Bayonetta (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U)


 * This article is about Bayonetta's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. For other uses, see Bayonetta.

Bayonetta (ベヨネッタ, Bayonetta) is a downloadable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U,  as well the seventh Third Party character to appear in the series, following Solid Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, and Cloud Strife. She was released on February 3, 2016 in a bundle with the Umbra Clock Tower stage, costing $5.99 for one version of the game and $6.99 for both versions.

She was the character elected by fans using the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot, ranking #1 in European votes and placing in the Top 5 in United States votes. After determining that she was the most realizable character to make, the Smash Bros. development team chose to make her. She is the second character representing SEGA in the Smash Bros. universe, after Sonic the Hedgehog.

She has no official placement on a Tier List as she was released in the patch after the first official one was made.

Strengths

 * Can wall jump and wall cling.
 * High jumping height.
 * Has projectile attacks.
 * Has a Counter Attack.
 * Dash Grab has very high range.
 * Has a very fast pummel.
 * Good variety of multi-hit attacks, which makes her combos easy to connect due the increased hitstun.
 * All her attacks except for Down Special can be extended Bullet Arts by holding the attack button, causing her to shoot with her guns.
 * Bullet Arts will transform all of her attacks into projectiles, with some of them firing at multiple angles to hit multiple opponents at the same time.
 * The projectiles have transcending priority, meaning they can't clash with other attacks.
 * Most attacks are very combo-oriented, also with multi-hit properties.
 * All her Special Attacks except for Down Special can deal extra hits or have modified properties depending on wether the player presses or holds the button.
 * Many throws can combo into Smash Attacks, or at least lead into read situations.
 * Powerful edge-guard tools with her Aerials and Smash Attacks.
 * Forward Aerial is the only in the game that can be input additional hits. In addition players can cancel the first hit into another first hit successively.
 * Has the largest Smash Attacks in the game, with gargantuan hitboxes, great range and damage.
 * In addition, all her Smash Attacks have disjointed hitboxes as they are not part of her body.
 * Up Smash has the second highest range of all Up Smashes, after Palutena's.
 * Has two Meteor Smashes: Down Smash and Down Aerial.
 * She is the only character in the game to have a Smash Attack that also is a Meteor Smash.
 * Her Down Aerial can be cancelled with a midair jump or Witch Twist to negate most of the ending lag.
 * In addition, her Down Aerial is the strongest Down Aerial in the game when used against grounded opponents, dealing massive knockback even against opponents with low percentages.
 * Has a very versatile and potentially high recovery with her Special Attacks, being able to use Witch Twist twice in the air in between jumps, and also After Burner Kick before touching the ground.
 * Bullet Climax deals hitstun and can rack up damage quickly. It can also be charged for stronger projectiles, and Bayonetta can also cancel the charging animation into a shield or side-dodge while holding the button.
 * Side Special can be reversed in the air, and has different properties in both ground and air, even having different names (Heel Slide on the ground and After-Burner Kick in the air).
 * After-Burner Kick can be used twice in the air after it connects with the opponent.
 * After-Burner Kick It can also be angled downwards, turning it into a dive-kick.
 * Witch Twist can be cancelled in the middle of the animation, extending recovery and combo potential.
 * Witch Twist will always launches opponents in front of Bayonetta.
 * In addition, holding the button will cause extra hits.
 * It can also be used again if the player jumps after using it a first time.
 * Witch Time will counter enemy attacks and slow down opponents, allowing for near limitless options for punishing. It is the only Counter move that slow downs time. The higher the percentage the opponent is, the higher will be the slowdown.
 * This is the only counter move that also counts as a dodge, meaning Bayonetta can also avoid being grabbed.
 * When activated late, Bat Within will be used, which will instead reduce damage taken, negate knockback and warp Bayonetta in the input direction, allowing for flanking and punishing options.
 * Her side-dodges and spot-dodge can also trigger the Bat Within if she is struck in the first frames.

