Bayonetta (SSBU)

Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Bayonetta
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Infernal Climax
Tier	A- (26)

Bayonetta (ベヨネッタ, Bayonetta) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, making her return from the previous game. She is the second fighter from Sega after Sonic. She was confirmed alongside the rest of the returning roster on June 12th, 2018 during E3 2018. Bayonetta is classified as Fighter #63, the last fighter number of the Super Smash Bros. 4 veterans and returning veterans overall.

Hellena Taylor and Atsuko Tanaka's portrayals of Bayonetta from Smash 4 were repurposed for the English and Japanese versions of Ultimate respectively. Ultimate is the last game where Hellena Taylor voices Bayonetta in English, as Jennifer Hale is her current English voice actress in Bayonetta 3 and is also one of the last games where Atsuko Tanaka voices her before passing away on August 20, 2024.

Bayonetta is currently ranked 26th out of 82 characters on the current tier list, placing her in A- tier. This is a big drop from her placement in Smash 4, where she was considered to be the best character in the game. Bayonetta's main strength is her unique, powerful combo game. Her special attacks, Witch Twist and After Burner Kick, allow her to reliably combo and inflict heavy damage on opponents, sometimes dragging them into the top or side blast zones and leading to an early KO. Bayonetta can also rack up damage rather quickly, as all of her tilt attacks confirm into multiple follow-ups at early percentages. Furthermore, Bayonetta possesses a plethora of defensive options, the most effective being Witch Time and Bat Within. A successful activation of Witch Time at low percents can open an opportunity for a combo, while an activation at high percents can often confirm into a KO. Bat Within, a frame 1 air dodge, allows her to move away in the direction that her player chooses, allowing her to escape semi-true combos, juggles, and even kill confirms, while in turn allowing her to reverse disadvantage and punish her opponent. Finally, Bayonetta has an oppressive off-stage game thanks to her flexible aerial game, while Witch Twist and After Burner Kick give her a long, flexible, and mostly safe recovery.

However, Bayonetta has several weaknesses that hold her back, the most notable being her raw kill power. She tends to have a harder time KOing at higher percents, as her best KO options, back air, down air, jab, and her smash attacks, are difficult to land or combo into at high percents. This is compounded by her light weight and tall frame, which means opponents could KO her first if she is unable to take their stock. In addition, Bayonetta's frame data when on the ground is quite slow, with almost all of her attacks coming out on frame 7 or later, and most of them also have high ending lag and deal minimal shield damage, making them unsafe on shield. As such, her ground game is rather poor, which in turn affects her combo game, as she often relies on Heel Slide, up tilt, or down tilt in order to start combos. Finally, her combos have their own drawbacks: not only are they susceptible to SDI, but the more special moves she uses during an aerial combo, the more landing lag she receives, potentially lasting for up to 50 frames, making them very punishable if whiffed.

Overall, Bayonetta is a combo-oriented character that can rack up damage quickly and KO at early percents; however, she tends to struggle at higher percents due to her poor approach and limited KO options outside of her combos. Early results from Bayonetta were lackluster, leading to a negative initial perception; however, numerous buffs from balance patches helped improve her viability over time, particularly in the post-online metagame, and she has since garnered a sizeable playerbase and a plethora of strong results from players such as Bloom4Eva, Lima, and TamaPDaifuku.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Bayonetta being the 43rd character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Mario or any character in his unlock tree, being the 2nd character unlocked after Sonic.
• Have Bayonetta join the player's party in World of Light.

Bayonetta must then be defeated on the Umbra Clock Tower (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Bayonetta is a tall yet light character. She has a below average walking speed and air speed, average traction and dashing speed (with a decently fast initial dash), very fast air acceleration and fall speed, high gravity, and very high jumps – she has the 8th highest air jump, is tied with Sheik for the 7th highest ground jump, and tied with Zero Suit Samus for the 2nd highest short hop. These attributes give her somewhat poor endurance (especially vertically) and average mobility, but they also grant her a considerable degree of agility in the air when combined with her movement-based aerial special moves.

Bayonetta's biggest strengths are her strong aerial combo game – with her tilt attacks, forward aerial, up aerial, neutral aerial and special moves being capable of starting or extending combos – and her excellent recovery, which allows her to reach the stage from the bottom blast zone while being difficult to edgeguard due to her recovery's flexibility. Her damage output per hit is somewhat low, but her extensive combo game makes up for this, as her combos can quickly and easily rack up damage.

She has a number of unique attributes, such as her Bullet Arts, which allows her to shoot from the guns on her hands and heels by keeping the attack button pressed down after most of her attacks. Because they are programmed as disjointed hitboxes, they are not classified as projectiles and thus cannot be reflected, making them a solid pressuring and peppering tool. She also possesses a special Fighter ability in Bat Within, which activates if struck during the earliest frames of her dodges or in the latest frames of her down special; this causes her to morph into a flock of bats, receive half damage without taking any knockback, and move in the direction inputted to initiate the dodge (she remains in place for spot dodges, and moves downward for air dodges). Because the ability can activate on frame 1 of her air dodge, Bayonetta effectively posesses the fastest combo-breaking defensive option out of the entire roster, allowing her to evade combos that would otherwise be unavoidable for nearly all others in the cast. Her up special has a large hitbox above and around her, is one of few in the game that don't cause helplessness upon use, can be used a second time following a double jump, and can be used to cancel her double jump and preserve it, granting her a vertical recovery that surpasses many other fighters; combined with her side special, Bayonetta has arguably the best recovery in the game and is nearly impossible to contest when returning to stage. Additionally, she can also wall cling and wall jump, giving her more movement options on certain stages.

Bayonetta's ground game is lackluster and reliant on her tilt attacks to help set up intricate combos. Her jab is slow, but the final hit of the rapid jab can KO at high percentages. Her dash attack has considerable startup for an attack of its kind (15 frames), but moves very quickly once initiated and can also serve as a situational KO move. Both her up tilt and her down tilt have small hitboxes, but they are very good combo tools: up tilt is useful for getting her opponents into the air and also combos from her Heel Slide or into her Witch Twist, up aerial, or back aerial depending on the percentage, with up tilt into back air being a semi-reliable kill confirm while her down tilt is a good out-of-shield option and has similar combo potential. Her forward tilt is her least useful tilt as it lacks follow-up options beyond very low percents, but it can provide mix-up options on shield depending on whether one, two or all three hits of the move and optional Bullet Arts timing stalls are used.

Bayonetta's smash attacks allow her to summon Madama Butterfly's limbs. They each have good knockback and range, but they also have low priority and noticeable lag, meaning that attempting to use one (even in Witch Time) can cause them to clank with other grounded moves and lead her to get punished, although Madama Butterfly's limbs have transcendent priority against aerial attacks. Her forward smash is her earliest KO option and one of her only attacks that can reliably kill before 100%, though it has a blind spot directly in front of Bayonetta. Her up smash covers the area directly in front of her and can KO from the upper blast line. Her down smash covers the same range as her up smash and is mainly useful for meteor smashing her opponents from the ledge, though it can also kill from the upper blast line at higher percentages.

Bayonetta's air game is potent as a result of her high jumps, flexible movement options, extremely quick aerial attacks that generally provide generous coverage, and ability to fight off-stage while confidently being able to return due to her superb recovery. Her neutral aerial has great range (especially when extended with Bullet Arts, which covers a huge area around her), can lead to combos into forward aerial and After Burner Kick, and can be a KO option off-stage or at very high percentages. Back aerial is one of her strongest KO options because of its sweetspot and is a good combo finisher, though it is one of the slower back aerials in the game (coming out at frame 11). Her forward aerial can edgeguard and, like her forward tilt, forms a three-hit combo of its own if pressed repeatedly; it can also be used as a combo starter or extender. Her up aerial is extremely fast, hits high above her in a circular arc, and serves as a useful juggling tool, though it has very low knockback. Her down aerial is a stall-then-fall move which is a risky landing option due to its high ending lag, though it has a strong landing hit which can be a useful KO option; the hitbox on the heel of her leg also possesses a modrately strong spiking hitbox, allowing for surprise KOs off the bottom blast line if used properly.

She has very useful special moves that are essential for her uniquely air-based combo and pressure game. Her neutral special Bullet Climax fires projectiles at a slightly upward angle and is useful for KOing higher-percentage opponents at the left and right blast lines when fully charged. Both variations of her side special, Heel Slide and After Burner Kick are reliable combo starters, while the latter is also a good combo extender and horizontal recovery option. After Burner Kick can be used either to ascend slightly or descend steeply, depending on the input used. Her up special Witch Twist is her best out-of-shield option and is a great tool for starting and extending combos and dragging the opponent to the upper blast line. Though it gains little vertical distance in isolation, it can be performed twice with Bayonetta's double jump, and she can also jump cancel her second jump to grant her extra vertical distance, giving her outstanding vertical and horizontal recovery potential. Her down special counter Witch Time has a short duration and high ending lag, but it slows down time for a brief period if it activates. If Bayonetta gets hit in a specific time frame when dodging or in the later frames of Witch Time, she will activate her Bat Within. This turns her into bats and moves her to a (usually) more favorable stage position, and she will take half of the attack's damage output and no knockback.

Bayonetta's aerial prowess, set of special moves, and fighter abilities grant her a strong disadvantage state, as she can avoid pressure by using her dizzyingly fast air acceleration to weave back and forth, use her very high double jump to escape fighters who can't chase her, punish approaches with After Burrner Kick or Witch Twist, create strong reversals with Witch Time, or dodge otherwise fatal attacks with Bat Within. Her very fast aerial attacks complement her ability to keep opponents guessing where she will travel and whether she will pick an offensive or defensive option.

Her grab and throw game has some utility, though to a lesser extent than the rest of her moveset. While up throw and down throw lack true follow-up potential outside of reads and mix-ups, the latter serves as a KO option at very high percentages. Additionally, while forward throw and back throw are purely positional throws, the former is her strongest kill throw, though its kill potential can easily be mitigated with proper DI.

To counter her many unique strengths, Bayonetta has very noticeable weaknesses. Most notably, while she can quickly rack up damage with her combos, she has very few reliable KO options until around 150%, with her only real kill options before this being her smash attacks, back air, down air, and jab. Even then, these options are relatively mediocre; her smash attacks are slow, often get cancelled out by other moves and have spots with no hitbox; her back air has slow start-up and a relatively small sweetspot hitbox; her down air is a laggy move that only KOs if it hits the opponent with certain hitboxes or while they're grounded; and her jab has very high start-up and ending lag, making it an incredibly risky kill option and very easy to punish if shielded. Even at percentages higher than 150%, her KO options are unreliable, extremely punishable if whiffed or only KO at very high percentages, for example her forward throw and dash attack. Thus to mitigate her raw kill potential, Bayonetta needs to earn stocks through successful edgeguards using her fearsome air game, or more situationally through the use of hard reads using Witch Time.

