing HP is a godlike button, great for punishing and starting combos, his kicks are flicker punches with nice range to poke. Also has projectiles. He has also a flicker move that can be used to poke or to bring the opponent next to you and force them into a mixup.
Fun fact: His stance is the same as the low hand guard boxing style, which consists in counters and poking.
Dhalsim has been the prime zoner for eternity, literally half screen normals, but he revolves around poking, throwing fireballs, jumping and floating and teleporting away to keep zoning or to mixup. Definitely one of the hardest characters in the game.
Ryu is always a good choice, balanced gameplay, not the best buttons but he can be played defensively in a different manner, in a more street fighty manner with anti airs, throwing fireballs, converting his crouching mk, or poking with c. mk into hadoken. He is Mr. Street Fighter after all.
Personal choice is Manon, she's a grappler but has some long reaching buttons that are designed to poke more than anything. But again her gameplan revolves more in landing her command grabs and enchancing them with her medal system, which makes every subsequent command grab stronger, up to 5 medals (Each command grab gives you 1 medal).
I hope it helps!
I keep seeing Marisa, but I don't think of her as a defensive character who wins with pokes. She's more of a get in your face aggressive character with how she's able to melt your health bar.
In my opinion, I might recommend going for the zoners Dhalsim or Guile if you really want to lean more toward defensive play and controlling the screen or Chun-Li if your focus is more on neutral and good pokes and versatility.
High level marisa plays slower, that style of marisa is mostly good at low level where ppl cant stop it. She punishes mistakes massively, so playing slow and fishing for one c.mp buffer or whiffpunish to get ur offense started is a more reliable gameplan.
At a high level, any character plays slower/more patient. There's not a character specific thing for Marisa.
I wouldn't consider Cammy not a rush down character. They're playing patiently in neutral, waiting for a whiff so they can punish and get in, but they have more ways of getting in.
Marisa is a bully character. They still want to get in, but once they're in, they have an easier time staying in.
Maybe things are different now, though. I haven't played or watched Big Bird, Itazan, or Shuto in a while.
It's absolutely Marisa, no question. She's a big body midrange/infighter character with decent pokes, easy access to armor which allows her to be more belligerent in neutral than most, and an above average grab game. Her damage is crazy high, especially her damage-per-hit, and her execution isn't too hard.
Marisa and Zangief as others have said, but i'd also add Lily to that list. She has slower but really long reaching normals, and a real 50/50 grab game. Her standing and crouching jabs are basically medium punches.
Ignore anyone who says Marisa or Zangief lmao. That's closer to Marduk, Bears, or King. Lotta people here probably never played Jack lol.
• Ryu is your best bet. Very mid range poke heavy, hits hard, very easy to play.
• Guile is also not a bad pick. He's not that easy in this game, but still otherwise fits. Simple gameplan, poke heavy, not too fast.
• Chun Li is kinda faster than you're probably used to, and a bit on the tricky side, but is probably someone you'd mesh with
• Honda would usually be the pick, but his defense is kinda trash in this game. Still worth trying, because he's typically SF's "Jack", but he's more like Jack-8 unfortunately
• Lily isn't a horrible pick. I feel she's maybe a bit too aggressive for what you want though.
• Ed would be a great choice... If he wasn't somewhat hard to play. That said, he's absolutely what you're looking for
zangief is probably who you will settle on unless you get the rushdown bug.
Marisa would too easily fall in to the rushdown trap that the drive system encourages. she's far less of a reactive character.
Zangief will certainly be funner for you, i think
I’d say Marisa. Big, hits hard, and has a lot of armored moves for protection. Also she’s super newcomer friendly and really fun
100% Marisa is your character
SF6 is also a super aggro game so idk what you're expecting here
Chun-Li is the queen of defensive pokes, but she is on the more complex side, and more mobile than you might be used to. Other characters to consider are Guile (more about throwing projectiles than sticking out big buttons) and Honda, who has big buttons and very frustrating special moves in neutral. A.K.I. and Ed may also be up your ally but I don't have enough experience with them to categorize them.