Weaknesses

 * Extremely lightweight, being slightly lighter than Zelda and Sheik.
 * Has the third slowest jab in the game, after King Dedede and Zelda's.
 * Too dependent on combos to rack up damage.
 * Additionally, not all of her combos are guaranteed due to opponent's DI.
 * Can be too dependent on Witch Time to KO opponents.
 * Many of her attacks, including her gigantic Smash Attacks, lack priority.
 * Lack of KO moves.
 * Lack of guaranteed combo throws.
 * Bullet Arts don't cause hitstun and have limited range, as well as having a limited number of shots, meaning Bayonetta cannot hold it infinitely.
 * Bullet Climax always points slightly upwards.
 * Witch Time has diminishing return, meaning that using it too often will shorten the effect.
 * Opponent can still hit you even if they're slowed down by Witch Time. And if they hit you Witch Time automatically ends.
 * Most of her attacks have considerable startup lag, leaving huge openings for enemy interception.
 * The more attacks she performs in the air, the longer landing lag she will receive at the end, leaving her extremely vulnerable to being punished by enemies.
 * Using too many combos in mid-air with Witch Twist leaves a huge opening during landing.
 * Her recovery is very poor if the player is out of jumps after one Witch Twist.
 * Her recovery is slower that the other fighters, making it easier for enemies to gimp her and/or land a Meteor Smash.
 * Has a hard learning curve due to her non-orthodox slower attacks and difficulty to recover.
 * If the player fails to fill up the gauge during Bayonetta's Final Smash, the entire move will fail.

Summary
Bayonetta is an agile and versatile fighter that, much like Ryu, is very combo oriented. However, she specializes in aerial combos, with many multi-hit attacks that can chain into each other. Her Special Attacks play a very important part into this, as they lead to a huge amount of setups.

Bayonetta is notable for her unique mechanic, Bullet Arts, where she can extend and/or cancel her combos by holding the attack button during her moves, canceling the animation and causing her to shoot bullets from her guns on both hands and feet. She can fire up to five bullets depending on how long the button is held, dealing roughly 1% per bullet. The bullets cause no hitstun but a small flinch, and are imbued with transcending priority, meaning they cannot clash or collide with other attacks and projectiles.

As for her combos, she has a lot of flexibility and versatility. While none of her Tilts have particular strength for KO'ing, they launch the opponent upwards, allowing Bayonetta to quickly integrate her approach into the air. Once the opponent is launched, she has a high number of options to deal with opponents, specially with her Up Special, Witch Twist, and Side Special, After-Burner Kick, both capable of carrying opponents near the upper blast line easily. Down Tilt is notable for having decent range and speed, as well lowering her hurtbox enough to dodge some projectiles and attacks; it sets up combos for nearly all her Aerial arsenal as well as Smash Attacks.

Her Aerial Attacks is where she truly shines. Neutral Aerial is an excellent combo stater and great spacing too, being her fastest aerial attack, with very little ending lag and almost no landing lag, as well a surprisingly large hitbox that even allows to hit enemies below her. Forward Aerial lifts Bayonetta slightly when connecting with an opponent (even if it hits their shield), and the first or second hit can be cancelled into each other or other Aerial Attacks, and even Smash Attacks if used on short-hops, being her most reliable and safe aerial, great for gimping. Back Aerial is very powerful as a finisher and for edge-guarding, while Down Aerial is the strongest in the game when used against grounded opponents, being even more powerful than Ganondorf's; it is also a powerful Meteor Smash if it connects with the tip of her heel, the ending lag can be cancelled into jumps or Witch Twist. Lastly, Up Aerial is very useful for frame traps if extended into Bullet Arts.

As for her Smash Attacks, she is notable for having the largest Smash Attacks in the game, with gigantic hitboxes and high number of active frames. All her Smash Attacks involves her summoning the infernal limbs of Madama Butterfly, which are powerful disjointed hitboxes, meaning that hitting the limbs won't hurt Bayonetta. Her Down Smash is notable for being a powerful Meteor Smash, being extremely powerful for edge-guarding. Her Up Smash has the second highest range of all Up Smashes, after Palutena's, and it is her strongest Smash Attack.