Furthermore, Bayonetta has very poor frame data on the ground, with all of her standard grounded moves coming out at frame 7 or slower while also being unsafe on shield. This makes Bayonetta's approach among the worst in the entire cast, effectively forcing her to play a very defensive, bait-and-punish style which the opponent can counter by simply shielding or not approaching her. In addition, the fact that Bayonetta is a tall character with a fast fall speed and light weight means she is more easily comboed and more susceptible to being KO'd – especially when stuffed out by sufficiently strong anti-airs. Though Bat Within can somewhat alleviate the former problem, the issues compound to give her poor survivability.

Her passive abilities also have issues. While Bat Within has utility in the context of on-stage disadvantage, it is essentially a worse spot dodge on the ground, as Bayonetta will still take half of the dodged attack's damage if it is triggered. In the air, Bat Within has other problems: the fact that it only sends her downward when triggered in the air means that it can cause self-destructs while she is off-stage, and to balance the fact that Bat Within is so fast, the distance Bayonetta covers when using a directional air dodge is minimal.

Bayonetta is subject to several other weaknesses: unlike most other fighters, her smash attacks can only be held for 60 frames instead of 120 (Mega Man, Ness, Olimar, and Villager also share this weakness); her Witch Time becomes less effective with every use, even when it isn't triggered by an attack; and Bayonetta's combos themselves, while arguably her strongest asset, are still ineffective against good SDI. Additionally, Bayonetta suffers from having potentially the highest amount of landing lag among the entire cast, as her landing lag increases based on how many specials she has used in the air. As a result, she can be immobile upon landing for up to 50 frames. Though she has ways to get around this - for example, using Witch Time or Bullet Climax to cancel her landing lag, landing with an aerial to force the opponent away, or retreating to a ledge – these are ultimately situational, and a whiffed combo can lead to a big punish.

Overall, Bayonetta is seen as a character with a high skill cap because of her extensive and complex combo game, her high-risk playstyle, and her unique abilities and techniques. She is a flexible, air-based, combo-oriented character who is good at quickly racking up damage and applying pressure to opponents, but her lack of reliable KO options means she can struggle in securing the stock (an issue which is exacerbated by her being prone to combos and kill setups herself).

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Bayonetta was unanimously considered to be the best character in SSB4 due to her many extreme advantages, including her ability to KO opponents at virtually any percentage with successful ladder combos, the best disadvantage-breaking move in the game with Witch Time, great KO potential outside of her ladder combos thanks to Witch Time and her smash attacks, and an excellent recovery. Even after having received significant nerfs in game updates, her advantages remained intact, causing players to label her as "broken", and many matches involving her became controversial. This included the Ultimate tournament Super Smash Bros. Invitational 2018, where top professional player MkLeo pulled off two ladder KOs in front of Masahiro Sakurai using Bayonetta. Due to these factors, Bayonetta was initially drastically nerfed in her transition to Ultimate, though game updates have provided her with substantial buffs to compensate, and the shifts to the metagame have proven benefitial for her to some degree. Despite this, Bayonetta has still been noticeably nerfed overall from her SSB4 iteration.

Bayonetta's already poor frame data, her main weakness in SSB4, has been made even slower in Ultimate. Her most reliable combo starters have been weakened, with her up tilt, down tilt, and forward aerial all having more ending lag; the latter was affected the most significantly, with the first hit no longer allowing for any follow-ups other than the second and third hits of the move. Witch Twist has more startup and covers less vertical distance, reducing its effectiveness as a combo starter, out of shield option, follow-up from other moves, and recovery option. Adding to this, all of Bayonetta's special moves have received nerfs that make them more risky and punishable: Bullet Climax's charge takes longer to cancel and can no longer be held indefinitely, Heel Slide and After Burner Kick's followup hits can no longer be used if they hit a shield, Witch Twist takes much longer to grab ledges, and Witch Time slows down opponents for much shorter amounts of time except at very high percentages, alongside having noticeably more startup and ending lag; the lattermost move's changes, in particular, have made Witch Time go from the uncontested best counter in SSB4 to being much more in-line with the rest of the cast in Ultimate.

Her KO ability has been weakened as well. Neutral, up and down aerials deal lower knockback (most significantly the former two, which no longer KO under 200% onstage), her back aerial has less range and a smaller hitbox (most notably the sweetspot), and her smash attacks only get half as much of an increase in power when charged. This is exacerbated by Witch Time's decreased slowdown duration and lower knockback multiplier on smash attacks, hindering its ability to lead into safe KOs, and due to the severe nerfs to her up aerial, she can no longer KO with ladder combos unless they are initiated very close to the top blast line, and even then very high percents are often needed to reliably earn a KO. As a result, Bayonetta now has a significantly more defined main weakness, which is her poor KO ability and reliance on her combos due to her lack of reliable KO options outside of her jab, back air, down air, and smash attacks. Her moveset's lower power is also pronounced further by the reduced damage some of her moves deal, which slightly hinders her combo game even more. Conversely, her own survivability has been worsened, as her already low weight has been reduced, and her recovery is less effective due to Witch Twist's shorter distance, slower ledge grab, and smaller hitboxes.

Bayonetta's special recovery frames have also been significantly extended. While previously varied configurations of her special moves gave Bayonetta determinate amounts of landing lag regardless of how they were performed, the landing lag suffered by each combination is more varied and, in most cases, increased. Furthermore, Bayonetta's infamous ability to cancel higher amounts of landing lag with her down aerial was also removed, and landing with the move can instead cause, on most combinations, to further increase the landing lag she receives from performing certain combinations (interestingly enough, her ability to bypass landing lag with Witch Time remains, though this is largely irrelevant due to the move's increased duration). As a result of these changes, Bayonetta now suffers the highest amount of landing lag among the entire cast, and this also increases her vulnerability if opponents are able to fall out of her combos, allowing them to land a harder punish option on her more easily.

In spite of this, Bayonetta has also received a few noteworthy buffs. All of her dodges have been sped up relative to the rest of the cast, no longer being among the slowest in the game, while still having the ability to trigger Bat Within during their startup. Downwards After Burner Kick is now a reliable combo starter once again due to it launching grounded opponents at a higher, more suitable angle for followups, and Witch Twist is harder to SDI out of due to the lower hitlag on each hit. Witch Time can slow down opponents from much farther distances upon a successful counterattack, has a longer counter window, and changes a projectile's ownership to her. Although grabs have been overall nerfed across the cast, all of Bayonetta's grabs have slightly increased range, which combined with her throws not losing their utility, improves her grab game despite their higher ending lag. Her neutral attack combo's finisher and dash attack both have increased knockback, the former now being one of the strongest neutral attacks in the game, and the strongest among lightweights, and the latter has more range and reduced ending lag, improving the move as a burst or KO option. Bayonetta's most inconsistent moves have also been notably improved; both hits of her up tilt will always connect reliably due to the first hit using set knockback, her smash attacks now have transcendent priority on aerial opponents, most notably addressing the low priority of the moves, Witch Twist has a lower SDI multiplier, and her Witch Time has higher slowdown scaling, noticeably increasing its slowdown duration at high percentages when the move is stale.

The universal changes to gameplay mechanics are a mixed bag for Bayonetta overall. The ability to dash cancel into any move improves her grounded game, though this is somewhat counterbalanced by their rather slow startup and her notable grounded moves losing some of their combo utility. The streamlined jumpsquats and reductions to landing lag are mostly detrimental to her; they slightly benefit Bayonetta's combo game as long as her aerials are not extended with Bullet Arts, but unlike most other characters, Bayonetta suffers higher landing lag when she lands with aerials that are extended with Bullet Arts. This, combined with other characters gaining either safer aerials, improved combo routes from them, or lower landing lag, has allowed them to more easily keep up with Bayonetta. On the other hand, the changes to air dodge mechanics have benefitted her overall; although Bayonetta has the third shortest distance of any directional air dodge (tied with Steve), she still benefits from their reintroduction regardless since her special moves don't cause helplessness when used in the air, and it allows her to slightly extend her recovery provided she is not able to reach the edge on time, plus the increased lag on all kinds of air dodges and their limit to once per airtime (unless hitstun is sustained) has further improved her edgeguarding ability, despite her worse aerial game.

Overall, Bayonetta's biggest strengths from SSB4 that were deemed "overpowered" have all been severely toned down or even removed altogether, as her combos require slightly more precision to pull off, have less KO potential and leave her more vulnerable, and Witch Time is a less powerful option to place the opponent at a disadvantage. She is also plagued with further defined weaknesses, possessing much more significant KOing issues, a worse disadvantage state and overall survivability (both from her weaker recovery and endurance) and a slightly slower moveset. Although some of her moves have received various improvements and/or quality of life changes, none of her buffs are able to properly compensate for the comparatively much larger impact her abundance of nerfs have brought up. The universal changes pronounce both the good and bad aspects of her attributes, but much like her direct buffs, they fail to address her severe direct nerfs. However, she still retains several of her main strengths from the previous game, most notably her strong combo game and edgeguarding ability. Bayonetta also received many buffs through game updates, which improved on her most underwhelming aspects or alleviated the severity of her nerfs. These changes now give Bayonetta a higher learning curve, and render her far less powerful than she was in SSB4; however, optimizations to her metagame and the retention of her strengths have allowed Bayonetta to remain an effective character.