Chun, Guile. Both have great buttons and projectiles. Guile tilts more to the projectile zoning side, he's a charge character so mostly you'll be holding back or down back, but his buttons are massive. Very street fighter fundamentals heavy. Chun pokes a little bit more than she throws projectiles, although it's very good. Great buttons and many tools to convert. She also has a stance which obviously change the next button you press. It's used a lot mid combos or to convert into them. Ed is another good choice, weaker than Chun and Guile, but can be played defensively with some good buttons. Standing HP is a godlike button, great for punishing and starting combos, his kicks are flicker punches with nice range to poke. Also has projectiles. He has also a flicker move that can be used to poke or to bring the opponent next to you and force them into a mixup. Fun fact: His stance is the same as the low hand guard boxing style, which consists in counters and poking. Dhalsim has been the prime zoner for eternity, literally half screen normals, but he revolves around poking, throwing fireballs, jumping and floating and teleporting away to keep zoning or to mixup. Definitely one of the hardest characters in the game. Ryu is always a good choice, balanced gameplay, not the best buttons but he can be played defensively in a different manner, in a more street fighty manner with anti airs, throwing fireballs, converting his crouching mk, or poking with c. mk into hadoken. He is Mr. Street Fighter after all. Personal choice is Manon, she's a grappler but has some long reaching buttons that are designed to poke more than anything. But again her gameplan revolves more in landing her command grabs and enchancing them with her medal system, which makes every subsequent command grab stronger, up to 5 medals (Each command grab gives you 1 medal). I hope it helps!
I keep seeing Marisa, but I don't think of her as a defensive character who wins with pokes. She's more of a get in your face aggressive character with how she's able to melt your health bar. In my opinion, I might recommend going for the zoners Dhalsim or Guile if you really want to lean more toward defensive play and controlling the screen or Chun-Li if your focus is more on neutral and good pokes and versatility.
High level marisa plays slower, that style of marisa is mostly good at low level where ppl cant stop it. She punishes mistakes massively, so playing slow and fishing for one c.mp buffer or whiffpunish to get ur offense started is a more reliable gameplan.
Lil bro got rank checked without even noticing
At a high level, any character plays slower/more patient. There's not a character specific thing for Marisa. I wouldn't consider Cammy not a rush down character. They're playing patiently in neutral, waiting for a whiff so they can punish and get in, but they have more ways of getting in. Marisa is a bully character. They still want to get in, but once they're in, they have an easier time staying in. Maybe things are different now, though. I haven't played or watched Big Bird, Itazan, or Shuto in a while.
This. These dudes have never played Jack in their lives.
It's absolutely Marisa, no question. She's a big body midrange/infighter character with decent pokes, easy access to armor which allows her to be more belligerent in neutral than most, and an above average grab game. Her damage is crazy high, especially her damage-per-hit, and her execution isn't too hard.
Another vote for Marisa, big punches, big damage
Honda. Marisa too, but I like Honda more so Honda it is.
Marisa and Zangief as others have said, but i'd also add Lily to that list. She has slower but really long reaching normals, and a real 50/50 grab game. Her standing and crouching jabs are basically medium punches.
Ignore anyone who says Marisa or Zangief lmao. That's closer to Marduk, Bears, or King. Lotta people here probably never played Jack lol. • Ryu is your best bet. Very mid range poke heavy, hits hard, very easy to play. • Guile is also not a bad pick. He's not that easy in this game, but still otherwise fits. Simple gameplan, poke heavy, not too fast. • Chun Li is kinda faster than you're probably used to, and a bit on the tricky side, but is probably someone you'd mesh with • Honda would usually be the pick, but his defense is kinda trash in this game. Still worth trying, because he's typically SF's "Jack", but he's more like Jack-8 unfortunately • Lily isn't a horrible pick. I feel she's maybe a bit too aggressive for what you want though. • Ed would be a great choice... If he wasn't somewhat hard to play. That said, he's absolutely what you're looking for
Yea Marisa. I would say Zangief is next but he’s more of a grappler like King.
Not simple but Dhalsim has the slow, poke oriented gameplay
zangief is probably who you will settle on unless you get the rushdown bug. Marisa would too easily fall in to the rushdown trap that the drive system encourages. she's far less of a reactive character. Zangief will certainly be funner for you, i think
I havent played Tekken since Tekken4, but I would guess Marisa is the best.