Her Special Attacks are all versatile, granting her high flexibility. Bullet Climax can rack up damage really quickly, is very fast and inflicts enough hitstun to frustrate some opponents with poor recovery; Bayonetta can also charge for stronger initial shots, and cancel the charge into shield and side-dodge. Her ground Side Special, Heel Slide, is essential for start many air combos (much like Cloud's Down Tilt); while the aerial version, called After-Burner Kick, complements her combo game, being able to be used twice in succession and reversed; in addition, holding down right before it causes Bayonetta to dive-kick instead, and bounces on opponents even if they're shielding. Witch Twist is notable for being the only Up Special other than Yoshi's that can be used more than once in there air before touching the ground, though this can only be done by using the move, jumping, and using it again, something that greatly aids her recovery; the move will always send opponents in front of Bayonetta regardless of how it connects. Lastly, Witch Time is one of the best counterattacks in the game, playing a key-factor in some of her KO setups, as the slowdown effect leaves opponents very vulnerable for charging Smash Attacks.

Bayonetta's flaws, however, are very notable as well. Much like Zelda and Rosalina, she is tall and light, which makes her easy to KO, which, aided by her difficult recovery, can make her very easy to exploit. Many of her attacks have high startup and ending lags, and she has increased landing lag the more attacks she connects in the air, making her overall very easy to punish. Unlike Ryu, who is a combo oriented character with very options for KO'ing, Bayonetta lacks variety in KO moves, mostly relying on Smash Attacks, Back Aerial and Down Aerial; while she has a handful of zero-to-death combos, they are not completely guaranteed depending on the opponent's DI and weight. Because of that, she tends to be a bit too dependent on Witch Time to KO, which has a diminishing return, becoming less effective the more it is used. Also, she lacks any guaranteed combos out of Throws, and none of them are capable of KO'ing. Lastly, her recovery with Witch Time is very poor unless the player extends it through Witch Twisting, jumping and Witch Twisting again; this also leaves her very vulnerable and easy to gimp.

Overall, Bayonetta is a very flexible character with her huge variety of combos, however her weaknesses are very easy to exploit, forcing players to be careful and patient, relying mostly on punishes, reads, and mix-ups.

Bullet Arts
Bayonetta can extend any of her ground and aerial attacks into Bullet Arts. If the button is held during an attack, Bayonetta's combo will be broken and she will shoot bullets from her guns, shooting up to five times if the button is held for too long. Each bullet deals roughly 1% damage, and have very long reach.

The bullets functions very differently from standard projectiles, instead being more like disjointed hitboxes; they do not make opponents flinch, much like Fox's Blaster, meaning they have  transcending priority, but cannot be reflected. For instance, Link's and Toon Link's Hylian Shield, and any reflectors are completely ineffective. The bullets are also capable of piercing through multiple people at once, meaning they will hit anyone or anything in their path, not just those closest to Bayonetta.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack: Jabs and shoots with her left hand gun, swings both hand guns, does an uppercut with both hand guns, followed by a barrage of spinning punches, and finishes with a strong skull shot. It is the third slowest jab in the game, after King Dedede and Zelda's. Based off the standard punch combo in Bayonetta.
 * Forward Tilt: Does forward kick, which can be pressed again for up to three hits total. The second hit is a roundhouse kick, and the last hit is a high kick that sends the opponent upwards. The first hit looks similar to the first hit of Zero Suit Samus' Forward Smash.
 * Down Tilt: Does two sweeping kicks out to each side; in the Bullet Arts version she crouches in a casual kneeling position, firing her handguns forwards while her heel guns shoot backwards; hits on both sides.
 * Up Tilt: Does a quick uppercut with her gun; in the Bullet Arts version she fires her gun at a steep upwards angle behind her after having used the attack. Based on the delayed punch launcher in Bayonetta.
 * Dash Attack: Does a dashing punch with her guns extended. Based on the Stiletto technique in Bayonetta. The Bullet arts fork involves her firing a single handgun forwards.