Aesthetics

• Bayonetta's appearance is largely the same as it was in SSB4, though her model features a more subdued color scheme. Her hair and clothes feature greater detailing and appear less glossy.
• Bayonetta's alternate costumes have been re-ordered; her original outfit now occupies her even-numbered costumes instead of the second half, similar to Cloud.
• Love is Blue and Scarborough Fair have louder sound effects to distinguish the two.
• While veterans' facial expressions were typically upgraded, Bayonetta seems to lack expressions she possessed in the previous installment, notably in her Screen KO, a wink in one of her victory animations, and during certain moves such as up tilt.
• The excess hair tendrils hanging from her outfits have more individual physics.
• Bayonetta's taunts are sped up.
• When the victory screen shows her name, Bayonetta's glasses glint at the edge. While this was present in her victory poses in Smash 4, it only showed for a brief moment.
• As with all previous downloadable fighters in SSB4, Bayonetta now has a unique Palutena's Guidance conversation.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Bayonetta's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• Bayonetta is lighter (84 → 81), further hindering her endurance.
• Bayonetta's initial dash speed (1.6 → 1.936) and run speed (1.6 → 1.76) are much faster.
• Bayonetta walks slightly faster (0.9 → 0.945).
• Bayonetta's air speed is faster (0.97 → 1.019).
• Bayonetta's traction is much higher (0.055 → 0.11).
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 38 → 32). Bat Within also activates faster and has a longer duration (frames 3-5 → 2-5).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 6-19 → 6-15).
• Back roll has less ending lag (FAF 38 → 37). Bat Within also has a longer duration (frames 3-5 → 3-6).
• Back roll has more startup and grants less intangibility (frames 6-19 → 7-16).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 26).
• Spot dodge has more startup and grants less intangibility (frames 5-19 → 6-17). Bat Within also activates slower (frame 1 → 2).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 5-27 → 5-31).
• Air dodge has more ending lag (FAF 37 → 46).
• With the reintroduction of directional air dodges, Bayonetta can take advantage of her special moves not causing helplessness by getting additional distance with a directional air dodge after using them. This slightly improves her recovery.
  • Bat Within cannot have its direction altered, instead always going straight down. If Bayonetta is hit offstage and attempts to recover with a directional air dodge, and Bat Within activates, this could cause her to self-destruct.
• Much like other characters, Bayonetta's wall jump covers significantly less distance, making her more frail while offstage.
• Bullet Arts' range has been significantly reduced on all of her moves.
• Bullet Arts are no longer susceptible to Stun Jacket.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first three hits have altered angles (hit 1: 55°/55°/85° → 361°/180°; hit 2: 48°/68°/82°/70° → 361°; hit 3: 68°/85°/68°/90° → 361°) and knockback (hit 1: 45/30/42 base, 25 scaling → 36/32, 8; hit 2: 45/40/38/40, 25 → 42/38, 8; hit 3: 47/47/28/28, 20 → 40, 8) to keep opponents close to Bayonetta, akin to other neutral attacks, and have gained hitstun modifiers (0 → 8 (hits 1-2), 10 (hit 3)). This allows them to connect better and jab lock.
  • The second and third hits have less startup (frame 9 → 7 (hit 2), 11 → 7 (hit 3)).
  • The rapid jab has a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.6×) and SDI multiplier (0.6× → 0.4×), and has gained a hitstun modifier of 2 for each hit, making it harder to escape.
  • The rapid jab's finisher deals more knockback (70 base/90 scaling → 67/117).
  • All hits deal less damage (1.5% → 1.4% (hits 1-2), 2.7% → 2.2% (hit 3), 0.3% → 0.2% (rapid jab), 1% → 0.5% (finisher, hit 1), 6% → 5% (finisher, hit 2)).
  • The first three hits have more ending lag (FAF 26 → 32 (hit 1), 31 → 32 (hit 2), 34 → 40 (hit 3)).
  • Rapid jab finisher has transcendent priority, preventing it from being canceled out by weak attacks.
  • The rapid jab has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 15×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Bayonetta more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
• Forward tilt:
  • The third hit has less ending lag (FAF 43 → 40), allowing it to combo into a forward aerial from low to mid percents..
  • The first and second hit have altered angles (hit 1: 60°/45°/75°/80°/45° → 58°/45°/70°/70°/50°, hit 2: 43°/75° → 48°/62°) and knockback (hit 1: 62/50/45/60/56 base, 25/15/25/15/25 scaling → 55/45/50/35/60, 15; hit 2: 60/58 base → 42/46), allowing them to connect more reliably.
  • The first and third hits deal less damage (3.5% → 3% (hit 1), 8.5% → 7% (hit 3)), though with the latter's knockback scaling mostly compensated (60 → 68).
• Up tilt:
  • The first hit's grounded hitbox launches opponents into the second hit rather than away from Bayonetta (68° → 123°), and has altered knockback (80 base/40 scaling → 100/10) allowing it to connect more consistently.
  • The second hit has more startup (11 frames → 13) and more ending lag (FAF 27 → 30), hindering the move's combo potential despite the second hit having decreased base knockback (60 → 55).
    • The second hit has more active hitbox frames (frames 11-12 → frame 13-15).
  • The first hit deals less damage when clean (5% → 1.5%), being less than the late hit's damage.
  • The first hit's aerial hitbox connects worse into the second hit due to its lower angle (110° → 123°), despite having altered knockback (80 base/40 scaling → 90/10).
• Down tilt:
  • The move has more ending lag (FAF 27 → 29), hindering its combo potential.
  • The move deals less damage (6%/7% → 5%/6%). While its knockback scaling was not fully compensated (50 → 55), its combo potential remains worse due to its increased ending lag.
• Dash attack:
  • The move has less ending lag (FAF 47 → 43).
  • It deals more knockback (85 base/55 scaling → 78/71 (clean), 80/65 (late)).
  • It has a larger hitbox (4.2u → 5u (clean), 4.5u (late)).
• Smash attacks:
  • All Wicked Weave hitboxes have been split into ground-only and aerial-only hitboxes, with the latter possessing transcendent priority. This prevents them from getting canceled out by aerial attacks.
  • They have a lower maximum damage multiplier (1.4× → 1.2×).
  • Due to the universally increased hitlag, and shields using a 0.67× hitlag multiplier that isn't propagated to the Wicked Weaves' hitboxes (effectively giving Bayonetta more hitlag relative to the opponent), they are all less safe on shield.
• Forward smash:
  • The move has less startup (frame 19 → 17).
    • However, its total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 68 → 67), giving it one frame more ending lag.
  • It has more base knockback (26 → 34/35) and a longer hitbox duration (frames 17-19 → 17-21).
  • It can be angled, though all angles still have a blindspot directly in front of her.
• Down smash:
  • The move has less startup (frame 20 → 17) and its total duration was reduced (FAF 69 → 66).
  • The second hitbox has a longer duration (frames 25-27 → 22-25).
  • The second hit's meteor smash hitbox has less knockback scaling (90 → 80).

Aerial attacks

• Forward, back and up aerial have less landing lag (14 frames → 12 (forward), 12 → 10 (back), 12 → 8 (up)).
• All aerials except down aerial have more landing lag if their Bullet Arts extensions are used (10 frames → 18 (neutral), 12 → 18 (forward), 12 → 16 (back, up)). This worsens Bayonetta's pressure ability with her neutral and up aerials.
• Neutral aerial:
  • The move deals drastically less knockback (40 base/100 scaling → 65/60 (clean), 40/90 → 65/50 (late)), no longer KOing under 300% from the center of most stages. While this allows it to combo for longer, it most significantly hinders Bayonetta's KO ability at high percents.
  • The Bullet Arts extension deals less damage (4.5% → 3%) and knockback (50 base/100 scaling → 60/85).
• Forward aerial:
  • All hits deal more damage (3% → 4% (hit 1), 2.2% → 3.3% (hit 2), 6% → 7% (hit 3)).
  • All hits have more ending lag (FAF 27 → 38 (hit 1), 32 → 40 (hit 2), 40 → 47 (hit 3)). This prevents the first hit from comboing into After Burner Kick or Witch Twist, or being used repeatedly to drag opponents offstage, significantly weakening its utility.
  • The first hit has noticeably smaller hitboxes (4u/8u → 2.8u/5.8u) and less vertical range (Y offset: 8u/16u/12u → 9.2u/14.8u/12u).
  • The first hit auto-cancels later (frame 28 → 30).
  • The third hit's angle has been altered (44° → 54°). This worsens its KO ability near the horizontal blast lines, but combined with its knockback not being compensated for its increased damage, this allows it to KO more reliably at the end of a ladder combo.
• Back aerial:
  • The move has more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).
  • Its hitboxes are smaller (6.2u/4.8u → 4.6u/4.2u), with the sweetspot no longer being disjointed and extending over Bayonetta's foot.
• Up aerial:
  • The move deals less damage (9% → 7.5%), its knockback scaling has been reduced (90 → 80), and it launches at a more horizontal angle (75° → 55°). While this allows it to combo into back aerial and After Burner Kick, it hinders its combo potential into most other moves at higher percents, and renders it vulnerable to LSI. These nerfs significantly hinder its KO ability, no longer KOing vertically from a ladder combo until much higher percents, unless it is initiated very close to the top blast line.
  • The Bullet Arts extension deals less damage (4% → 3%).
• Down aerial:
  • The move deals set knockback to grounded opponents (30/80 base/120/50 scaling → 50/90 set/100 scaling) to lead more effectively into the landing hit, allowing it to deal more damage and KO them more effectively.
    • However, this gives the meteor smash hitboxes a random chance to trip opponents of Samus's weight and above, as they do not cause them to tumble, making it unable to lead into the landing hit.
  • It deals less knockback to aerial opponents (80 base/50 scaling → 50/65 (clean), 30/50 (late)), no longer being able to KO off a meteor smash at very low percents, and the landing hit has less knockback scaling (135 → 127), KOing later onstage.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 48 → 53), making it harder to use offstage without self-destructing.
  • It has more landing lag (28 frames → 30).
  • As aerial footstools are techable, down aerial can no longer be confirmed into from a footstool, further worsening its KO ability.
  • It no longer deals weight-independent knockback, making it weaker against heavier opponents, but stronger against lighter ones.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more range (Z2 offset: 8.7u → 9.2u (standing), 10.6u → 10.9u (dash), -14.7u → -15.5u (pivot)).
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 31 → 38 (standing), 38 → 46 (dash), 36 → 41 (pivot)).
  • Dash and pivot grab have more startup (frame 9 → 10 (dash), 10 → 11 (pivot)).
  • Bayonetta's hand grabs characters using a form of Umbran magic, as seen via a slightly updated animation where she swings her hand around, which is sparkling with a noticeable Umbran purple.
• Pummel:
  • It deals much less damage (1.6% (hits 1-2) → 0.6% (hit 1), 0.7% (hit 2); 3.2% → 1.3% total).
  • It deals more hitlag per hit (4 frames → 10), but has significantly less startup (frame 7, 14 → 1, 4) and ending lag (FAF 22 → 7). This overall shortens its duration and increases the amount of times Bayonetta can pummel the opponent before throwing them or before they break out.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Bullet Climax:
  • The move's bullets have more range.
  • Fully charged bullets deal more knockback (20 base/150 scaling → 15/190).
  • The move has more ending lag (FAF 71 → 76).
  • It needs to be fully charged before it can be charge-canceled.
  • It is unleashed automatically if held for more than 80 frames after its charge starts, preventing it from being held indefinitely.
  • The bullets have received negative shield damage (0 → -0.3 (uncharged), -0.6 (charged)).
• Heel Slide and After Burner Kick have lower hitlag multipliers (Heel Slide: 1.2× → 0.9× (hit 1), 1× (hit 2); After Burner Kick: 2× → 1.4× (up), 1.5× → 1.2× (down)), although this is offset by the universal increase to hitlag, except in battles with more than two players.
• Heel Slide:
  • The second hit comes out faster (frame 54 → 51).
  • Both hits have less ending lag (FAF 78/73 → 67/68).
  • All hits deal less damage (9%/8.5%/8% → 8%/7.5%/7% (hit 1, clean/mid/late), 6% → 5% (hit 2)).
  • It has an increased SDI multiplier (1× → 1.3×).
  • The second hit cannot be performed if the first hit is shielded. Combined with the changes to jostle mechanics preventing the move from crossing up shields, this makes it much easier to punish.
  • The second hit has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 54-59 → 51-55).
• After Burner Kick:
  • The normal version travels on a more horizontal angle and gains less vertical height, worsening her recovery.
  • Both variations bounce farther away when hitting a wall, sometimes not snapping the ledge afterwards, requiring the use of a directional air dodge to grab the ledge.
  • The second After Burner Kick can no longer be used if the first one is shielded, hindering its mixup and pressure abilities.
  • The downwards version can be inputted by pressing down during the first five frames of After Burner Kick.
  • The downwards version launches grounded opponents at a higher angle (60° → 80°), much like in Smash 4 before update 1.1.6, allowing it to be a reliable combo starter once again.
  • The downwards version can no longer be auto-canceled.
  • The downwards version has a higher SDI multiplier (2× → 2.5×).
• Witch Twist:
  • The window for Bayonetta to regain her double jump if the move is used after it has been increased (3 frames → 4).
  • The move's looping hits have a lower hitlag multiplier (1.3× → 0.8×), and the first hit can no longer be SDIed, making it harder to escape.
  • One of the first hit's hitboxes is slightly larger if used in the air (5u → 5.3u).
  • The move has more startup (frame 4 → 6) and ending lag (FAF 29 → 32), slightly weakening it as an out of shield option and followup.
  • It gains less height, making it even harder to drag opponents to the top blast line, as well as worsening her recovery.
  • It takes much longer to sweetspot edges from the front (frame 11 → 27), and can no longer sweetspot them from behind.
  • The first hit's body hitbox is much smaller (4u (grounded)/5u (aerial) → 2.5u/3u), no longer extending behind Bayonetta, preventing it from hitting opponents behind her into the multi-hits. The subsequent hits' hitboxes are also smaller (7u → 5u/4.5u/2u (looping hits), 8.5u → 6.5u (last hit)) and placed higher, meaning they cannot hit some crouching or shorter opponents such as Pichu.
    • However, since 3.1.0, it received a new smaller hitbox on Bayonetta's body to help it connect into the rest of the multi-hits more consistently.
• Witch Time:
  • Witch Time's counter window is slightly longer (frames 5-21 → 8-27), no longer being the shortest, with Bat Within's window taking place later (frames 18-29 → 24-35). It also grants more intangibility (frames 5-16 → 8-23).
  • The slowdown hitbox is twice as large (30u → 60u), allowing it to affect opponents from much farther distances.
  • Its slowdown duration has a lower penalty per use (75 frames → 60), and its minimum duration via penalty is slightly longer (20 frames → 22).
  • It has more startup (frame 5 → 8) with significantly more ending lag if missed (FAF 50 → 67), and slightly more ending lag upon activation (FAF 35 → 40). This makes the move harder to activate, riskier to use out of disadvantage, and much more punishable if unsuccessful, now having among the slowest startup and ending lag of all counterattacks, rather than among the fastest.
  • Its base slowdown duration has been halved (180 frames → 90). This causes a 300% Witch Time to be equivalent to a 0% Witch Time in Smash 4, and drastically reduces its utility in combination with its higher ending lag, no longer being effective at any percent range even against uncharged smash attacks.
    • However, its duration scaling with the target's percent is higher (0.1 → 0.3), causing it to increase by one frame for every 3.3334% the opponent takes, rather than every 10%. This allows it to reach its maximum slowdown duration faster (600% → 500% fresh).
  • Its slowdown duration is reduced by 30 frames if used against a projectile, weakening its ability to punish opponents from a distance.
  • Its regeneration per frame is slower (0.06 → 0.04).
  • Countered projectiles change ownership to Bayonetta's.
  • The screen turns dark whenever a character is affected by Witch Time.
• Infernal Climax:
  • When Witch Time is activated, opponents move a little faster. This makes it easier to dodge her attacks but effectively reduces intangibility for every consecutive dodges during the Final Smash.
  • Infernal Climax deals less damage before releasing opponents (30% → 28% (Gomorrah), 15% → 13% (full Climax Gauge)).
    • However, when the Final Smash ends, opponents take an additional 10% damage.
  • The Climax Gauge takes longer to fill up, requiring more button presses in order to achieve a full gauge.
  • Each successful input to fill the Climax Gauge uses a distinct sound effect from the Bayonetta games.
  • The black fade transition into the cinematic was removed, now immediately cutting in instead.

Recovery frames

• Witch Twist has less landing lag (19 → 18).
• After Burner Kick has less landing lag (20 → 18).
• Witch Twist to After Burner Kick has less landing lag (26 → 22).
• Downwards After Burner Kick has much more landing lag if it connects (20 → 30).
• Whiffed downwards After Burner Kick can no longer auto-cancel, and it has 20 frames of landing lag.
• Whiffed downwards After Burner Kick is treated as an After Burner Kick instead of nothing, causing overall more landing lag on missed combos.
• Landing lag from air dodging or using an aerial after Witch Twist is reduced (26 (one WT)/43 (two WT) → 22/38).
• Several combinations of moves give her less landing lag (30 → 28, 43 → 38).
• Downwards After Burner Kick's landing hitbox has 40 recovery frames after any combo, causing more landing lag on average (31 (minimum)/43 (maximum) → 40).

Update history

Bayonetta received a mix of buffs and nerfs in game updates, but was significantly buffed overall. Before update 3.1.0, she received few and relatively minor changes to her moveset, making Bullet Climax less effective on shield much like most other projectiles, but allowing Bayonetta to grab ledges easier after using neutral aerial, while also removing Stun Jacket, which used to affect her Bullet Arts more notably than most other characters.

Update 3.1.0 gave her a much larger amount of buffs, particularly Witch Time having more counter frames and intangibility frames alongside faster regeneration, which makes it more reliable even through multiple uses. This greatly improved Witch Time's usability as a counter, with its incarnation in the base game having arguably the worst frame data for a counter and no guarantee for a reward when landing it. Witch Twist and After Burner Kick both have less landing lag, making Bayonetta less punishable after performing combos and opening new opportunities for applying pressure. Her dash attack's clean hit deals more knockback, making it a semi-reliable kill option on lighter characters. Neutral attack gained a slightly longer lasting hitbox on the first hit and also received greater knockback for the final hit of the rapid jab. Her down smash also received a longer lasting hitbox on the second hit. Her up tilt was also improved by allowing it to connect more reliably even at very high percents, which was previously notorious for being inconsistent. Most notably, Witch Time was buffed even further by making Bat Within activate later during the counter without changing the move's total duration, reducing its ending lag.

After a year of receiving very few and rather negligible changes in balance patches, update 8.0.0 granted Bayonetta her most substantial buffs; forward smash has more base knockback and received a longer lasting hitbox, making the move a more reliable KO option. Her forward tilt's third hit had its endlag reduced, which allows the move to start true combos at very low percents, and up tilt's hitboxes were further improved, now using set knockback on the first hit to make sure it always connects reliably on grounded opponents at higher percentages. Witch Twist now has a lower SDI multiplier, making her combos harder to fall out of, and Heel Slide has less endlag, which improves its combo potential.

Update 12.0.0 buffed Bayonetta one last time with a few small but helpful changes. The final hit of rapid jab was buffed once more to deal more knockback and launch opponents at a more horizontal angle, becoming one of the strongest jabs in the game in terms of knockback and giving Bayonetta a new KO option at higher percentages, down smash was made 3 frames faster, which makes it slightly easier to spike offstage opponents with the move, and Witch Time received less slowdown duration penalty when used against projectiles, making her less susceptible to being zoned by them.

Overall, Bayonetta fares much better than she did when Ultimate launched and is now widely considered to be a solid high-tier character. However, she is still significantly weaker than her Smash 4 iteration.

1.1.0

• Witch Time's minimum duration after the penalty for repeated uses is increased (5 frames → 22).
• Witch Time's duration scaling is lower (40 → 30).
• Witch Time's regeneration per frame is slower (0.04 → 0.03).
• A glitch with Witch Time has been created, with its slowdown duration now being capable of underflowing and becoming extremely long under certain circumstances.

2.0.0

• Bayonetta can grab edges earlier after using neutral aerial (59 frames → 57).
• Fixed the Witch Time slowdown glitch.

3.0.0

• Bullet Climax deals less shield damage (0 (both) → -0.3 (uncharged)/-0.6 (charged)).
• Bullet Arts are no longer susceptible to Stun Jacket.

3.1.0

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack 1 has a longer hitbox duration (frames 9-11 → 9-12).
  • Neutral infinite's finisher deals more knockback at high percents (70 base/100 scaling → 67/117).
• Dash attack's clean hit deals more knockback at high percents (80 base/65 scaling → 78/71).
• Up tilt's first hit connects more reliably into the second (Knockback scaling: 20 → 10; hitbox 0 angle: 113° → 123°).
• Down smash's second hit has a longer hitbox duration (frames 25-27 → 25-28).
• After Burner Kick:
  • After Burner Kick has less landing lag (one kick: 20 frames → 18, two kicks: 30 → 26).
    • This does not affect Downwards After Burner Kick and most combos that start with or land on the ground with the move, but most combos that finish with the move and land normally have reduced landing lag.
• Witch Twist:
  • Witch Twist has less landing lag when used twice (32 frames → 28).
  • Witch Twist has an additional hitbox, making its hits connect more reliably.
• Witch Time:
  • Witch Time has a longer counter window (frames 8-21 → 8-27) and grants more intangibility (frames 8-17 → 8-23). The Bat Within window takes place later (frames 18-29 → 24-35) without changing the move's total duration, reducing its ending lag.
  • Witch Time regenerates faster (0.03 → 0.04).

4.0.0

• Bayonetta's up and side taunts no longer cause her voice clips to delay or cut off after finishing her taunting animation.
• Down aerial descends immediately when using the move after being launched.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased by 1.05x.
• Created a visual glitch where Bayonetta's clothes do not disappear during her smash attacks after being hit within their first few frames.