Smash Attacks
Bayonetta uses the Wicked Weaves for her Smash attacks, summoning the limbs of the Infernal Demon Madama Butterfly.
 * Forward Smash: Summons Madama Butterfly's arm from a portal behind her that punches past Bayonetta to hit forwards. The punch is angled slightly downwards. Powerful but has high startup and ending lag, as well low priority. In the Bullet Arts version Bayonetta will shoot forward with her right gun.
 * Up Smash: Summons Madama Butterfly's arm from a portal on the ground in front of her. The arm will punch upward, reaching roughly double of Bayonetta's height. Has the second highest vertical range of all Smash Attacks, after Palutena's, and has no sourspot. Can combo out of Down Tilt at mid-high percentages. It is her strongest Smash Attack. In the Bullet Arts version Bayonetta will shoot both upwards in a 90ª and forward in a straight line.
 * Down Smash: Stomps the floor while summoning Madama Butterfly's foot from a portal high above and in front of her. The foot will slam downward. This is very effective as a Meteor Smash and edgeguarding tool. Can combo out of Down Throw at mid-high percentages. Based on her Heel Stomp maneuver from Bayonetta, in which Madama Butterfly's foot comes from above and stomps on the ground. In the Bullet Arts version Bayonetta will shoot downwards with the guns in her heels.

Other Attacks

 * Get-up attack: Bayonetta kicks on one side, then the other.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial:  Spins around in the air, kicking multiple times on both. It is surprisingly quick and has a hitbox lower to her heels that hit opponents below her. It is her fastest aerial. Inspired by the aerial version of Bullet Climax in Bayonetta.
 * Forward Aerial: Lunges forward with a pistol punch, that can be pressed again for another punch swinging both guns forward, and ending with a downward kick. She can only launch the other hits once the first one connects. Each hit will make Bayonetta float slightly, allowing all hits to connect, being a very effective tool for gimping opponents.
 * Back Aerial: Flips over and kicks behind, looks similar to Zero Suit Samus' Back Air in animation and execution. It is her second strongest aerial.
 * Up Aerial: Flips over and kicks above herself, much like Zero Suit Samus's Up Aerial. In the Bullet Arts version she spins around like a wheel in midair, kicking on all sides while firing her guns all around. Considerably slow and lacks proper hitboxes to hit opponents on short hops.
 * Down Aerial: Does a falling axe-kick attack that can Meteor Smash if it hits at the tip of her heel. It is extremely powerful against grounded opponents. It has a very low duration for a stall-than-fall move, and can be cancelled by Witch Twist or mid-air jump to negate most of the ending lag. It is her strongest aerial. Based on the standard aerial kick in Bayonetta. 14%

Grabs and Throws

 * Pummel: Bayonetta quickly slaps the opponent with one of her guns. It is unique as it hits twice per pummel input, being even able to hit opponents after a grab-release. Based on the Slap Punishment Attack, a move that can be performed on downed opponents in Bayonetta.
 * Forward Throw: Bayonetta performs the Tetsuzanko technique, where she does a forward shoulder tackle that knocks enemies up and away from her. It is her strongest throw in terms of knockback, although a weak throw overall.
 * Back Throw: Bayonetta pulls the enemy behind her and does a high axe kick.
 * Down Throw: Bayonetta throws the opponent on the ground and then does and overhead kick; can combo into Down Tilt and Heel Slide at mid-low percents, and into Down Smash at mid-high percentages. Based on the Stomp Punishment attack from Bayonetta.
 * Up Throw: Bayonetta does an axe kick to launches the opponent upwards.

Taunts
Bayonetta is unique as all her taunts can be cancelled due them being very long, since she dances.
 * Up: Twirls around like a ballet dancer, moves both arms around her in a graceful manner, then strikes a pose with both arms over her head, saying, "If you need to learn how to talk to a lady, ask your mum."
 * Side: Gracefully spins around, then points both guns directly in front of her, saying, "New 'do. Dead you."
 * Down: Poses with her guns around her head in multiple ways, framing her head and torso with her guns, performs a broad back step, looking away from her opponent one moment, then looking back.

Trivia

 * Bayonetta is the seventh 3rd Party character to be in the Smash Bros. series, following Solid Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, and Cloud Strife.
 * She is the second 3rd Party character from an 'M-Rated' game title before appearing in Smash Bros., the first being Snake.
 * She is the third 3rd Party character to be DLC, the first two being Ryu and Cloud.
 * She is the second 3rd Party character from SEGA to be in Smash Bros., the first being Sonic.
 * She is the only 3rd Party character who has not appeared in a standard fighting game prior to Smash Bros.
 * Solid Snake appeared in Dream Mix TV.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog appeared in Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle.
 * Mega Man appeared in multiple Capcom vs. titles including the Marvel vs Capcom series.
 * Pac-Man appeared in Street Fighter x Tekken.
 * Ryu originated in a fighting game, Street Fighter.
 * Cloud appeared in Ehrgeiz and the Dissidia series.
 * She is the first and only 3rd Party character to be female.
 * She is also the second DLC character to be female, the first being Corrin in the female variation.
 * She is the only character in Smash Bros. history to have the ability to cancel her taunts in the middle of their animation.
 * Alongside Sonic and Pac-Man, Bayonetta is one of the few 3rd Party characters to have a playable appearance in a first party Nintendo series outside of Smash Bros (and Super Mario Maker by extension). In her case, she was a secret character in The Wonderful 101.
 * She is the only character in Smash Bros. history that can reduce damage taken during dodges in the form of her Bat Within, which triggers if she is hit right before dodging.
 * Bayonetta is the only character to have the ability to slow down time for other fighters.
 * She is also the only character to have a counter that slows down time.
 * Bayonetta is the only character with a move (Witch Time) that can affect other fighters who currently have invincibility frames (from Super Star, dismounting a revival platform, etc.).
 * Bayonetta is the only character to get special landing effects (the butterflies), hit effects (rose petals), jumping effects (magic circles and butterfly wings), and a unique shadow design (only in the Wii U version) in which her shadow shows a different form than the character herself (being of Madama Butterfly).
 * Bayonetta is also the only character who changes the visual effects of her attacks when changing her costume: Bayonetta 2 costume has blue blurs when attacking while the costume from the original Bayonetta has red blurs.
 * Bayonetta is the second character in Smash Bros. to have a British voice actor for the English version of Smash Bros. with the first being Shulk.
 * However, in the European release of the game, Wii Fit Trainer also has British voice actors for both genders, technically making Bayonetta the third.
 * She is the first character to have an aerial chain normals in the form of her Forward Aerial.
 * She is the only DLC Character that can wall cling.
 * Her wall cling ability and animation comes from her Witch Walk ability from the Bayonetta games where, under a full moon, she is able to walk on walls and ceilings, defying gravity entirely.
 * In her announcement trailer, when Bayonetta is shown standing next to Chain Chomp and sending it forth to bite Lucas, it is in reference to it being a usable weapon in Bayonetta 2.
 * The screenshot of Bayonetta walking with Mario and Luigi, the latter of who are carrying gift boxes for Bayonetta (with the image itself derived from the Super Smash Bros. 4 Official Site), references the opening cutscene in Bayonetta 2 which features her and Enzo Christmas shopping, with Enzo being forced to carry the multitude of Christmas gifts she had bought.
 * When Bayonetta performs her forward throw, she will sometimes say "Juunen hayain da yo!" (Ten years too early!) which is a reference to Akira Yuki's famous quote from the Virtua Fighter series.
 * As another reference to the Virtua Fighter series, Bayonetta's forward throw is known as the Tetsuzanko, which is one of Akira's signature moves.
 * Bayonetta is the third character who is not a different character in one slot, but an alternate costume that has a different portrait, with the other two being Wario in Brawl and Cloud.
 * Overall, she is the third character with this distinction as Wario in Brawl was.
 * Bayonetta has the most damage yells in the game, with a total of six.
 * Bayonetta is the only character to use both English and Japanese voice actors in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, being voiced by Atsuko Tanaka in her normal costumes while being voiced by Hellena Taylor in her original costumes.
 * Bayonetta is the only character in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Nintendo 3DS to be banned in tournament play in some countries, these countries being Spain and Russia.