8.0.0

• The visual glitch from 7.0.0 involving her clothing has been fixed.
• Forward tilt:
  • The third hit has less ending lag (FAF 43 → 40), allowing it to combo into a forward aerial from low to mid percents.
  • The second hit has a slightly wider jostle area.
• Up tilt:
  • The move has less startup (frame 9 → 7), and the second hit has a longer duration (frame 15 → frames 13-15). The move's interruptibility has been compensated as well (FAF 32 → 30), reducing its ending lag.
  • The first hit uses set knockback (100/90 base/10 scaling → 145/100 set/100 scaling), and launches grounded opponents at an angle more towards Bayonetta (123° → 125°), allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The second hit has an additional hitbox that is placed lower (Y offset: 25.5u → 20u) and extends farther horizontally compared to the existing one (Z offset: -1u—1u → -3u—3u), increasing its range.
• Forward smash has more base knockback (26 → 34/35) and a longer hitbox duration (frames 17-19 → 17-21).
• Heel Slide has less ending lag (FAF 72 → 67 (non-extended), 73 → 68 (extended)), improving its combo potential.
• Witch Twist:
  • The move has a lower SDI multiplier (2× → 1.5×).
  • The window for Bayonetta to regain her double jump if the move is used after it has been increased (3 frames → 4).
• Infernal Climax has considerably less base knockback (120 → 90) at a higher angle against opponents not instantly KO'd by it, making it less likely to KO off the blast lines if they are caught near them.

10.1.0

• Bayonetta now turns her head during her left-inputted victory pose in the Japanese version of the game, matching the animation on the Global version.

12.0.0

• Rapid jab's finisher has more knockback scaling (117 → 121) and launches at a lower angle (55° → 43°), improving its KO potential.
• Down smash is faster (frame 20 → 17), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 69 → 66).
• Witch Time's slowdown duration is reduced less when activated by a projectile (40 frames → 30).

Moveset

• Bayonetta can extend and/or alter all standing normals, aerials, Side Special and Up Special by holding the button, resulting in thin, no-knockback hitboxes outstretching from wherever her pistols are pointing. See Bullet Arts.
• When a sidestep, roll, or airdodge (neutral or directional) is inputed, if Bayonetta is hit by an attack before her intangibility window, she will transform into a flock of bats and negate all knockback from said attack, while taking a fraction of the damage. See Bat Within.
  • If Bat Within is activated from a roll or directional airdodge, the bats will travel to whatever direction the dodge was initially inputed to go. Neutral airdodges travel downward and spot dodges do not cause any positional influence.
• Bayonetta receives various amounts of landing lag depending on the amount of aerials and special moves she performs in midair before landing. For more info, see Bayonetta Recovery Frames.
• Bayonetta can wall jump and wall cling.

For a gallery of Bayonetta's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Bullet Punch (バレットパンチ) / Combo Sweep (コンボスイープ) / Swing Up (スイングアップ) / Phantom Rush (ファントムラッシュ) / Phantom Finish (ファントムフィニッシュ)	1.4%	Bayonetta performs 3 pistol whips (a lunge with her left gun, a back-handed strike with her right, and an uppercut with the left), then performs a barrage of pistol whips, concluded by a thrusting pistol whip. Based on Bayonetta's Punch + Punch + Punch • Punch (PPP • P) combo while wielding Love is Blue. Bayonetta will only enter the rapid strike if the button is mashed. The Bullet Arts version of all hits of the combo has her shoot her guns forward, with the exception of the third hit, which shoots forward and upward in a diagonal direction behind herself. If the button is held while Bayonetta performs the barrage, it will do additional damage due to her firing her guns at the same time, though this does not actually extend the attack's range like her other Bullet Arts. Its utility as a get-off-me option is very poor, as its first hit comes out at frame 9, making it the second slowest neutral attack in the game after King Dedede's. However, it deals high damage to compensate, with the full combo being capable of dealing ~18%. After update 12.0.0, its launch angle was modified so that it became a viable kill option at around 105% on middleweights at the ledge of Final Destination, making it one of the strongest jabs in the game and repurposing it into Bayonetta's fastest grounded KO option. The first three hits can also lock.
			1.4%
			2.2%
			0.2% (loop), 0.5% (penultimate hit), 5% (last)
Forward tilt		Bullet Heel (バレットヒール) / Combo Twist (コンボツイスト) / Rising Kick (ライジングキック)	3%	Bayonetta performs 3 consecutive kicks (a front kick, a spin kick, and an upward roundhouse kick), the last hit knocking the opponent diagonally upward. Based on Bayonetta's Kick + Kick + Kick combo while wielding Love is Blue. Functions like a neutral attack, requiring further inputs to continue the combo. The Bullet Arts version of each strike has her fire her guns at different angles: the first is straight forward, the second is slightly upward, and the third is diagonally upward. If up close, the subsequent hits may fail to connect. Due to its slow speed (frame 12) and low shield safety, it is of niche use compared to Bayonetta's other moves, though it can set up aerial combos at low to mid percents or set up mindgames by canceling the move halfway.
			3%
			7%
Up tilt		Chain Upper (チェーンアッパー)	1.5% (hit 1, clean), 2% (hit 1, late), 6% (hit 2)	An upwards pistol whip. It is based on the delayed punch launcher. Hits twice, with the first hit having set knockback and a hitbox slightly above and in front of Bayonetta's head that does slightly more damage than on the ground, but can only hit midair opponents. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires her gun above her. The second hit will sometimes not connect due to positioning. It is an effective combo starter in general, as it can anti air and initiate combos, and can even set up a KO into back aerial at high percents. However, it cannot KO outright due to its low power, and becomes ineffective for combos past high percents.
Down tilt		Trip Circle (トリップサークル)	6% (foot), 5% (leg)	A sweep kick to launch opponents airborne. Based on the final hit of Bayonetta's Punch + Punch + Kick (PPK) combo while wielding Love is Blue. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires two guns in front of herself and one behind herself; the front version can effectively pepper opponents at a distance due to this feature. It is Bayonetta's safest grounded combo starter due to its speed and relatively low commitment, though it has short range. It can initiate aerial combos from low to high percents, though it cannot KO outright.
Dash attack		Stiletto (スティレット)	10% (early), 8% (late)	The Stiletto: a forward rushing pistol whip. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires her gun in front of herself. It has noticeable start-up, but travels far and acts as one of Bayonetta's few direct KO options.
Forward smash		Umbran Straight (アンブランストレート)	14% (wrist), 16% (fist)	Uses Wicked Weaves to summon Madama Butterfly's arm, which is used to throw a punch. Based on the final hit of Bayonetta's Punch + Kick + Punch (PKP) combo while wielding Love is Blue. Can be angled. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires her gun depending on how the smash was angled: forward if unangled, slightly upward if angled up, and slightly downward if angled down. It has great power and horizontal range, and Madama Butterfly's hitbox cannot be reversed. However, it has high ending lag and low priority, making it fairly easy to cancel out. A blindspot will always be present directly in front of Bayonetta, regardless of angle, and its animation renders it unable to hit prone opponents (or those with very low crouches).
Up smash		Wicked Upper (ウィケッドアッパー)	17% (clean), 16% (mid), 15% (late)	Uses Wicked Weaves to summon Madama Butterfly's arm, which is used to throw an uppercut. It is based on the delayed punch Wicked Weave launcher. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires one gun forward and one upward. It has noticeable start-up, high ending lag and low priority, but it is her strongest attack when clean, as it is capable of KOing middleweights around 100%. Its range also allows it to pierce through the platforms of Battlefield. Madama Butterfly's hitbox cannot be reversed.
Down smash		Heel Stomp (ヒールストンプ)	5% (Bayonetta), 16% (Madama Butterfly, clean), 15% (Madama Butterfly, late)	The Heel Stomp; Bayonetta stamps her foot on the ground while simultaneously using Wicked Weaves to summon Madama Butterfly's foot, which stomps shortly after her. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires the guns on her feet downward into the ground, ricocheting off the ground and traveling upwards at an angle behind Bayonetta. There is a hitbox on Bayonetta's leg that leads into the main hitbox. It can meteor smash opponents that are either on the edge or in midair, making it a potent edge-guarding option. Like up smash, it only hits in front of her, has high ending lag and low priority, but has considerable vertical range. Madama Butterfly's hitbox cannot be reversed. Uniquely, the hitbox for Bayonetta stamping the ground is set to never activate Witch Time.
Neutral aerial		Spinning Kick (スピニングキック)	8% (clean), 6% (late), 3% (Bullet Arts extension)	A spinning roundhouse kick. It is based on the aerial Bullet Climax in Bayonetta. It hits around Bayonetta and continuing the input for the Bullet Arts version has her continue to spin for a few seconds. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires her guns to her sides both horizontally and diagonally below her, and is useful for edgeguarding due to its long duration and very good coverage. If canceled early, it can lead into aerial combos with her special moves, and the clean hit can act as a combo finisher offstage.
Forward aerial		Aerial Bullet Punch (エアリアルバレットパンチ) / Aerial Combo Sweep (エアリアルコンボスイープ) / Swing Down (スイングダウン)	4% (hit 1), 3.3% (hit 2), 7% (hit 3)	Bayonetta performs 2 pistol whips (a straight with her left, and a backhanded strike with her right), and a downward-arc spin kick. Based on Bayonetta's aerial Punch + Punch + Kick (PPK) combo while wielding Love is Blue. Functions like a neutral attack, requiring further inputs to continue the combo. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires in front of her for the first two hits, while the third hit fires three guns downward (two of them being slightly diagonal) and one upward. Successfully landing each hit will cause Bayonetta to pop upwards slightly, allowing her to complete the rest of the combo. Unlike in Smash 4, it is no longer possible to cancel any hits into special moves, but fast falling on the ground immediately after landing the third hit grants her enough frame advantage to follow up with even more combos, usually into After Burner Kick or another forward aerial. It is also effective for KOing when near the blast lines, and is usually used to end combos after a second Witch Twist. The first hit can be used while landing to combo into forward smash, or canceled into After Burner Kick at extremely high percents while edgeguarding, where it can actually KO.
Back aerial		Shooting Kick (シューティングキック)	10% (leg), 13% (foot)	A high-angle back kick. Based on the second hit of Bayonetta's aerial Punch + Kick (PK) combo while wielding Love is Blue. The Bullet Arts version of this move fires one gun behind her at an upward angle. It is slow for a back aerial (frame 11), but acts as Bayonetta's strongest aerial KO option outside of combos. Some aerial combos can lead into back aerial for additional damage, or act as KO combos (including from up tilt). Its hitbox is rather misleading due to her attack's motion trails, as its hitboxes do not appear until Bayonetta's leg fully extends.
Up aerial		Full Moon Edge (フルムーンエッジ)	7.5% (kick), 3% (Bullet Arts extension)	A bicycle kick. It is based on the kick launcher in Bayonetta. The Bullet Arts version of this move has her fire her guns, whilst she performs a modified version of the aú aberto[1], one of many cartwheeling kicks in capoeira. While this version deals less damage, it provides excellent coverage that covers wide areas around her, making it useful for edge-guarding and dealing additional damage. While it is decently fast for an up aerial (frame 9), its hitbox starts behind her, which can make it slower than it seems. However, one can perform a reverse aerial rush to take advantage of this, allowing multiple up aerials to combo into each other, potentially ending with a back aerial. Overall, up aerial has high utility, as it can initiate combos into specials if canceled early, and can also KO when close to the top blast line, although Bayonetta has to perform extremely high ladder combos for it to KO.
Down aerial		Heel Guillotine (ヒールギロチン)	7% (body), 8% (leg), 9% (heel), 5% (landing)	A split-legged axe kick. It is based on Bayonetta's standard aerial kick in Bayonetta. A stall-then-fall with low duration and ending lag, which allows her to safely recover afterward if used off-stage. It is a meteor smash when hitting with her heel, while its landing hit has very high knockback, both of which make it a viable, but punishable KO option overall. It can be used after her special move combos to catch opponents who attempt to punish her increased landing lag. The Bullet Arts version fires one gun from her heel forward, but only upon landing.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out, with her hand emanating purple Umbran Magic.
Pummel		Grab Witch Slap (つかみウィッチスラップ)	0.6% (hit 1), 0.7% (hit 2)	The Slap Punish Attack. It is unique compared to other pummels in that it consists of two hits per input, so it is possible for the opponent to break free in the middle of the pummel, potentially missing the second hit entirely. In addition, it is slower but weaker compared to pummels such as Bowser. As a result, it is rather underwhelming as a pummel.
Forward throw		Tetsuzanko[2] (鉄山靠)	7% (hit), 3% (throw)	The Tetsuzanko, a technique based on the tie shan kao[3] used in Bajiquan. She occasionally says "十年早いんだよ! (Ten years too early!)", even in the English version of the game. The quote is a reference to Akira Yuki's famous quote in the Virtua Fighter series, and is said by Bayonetta herself as a special easter egg line in Bayonetta. It is her strongest throw in knockback and damage, KOing Mario at the edge of Final Destination at 140%. However, it is easily DI'd due to its diagonal angle.
Back throw		Crescent Sweep (クレセントスイープ)	3% (kick), 6% (throw)	A jumping roundhouse kick. Possibly based on the final hit of her Punch + Punch + Punch + Kick (PPPK) combo while wielding Love is Blue. Particularly weak for a back throw, and is mostly used to gain stage control or initiate edgeguards.
Up throw		Arc Wiper (アークワイパー)	3% (kick), 4.5% (throw)	An outside crescent kick. The pose Bayonetta assumes afterward is based on the final hit of her Punch + Punch + Kick (PPK) combo while wielding Scarborough Fair. Does not have true combo potential; however, due to Bayonetta's aerial presence, up throw is usually used to initiate aerial combos, as Bayonetta can capitalize on the opponent's reaction.
Down throw		Full Stomp (フルストンプ)	3% (stomp), 5% (throw)	Stomps the opponent into the ground. Due to its high ending lag, it is unreliable as a combo starter, unlike most other down throws. It does have unusually high knockback growth, however, enabling it to kill off the top when not in position for forward throw to do so, though it is also ineffective for this regard unless Bayonetta is on an elevated platform. Based on the final hit of Bayonetta's Punch + Punch + Punch + Kick + Kick + Kick (PPPKKK) combo while wielding Love is Blue.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)		Break Dance	7%	The Break Dance. A low-angle kick performed from a windmill, an acrobatic technique used in breakdancing.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)		Break Dance	7%	A low-angle kick performed from a windmill.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	A low-angle kick performed from a windmill.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs a hook kick while climbing up.
Neutral special		Bullet Climax	1.35% (uncharged), 2.7% (charged)	Fires bullets at a slight angle. When held, Bayonetta instead fires Charge Bullets, which are stronger but only active during the first four shots. The move can be cancelled by shielding or rolling, but only when fully charged. This move takes inspiration from the Bullet Climax and Charge Bullet techniques from Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2, respectively. Bayonetta alternates between two animations while charging and firing for each time she uses Bullet Climax: either she stands in a semi-crouching position and fires the guns in her hands, or she does a handstand and fires the guns on her feet. Both function identically, although Kirby's Copy Ability fires from noticeably different heights. Due to its angle, it is useful for edge-guarding and hindering aerial approaches, with the charged version being an extremely powerful KO option against recovering opponents. The uncharged version can also lock opponents on platforms.
Side special		Heel Slide / After Burner Kick	8% (Heel Slide, hit 1, clean), 7.5% (Heel Slide, hit 1, mid), 7% (Heel Slide, hit 1, late), 5% (Heel Slide, hit 2), 6% (After Burner Kick, standard, early/late), 7% (After Burner Kick, standard, clean), 6.5% (After Burner Kick, downward, kick), 5% (After Burner Kick, downward, landing)	A kick that functions differently when used on the ground or in midair. All versions are based on the individual techniques from the Bayonetta games, with minor differences. Heel Slide: On the ground, she performs the Heel Slide. If the button is held, Bayonetta will then follow it up with an aú aberto. She will also fire the guns on her feet as she slides. It is her primary combo starter, due to the follow-up kick launching the opponent upward. If the first hit is shielded, however, she will not transition to the aú aberto. She will also be under considerable endlag, leaving her open to punishing. After Burner Kick: In the air, she alternately performs the After Burner Kick, a flying kick with a slightly diagonal trajectory which can be performed twice in a row as long as the first kick connects. If shielded, it cannot transition into another After Burner Kick. It can be angled diagonally downward by two different methods: holding the control stick down before inputting the move (moving the stick in a quarter-circle), or by flicking the control stick down as soon as the move is inputted but before the move comes out. The second method takes strict timing: if not performed correctly, she will end up doing the standard After Burner Kick. If the button is held for the standard version, Bayonetta will fire the guns on her feet (one slightly upward, and one slightly downward). Like Witch Twist, both versions of After Burner Kick are her primary aerial combo initiators and followups, with each angled version having different launch angles and allowing for creative combos.
Up special		Witch Twist	3% (ground, hits 1 and 7), 0.2% (hits 2 - 5), 2% (air, hit 1)	An ascending, corkscrew pistol-whip. Based on the technique of the same name from Bayonetta, as well as a variation from Bayonetta 2 known as Witch Strike; the ability to hold guns is taken from the former, but lacks the dodging spinning kick at the start. It hits multiple times but covers minimal vertical distance and extremely minimal horizontal distance, similarly to Rising Uppercut. Despite this, Witch Twist is still a very useful recovery option, as she is allowed to use one Witch Twist after each jump, including after a double jump (allowing for a maximum of two Witch Twists before landing). Holding the button causes Bayonetta to additionally fire her guns from her hands and feet; hitting anyone directly above or below, to her sides, and slightly diagonally under her. It is overall her primary combo initiator and extender along with Witch Twist/After Burner Kick, as its low endlag and multiple uses allow her to perform an impressive variety of aerial strings. Witch Twist is also essential for Bayonetta's ladder combos, as she can immediately perform another Witch Twist after the first one ends with precise timing, which can drag opponents close to the top blast line. Each Witch Twist's final hit has different knockback trajectories, with the first sending diagonally upwards and the second sending at a horizontal angle with low knockback; the latter allows Bayonetta to consistently combo into aerials (the most common being forward aerial). With precise timing (a 4 frame window), a double jump can be cancelled into Witch Twist, thereby saving her jump in a similar way to Smash 4. This drastically improves her combo game and enables some particularly powerful ladder combos, as well as some much needed recovery mix-ups. This can be executed with both the first and second Witch Twists (as long as the double jump is unused) only to use the double jump right after, essentially giving her a maximum of three midair jumps, though only one would reach the top of its arc.
Down special		Witch Time	—	Uses her magic to slow down time around an opponent who attacks her. Based on the same ability from the Bayonetta games, albeit only slowing down the attacking opponent as opposed to all opponents. Functions as a counterattack. Its duration is dependent on several factors: the opponent's damage (more damage = longer duration), whether the attack was direct or indirect (indirect attacks such as projectiles result in a shorter duration), and frequency (using Witch Time too often will decrease the duration). However, if Witch Time is activated too late, then Bat Within is activated instead. Bat Within teleports Bayonetta in any direction, but unlike in the Bayonetta series, it halves the damage received, rather than negating it.
Final Smash		Infernal Climax	7% (Gomorrah), 13% (bonus spell), 10% (end)	Activates Witch Time to affect the whole stage. While this effect is active, Bayonetta has a limited time to deal damage to her opponents in order to fill up the Climax Gauge. The Climax Gauge will also fill itself up slowly. Once it is filled, she has to deal knockback to any opponent before a cutscene occurs. The cutscene consists of her using her hair as a conduit to summon Gomorrah, who then damages any opponents suffering hitstun from Bayonetta's attacks by chomping them four times before they are launched with set knockback. The attack button can be mashed during the attack to fill a second Climax Gauge that deals an additional 13% after the cutscene. Once the cutscene ends, anyone with 100% or more will be instantly KO'd. Anyone below 100% will take an additional 10% as the Final Smash ends.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height	Empty landing Lag
Value	81	1.936 – Initial dash 1.76 – Run	0.945	0.11	0.008	1.019	0.01 – Base 0.085 – Additional	0.12	1.77 – Base 2.832 – Fast-fall	3	39 - Base 21.35 - Short hop	42	4

Announcer call

• English/Japanese/Chinese

• French

• German

• Italian

• Russian

• Spanish

On-screen appearance

• Emerges from her Bat Within form while surrounded by the Umbra Witches' symbol, then proceeds to wield her guns.

• 

  Bayonetta's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Twirls around, 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." (レディの扱い方、ママに教えてもらいなさい, If you can't handle a lady, ask your mum.) This taunt has been significantly shortened from the last game, although it can still be canceled. It is based on her long taunt from Bayonetta 2.
• Side taunt: Gracefully spins around, then points both guns directly in front of herself, saying, "New 'do, dead you." (動くと死ぬわよ, You move, you die.) The quote comes from her short taunt while wielding Salamandra in Bayonetta 2.
• Down taunt: Strikes a pose while flourishing her guns before looking away and then looking forward, while her glasses briefly emit a light purple glint upon concluding. Significantly shortened from the last game, although it can still be canceled. Based on the dance she performs prior to fighting the first Joy she encounters in Bayonetta.

• 

  Bayonetta's up taunt.

• 

  Bayonetta's side taunt.

• 

  Bayonetta's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Waves one of her guns in an inviting motion, while resting the other on her hip.
• Holds her left gun in front of herself, and her right gun upward beside her head. This idle pose only occurs once she ends any ground attack, and reverts to her standard idle animation after a few seconds. Based on her "in combat" pose in both Bayonetta games.

• 

  Bayonetta's first idle pose.

• 

  Bayonetta's second idle pose, assumed only after a ground attack.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English/French)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)
Cheer
Description	Bay - o!	Bayo - nett - a!	Ba - yo - ne - tta!	Baaaaayo - ne - tta!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Baaaaayo - ne - tta! *claps 6 times*	Baaaaayo - ne - tta! *claps 5 times*	Bayo - netta! *claps 3 times*	Ba - yo - ne - tta!

Victory poses

All of Bayonetta's victory quotes are based on taunts from Bayonetta 2 while wielding various weapons; the associated weapon for each is listed in parentheses. Each pose also features a brief light purple glint emitted from her glasses at the end of the pose.

• Left: Dances and says "Miss me, baby?" (Chernobog; "私はここよ", I'm right here.). The dance is similar to her down taunt, with a slightly different ending pose.
• Up: Performs the Break Dance move then strikes a pose, saying "Dreadful." (gun-type weapons or Rodin; "退屈だわ", Boring.) or "Don't make me beg." (Takemikazuchi; "遠慮しないで", Don't be shy.). The ending pose is similar to her crouch.
• Right: Faces her back to the screen while holding her guns up beside her face. Afterwards, she pirouettes like a ballerina, then aims her guns to the right with a pose, saying "That all you got?" (Alruna; "全力を見せてよ", Show me your full power.) or "You're making it easy." (Rakshasa; "楽勝ね", Too easy.).

The first few notes of "Time For The Climax!", followed by the jingle that plays upon completing a verse in Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2.

• 
• 
• 

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Bayonetta players (SSBU)

•  Bloom4Eva - One of the best Bayonetta players of all-time and one of the best players in Europe in the post-online metagame, being a frequent bracket demon for Europe's other two best players, Glutonny and Sisqui. Aside from winning many large European events, he is best known for winning VCA 2022, the first national-level victory from a Bayonetta player, and several top 8 finishes at European majors such as placing 4th at COLOSSEL 2022, Ultimate Fighting Arena 2022, and King Con.
•  Geist - The second-best Bayonetta player in North America in the post-pandemic metagame. He is best known for placing 7th at Rise 'N Grind 2023 as well as placing 5th at Low Tide City 2024 defeating SHADIC. In addition, he has placed 17th at Supernova 2024, 25th at Riptide 2024, and 33rd at Port Priority 8, and had also defeated Kurama at Super Smash Con 2023.
•  Lima - One of the best Bayonetta players of all-time, with his best performances taking place in the post-pandemic metagame. He has regularly ranked in the top 50 since UltRank 2022 and saw a plethora of top 8 finishes at majors, including 2nd at Litvitational 3 and Cirque 4, 3rd at Rise 'N Grind 2023 and The Coinbox IRL, and 5th at Collision 2023. He became the second Bayonetta player to win a major, doing so at GSM.
•  Nizemamo - The second-best Bayonetta player in Japan, first known for placing 13th at Maesuma TOP 14.5 "in Hyogo" after defeating Jogibu. Nizemamo is best known for placing 5th at Maesuma'GRAND WARS with a win over Raru, as well as consistent strong performances at Sumabato during the LumiRank 2024.1 season, placing between 9th or 17th at most Sumabato events during this time; as such, Nizemamo was eventually ranked 100th during that season.
•  TamaPDaifuku - One of the best Bayonetta players of all-time, first breaking out onto the scene after placing 4th at Maesuma TOP 13.5 "U-22". He is especially known for his performance in the LumiRank 2024.1 season, beginning with a 2nd-place finish at DELTA 7 and culminating in his victory at Seibugeki 17, becoming the first Bayonetta player to win a major. During this time, he also placed top 8 at every major he attended aside from Umebura SP 10, and as such was eventually ranked 8th for that season, making him the highest-ranking Bayonetta player in Ultimate history. Although his results took a downturn in the following season, he still remains Japan's best Bayonetta player.

Tier placement and history

Due to the drastic nerfs she received in her transition to Ultimate, Bayonetta saw minimal tournament results during the early metagame; she was considered to be a "high-effort, low-reward" character, as she had to work significantly harder to win neutral, rack up damage, and close out stocks than the vast majority of the cast. Bayonetta performing drastically worse than her Smash 4 iteration led many to think of her as by far the most nerfed veteran in the transition to Ultimate. Although CaptainZack was able to see some good results while using Bayonetta as a co-main, they were mostly eclipsed by his results with Peach and Daisy, and most top players considered her to be a lower mid-tier or low-tier character at best, some players even ranked her as one of the worst characters in the game. Her results continued to struggle, especially following CaptainZack's ban.

However, Bayonetta would go on to receive many buffs that made her strongest options more consistent in updates 3.1.0 and 8.0.0, which would eventually lead to a positive shift in players' perceptions of Bayonetta. With Bayonetta players adapting remarkably to the changing metagame and with balance patches having lended Bayonetta significant buffs, a slow but noticeable growth in her representation would emerge: during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloom4Eva used her to place highly at major online tournaments. Following the return of offline competitive play, Bayonetta continued to see impressive results thanks to players such as Bloom4Eva and Lima, with the former even winning VCA 2022. This led to an exceptional shift in her perception, and most players reevaluated the character and ranked her as a mid-tier at least, and as such, she was ranked 45th on the first tier list in B+ tier.

Following the first tier list, Bayonetta's representation grew even more, and she continues to see consistently strong results in tournaments, with Lima getting better results and TamaPDaifuku causing upsets at Japanese supermajors. Thanks to her improved representation and results, she is now widely ranked as a high-tier, with some players even ranking her as a top-tier. Bayonetta would see a massive boost on the second and current tier list, where she rose 19 spots and is now ranked 26th in A- tier, the largest rise of any character from the first to second tier list. After the release of the second tier list, TamaPDaifuku saw a meteoric rise and gained more recognition in 2024, as he placed very highly at several major tournaments, most notably winning Seibugeki 17, the very first major victory for a Bayonetta player. Despite TamaPDaifuku's inconsistency in the following season, Lima saw the best results of his whole Ultimate career, including his 2nd place finishes at both Litvitational 3 and Cirque 4 with wins over Miya and Sparg0, and his victory at GSM made him the second Bayonetta player to win a major.

Overall, while Bayonetta is still widely agreed to be a shell of her Smash 4 self, she is also considered to be substantially stronger than she was in the early metagame.

Classic Mode: The Requiem of Fallen Wings

Bayonetta's congratulations screen.

All of Bayonetta's opponents have wings, in reference to her battles against angels and specific fights from Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2. The final battle is against a giant Palutena.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Dark Pit	Umbra Clock Tower	One Of A Kind	A reference to the Loptr boss fight from Bayonetta 2. Takes place in same location.
2	Falco	Castle Siege	Tomorrow Is Mine (Bayonetta 2 Theme) (Instrumental)	A reference to the Flaming Affinity from Bayonetta.
3	Ridley	Reset Bomb Forest	Riders Of The Light	A reference to the Inspired Angels from Bayonetta & Bayonetta 2.
4	Giant Charizard	Skyloft	Time For The Climax!	A reference to Fortitudo from Bayonetta & Bayonetta 2.
5	Meta Knight	Skyworld	Theme Of Bayonetta - Mysterious Destiny (Instrumental)	A reference to the Masked Lumen from Bayonetta 2.
Bonus Stage
6	Pit (x6)	Skyworld	Let's Hit The Climax!	Horde Battle (3 at a time). A reference to the Affinity Angels, which usually attack in groups.
Final	Giant Palutena	Palutena's Temple (Ω form)	The Legend of Aesir	A reference to Jubileus, The Creator from Bayonetta.

Note: When fighting Charizard, its Pokémon Trainer is absent. Additionally, every stage plays a track from the Bayonetta universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Bayonetta has Let's Dance, Boys! accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Bayonetta in World of Light

Bayonetta was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to fight against the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Bayonetta was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Bayonetta dodged a beam of light, activating her Bat Within, but she was then vaporized immediately after she reformed her body, and later placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters, excluding Kirby.

Bayonetta was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat, and the last fighter to be found imprisoned by him. In The Final Battle, she is called by Dharkon as part of his reinforcements after Roy is awakened and Master Hand is beaten. She is a necessary unlock to achieve the true ending, as awakening her leads to a battle with Crazy Hand that frees him from Dharkon's control (both of whom's defeats greatly shifts the balance of power in Galeem's favor).

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
63		Bayonetta	Shield	12,500	Umbra Clock Tower (Ω form)	Let's Hit The Climax!

Spirits

Bayonetta's Bayonetta 2 fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode as Bayonetta. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Bayonetta has been unlocked. Unlocking Bayonetta in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Her alternate outfit from the first Bayonetta has a fighter spirit of its own, available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, her younger form, Cereza, appears as a support spirit.

• 

  1,006. Bayonetta (Bayonetta 2)

• 

  1,007. Bayonetta (Bayonetta)

• 

  1,015. Cereza

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
97		Kammy Koopa	Paper Mario Series	•Bayonetta		2,000	Paper Mario	•Invisibility	•All fighters are invisible after a little while •The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod	Airship Theme - Super Mario Bros. 3
142		Candy Kong	Donkey Kong Series	•Bayonetta		3,800	Kongo Falls	•Item: Bananas	•The enemy starts the battle with a Banana Gun •The enemy has increased move speed	Mangrove Cove
202		Koume & Kotake	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Bayonetta		3,700	Gerudo Valley	N/A	•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower •The enemy starts the battle with a Freezie	Gerudo Valley	Koume (pink costume) Kotake (blue costume)
222		Midna	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Bayonetta		9,200	Bridge of Eldin (hazards off)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Midna) •Item: Transforming Types	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Midna's Lament
745		Captain Syrup	Wario Land Series	•Bayonetta •Giant King Dedede		3,500	Pirate Ship	N/A	•Items will be pulled toward the enemy •The enemy is giant •The enemy is easily distracted by items	The Great Sea / Menu Select
768		Strangelove	Metal Gear Solid Series	•Bayonetta •Metal R.O.B.		1,600	Midgar (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle •The enemy is metal	Main Theme - METAL GEAR SOLID PEACE WALKER
961		Elma	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Bayonetta		9,400	Gaur Plain (Ω form)	•Temporary Invincibility	•The enemy will occasionally be invincible after a little while •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge	Xenoblade Chronicles Medley
1,003		Juri	Street Fighter Series	•Bayonetta (140 HP)		3,800	New Pork City (Ω form)	•Attack Power ↑ •Jump Power ↓	•Stamina battle •The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage •The enemy favors side specials	Vega Stage
1,008		Gomorrah	Bayonetta Series	•Bayonetta		3,200	Umbra Clock Tower	•Sudden Final Smash •Sudden Damage	•You take serious damage after a little while •The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash after a little while	Let's Hit The Climax!	Bayonetta
1,009		Madama Butterfly	Bayonetta Series	•Bayonetta (180 HP)		13,900	Umbra Clock Tower	•Hazard: Poison Cloud	•The stage is covered in a poisonous cloud •Stamina battle •The enemy favors smash attacks	Let's Hit The Climax!	Bayonetta
1,010		Jeanne	Bayonetta Series	•Bayonetta (160 HP)		9,400	Umbra Clock Tower	N/A	•The enemy's ranged weapons have increased power •Stamina battle	Red & Black
1,020		Prophet	Bayonetta Series	•Bayonetta (100 HP)		3,800	Umbra Clock Tower	•Item: Timer	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power •Stamina battle	The Legend Of Aesir
1,024		Alraune	Bayonetta Series	•Bayonetta (120 HP)		1,900	Garden of Hope (Ω form)	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy's battering items have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with a Lip's Stick	Tomorrow Is Mine (Bayonetta 2 Theme) (Instrumental)
1,066		Shanoa	Castlevania Series	•Bayonetta		9,900	Brinstar Depths (Ω form)	•Sudden Final Smash •Hazard: Heavy Wind	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash after a little while •Dangerously high winds are in effect •The enemy's special moves have increased power	Twilight Stigmata
1,100		Tabuu	Super Smash Bros. Series	•Metal Bayonetta (150 HP)		13,900	Final Destination	•Sudden Damage	•Stamina battle •You'll occasionally take sudden damage after a little while •The enemy is metal	Boss Battle Song 2
1,290		Twintelle	ARMS	•Bayonetta		3,700	New Donk City Hall	N/A	•The enemy's smash attacks have increased power •The enemy favors smash attacks •The enemy starts the battle with a Drill	New Donk City
1,402		Lotus	Warframe	•Bayonetta		3,600	Frigate Orpheon (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Gray Fox)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	The Keeper of the Lake
1,424		Olberic & Primrose	OCTOPATH TRAVELER	•Bayonetta		9,500	Coliseum	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Black Knight)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear •The enemy favors air attacks	Worthy Rival Battle	Primrose

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
225		Agitha	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Peach •Bayonetta		1,900	Kongo Falls	•Item: Beehive	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	The Hidden Village	Butterfly
672		Gangrel	Fire Emblem Series	•Wolf •Bayonetta		3,700	Find Mii (Ω form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy has increased attack power	Id (Purpose) (Remix)	Aversa
973		Zeke	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Cloud •Bayonetta		2,500	Kongo Falls (Battlefield form)	•Sudden Final Smash •Hazard: Zap Floor	•Survive until the timer runs out •The floor is electrified •The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash after a little while	Those Who Stand Against Our Path - Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Pandoria
										Bringer of Chaos! Ultimate
1,015		Cereza	Bayonetta Series	•Tiny Isabelle •Bayonetta		1,900	Luigi's Mansion	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win	Let's Dance, Boys!	Bayonetta
1,319		Professor Riggs & Plaise & Lerna Professor Gerry, Plaise, & Lerna	Nintendo Labo Series	•Dr. Mario •Bayonetta •Tiny Young Link		2,500	Paper Mario	•Attack Power ↑ •Defense ↑	•The enemy has increased defense after a little while •The enemy has increased attack power after a little while	Title Theme - Super Mario Maker	Lerna Lotte
1,406		Ring	Ring Fit Adventure	•Wii Fit Trainer •Clear Bayonetta		3,800	Garden of Hope (hazards off)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy starts the battle with a Gust Bellows •The enemy is invisible	Boss Battle	Ring's Fitness Attacks

Alternate costumes

Just like Smash 4, Bayonetta's voice is dependent on her costume when the language is set to Japanese, Chinese, or Korean: her Bayonetta 2 costume has her speaking Japanese, while her Bayonetta costume has her speaking English. This is a reference to how the first Bayonetta game originally only had English audio, not receiving a Japanese dub until the Wii U port. Many of Bayonetta's visual effects will be one of two colors depending on the costume used, blue for Bayonetta 2 and red for Bayonetta. Both costumes have unique firing sound effects for each set of guns. Her Bat Within ability also uses two separate bat models for both costumes. Her alternate red color scheme for the Bayonetta 2 costume is based on Jeanne and the hair surrounding Madama Butterfly's limbs and Gomorrah will be colored white instead of black when using this color scheme.

Gallery

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  Artwork of Bayonetta, Rodin, and Madama Butterfly as posted on the official Japanese PlatinumGames Twitter account.

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  Bayonetta's fighter card.

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  Bayonetta's unlock notice.

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  Taunting on Umbra Clock Tower.

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  Performing Bullet Climax on Skyworld.

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  Attacking Ganondorf on Mario Galaxy.

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  Jumping next to Villager on Tortimer Island.

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  Attacking Samus with her forward smash on Spirit Train.

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  Crouching near Mr. Saturn on Yoshi's Story.

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  Performing After-Burner Kick on Castle Siege.

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  Taunting near Dark Pit on Great Plateau Tower.

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  Wall clinging with Diddy Kong on Alolan Exeggutor.

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  Bayonetta using a Wicked Weave against Isaac's Pound Psynergy on Kalos Pokémon League.

Trivia

A comparison of Bayonetta's contrasting size
to Ganondorf during normal gameplay (left) vs. the
"No Contest" screen (right).

• On the "No Contest" screen, Bayonetta's model is much taller than it is during normal gameplay. No other character model seems to grow on this screen; however, bigger characters like Bowser shrink.
• Bayonetta's official artwork strongly resembles her official artwork for Bayonetta 2, albeit with her arms pointed outwards rather than inwards.
  • Likewise, Bayonetta's official artwork based on the first game resembles her official artwork for Bayonetta, only mirrored.
• An interview with Masahiro Sakurai revealed that Bayonetta and Palutena were under consideration to survive Galeem's attack in the World of Light opening. They were turned down in favor of Kirby, due to both fighters being very complex characters to use for beginners and that other characters of their series were also turned into spirits, stating that Bayonetta could not escape to Purgatorio as Galeem's attack reached there and her enemies were turned into spirits.
  • Both Palutena and Bayonetta are on the Final Battle map, appearing as the last of all fighters. This implies that Galeem (and eventually Dharkon) knew how big of a threat Palutena and Bayonetta were (Palutena being a Goddess and Bayonetta's slaughter of two gods) to his plans, so he kept them as a last resort.
  • While Palutena is designed to always be one of the final characters unlocked, outside of World of Light, Bayonetta can be unlocked very early, potentially as the second character to be unlocked (by clearing Classic Mode with Mario, Sonic, and/or any DLC character twice).
• Bayonetta is the only third-party character and the only sole fighter from a universe to be unlocked in the Final Battle realm in World of Light.
• Unlike in Smash 4, Bayonetta has two separate menus for her Sound Test voice clips in all versions of the game, one for her Bayonetta 2 design and one for her Bayonetta design, despite both versions of Bayonetta using the same voice clips in western versions. This is because the Japanese version has separate voice clips for her in Japanese and English.
  • The Bayonetta 2 design is missing four voice clips in total when the language is not set to Japanese, three being Japanese (when the language is set to Chinese or Korean), and one being English. All of the missing voice clips are those without a corresponding voice clip in the other language.
• Bayonetta's Fighter Spirit for her default costume reuses her artwork from Bayonetta 2, where it depicts the back of her legs uncovered rather than wearing silver leggings. This is most likely an oversight, as the Spirits for Camilla from Fire Emblem Fates and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had modified artwork to be less provocative.
  • This oversight appears to be shared with the Fighter Spirits for Palutena, female Corrin, and Pyra, who likewise use unaltered artwork from their games of origin, but have had censorship applied to them in their playable forms.
  • Oddly enough, Bayonetta's CGI model in the World of Light opening cutscene also shows the back of her legs uncovered and exposing her skin.
• The artwork used for Bayonetta's Fighter Spirit depicting her Bayonetta design is not originally from the Bayonetta series. Instead, it's from Anarchy Reigns.
• Since Bayonetta's Bullet Arts behave as disjointed hitboxes rather than projectiles, Spirits that affect physical attack power can affect her Bullet Arts Extensions.
• Bayonetta and the Mii Fighters are the only characters in Ultimate whose portraits do not extend out of their battle UI. However, in Bayonetta's case, this only applies to her Bayonetta design.
• When Bayonetta spot dodges, there is a chance that she will say "Dreadful", with the pose and phrase referencing her short taunt while having Love is Blue equipped in Bayonetta 2.
  • This makes her one of two characters, the other being Terry, to play a voice sound clip during any type of ground dodge.
• Bayonetta is the third-party character with the most encounters in Classic Mode, appearing in ten routes.
• Technically speaking, Bayonetta is the only character in Ultimate with a Final Smash that is activated without a unique damage-dealing hitbox, as the cutscene instantly triggers after a requisite is met during a damageless screen-wide slowdown.
• Bayonetta can be unlocked by clearing Classic Mode with Sonic, likely referencing the original release of Bayonetta being published by Sega. Additionally, as Joker has no assigned character unlock column, he uses Mario's unlock column, technically making all three Sega characters share the same unlock column.
• The patch notes for version 9.0.0 indicates Bayonetta's rapid jab finisher gained transcendent priority; however, this is false, as the script as early as version 3.0.0 was coded as such.
• Prior to version 10.1.0, the animation for Bayonetta's left-inputted victory pose was slightly different in the Japanese version of the game, as she did not turn her head at the end of the animation. This seems to have been a glitch, and was fixed in the 10.1.0 update.
• There is an inconsistency in Bayonetta's smash attack animations, where the Wicked Weaves retain the blue and silver pendants, even if she is wearing her Bayonetta costume, where the Wicked Weaves should have red and gold pendants.
  • Despite this, her Bat Within ability actually uses two different models, with its corresponding colors and pendants depending on the costume used.
• The red and white alternate color scheme for the Bayonetta 2 costume has a strange visual glitch, where the hair tendrils hanging from the suit do not disappear when Bayonetta uses her Wicked Weaves or Infernal Climax.
• When wearing her Bayonetta costume, the textures around the red gem for Sage, the Scarborough Fair gun in Bayonetta's left hand, appear to be unfinished on the right side of the gun since they only surround half of the gem and the other half is simply colored red, unlike the other three guns that are fully textured.
  • Strangely, this oversight seems to only apply in gameplay, as Bayonetta's right-inputted victory pose shows Sage to be fully textured like the other three guns.
• In English versions, Bayonetta speaks the most languages across all her voice clips, those being English, Japanese when using forward throw, and Enochian when performing her Final Smash.

Notes

1.^ translates to "Open Cartwheel"

2.^ translates to "Iron Mountain Lean"

3.^ translates to "By Iron Mountain"