Bayonetta (SSBU)

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Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Bayonetta
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Infernal Climax

“	An Umbra Witch who equips guns on her arms and legs, Bayonetta has mastered the beautiful but brutal Bullet Arts fighting style. She can even slow down her opponents with Witch Time!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Bayonetta (ベヨネッタ, Bayonetta) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was confirmed as a playable character on June 12th, 2018. Bayonetta is classified as fighter #63.

Bayonetta is once again voiced by Hellena Taylor in English and Atsuko Tanaka in Japanese, using recycled voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 4.

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 anyone in his unlock tree, being the second character unlocked after Sonic.
• Have Bayonetta join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Bayonetta must then be defeated on the Umbra Clock Tower.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Bayonetta in Smash 4 was considered by many players as the best character in the game, even after having received nerfs in updates, due to many of her extreme advantages remaining intact, including most infamously her ability to KO opponents at virtually any percentage with successful ladder combos. These traits often caused players to label her as "broken", and many matches involving her became controversial, including one at the Super Smash Bros. Invitational 2018, where the top professional Bayonetta player MkLeo pulled off a ladder KO in front of Masahiro Sakurai. Possibly as a result of these events, Bayonetta has been significantly nerfed in the transition to Ultimate, and is by far the most nerfed character in the game, in a similar vein to Meta Knight in Smash 4.

Bayonetta's most reliable combo starters have been weakened, with her up tilt, down tilt and forward aerial all having more ending lag; the latter in particular has been affected the most significantly, no longer allowing for any followups other than the next hits of the move. Witch Twist also has more startup and grants less distance, reducing its effectiveness as a combo starter, out of shield option and followup from other moves. Adding to this, all of Bayonetta's special moves have received nerfs that make them more punishable: Bullet Climax's charge takes longer to cancel, 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 except at very high percentages, alongside having noticeably more startup and ending lag.

Bayonetta's KO ability has been toned down as well. Her neutral, up and down aerials deal lower knockback (most significantly the former two), her back aerial has shorter range making it harder to 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, 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. As a result, Bayonetta now has a significantly more defined main weakness, which is her lack of KO ability at higher percentages. Conversely, her own endurance has been worsened, as her already low weight has been decreased further, and her recovery is less effective due to Witch Twist's shorter distance and slower ledge grab.

On the other hand, Bayonetta has received a few noteworthy buffs. 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. Heel Slide and downwards After Burner Kick are more reliable combo starters, the former due to its lower ending lag on the second hit, and the latter due to launching grounded opponents at a higher angle. Lastly, her forward throw is somewhat more effective for KOing at high percentages, and Witch Time can slow down opponents from much farther distances upon a successful counterattack. However, these buffs fail to compensate for the comparatively much larger impact her abundance of nerfs has brought up. Overall, Bayonetta performs significantly worse than her Smash 4 iteration, although how this exactly affects her viability in Ultimate's metagame is currently unknown.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Bayonetta's model features a more subdued color scheme.
• Love is Blue and Scarborough Fair have louder sound effects to distinguish the two.
• 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.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Bayonetta's jumpsquat animation now takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• 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 is slightly lighter (84 → 81). This worsens her survivability, but also makes her harder to combo at higher percents.
• 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.
  • However, Bayonetta's directional air dodge speed is lower relative to the cast, a trait she shares with Little Mac. This gives her more trouble in escaping combos and juggles.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first three hits have altered angles and knockback to keep opponents close to Bayonetta, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to connect better and jab lock, but removes their guaranteed jab cancel setups.
  • The second and third hits have less startup (frame 9 → 7 (hit 2), 11 → 7 (hit 3)).
  • The rapid jab deals less hitlag, making it harder to SDI out of.
  • 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)).
  • The first hit has slightly less range.
• Forward tilt:
  • The first hit has slightly less range.
  • The first and third hits deal less damage (3.5% → 3% (hit 1), 8.5% → 7% (hit 3)), though with the latter's knockback mostly compensated.
• Up tilt:
  • The first hit's grounded hitbox now launches opponents into the second hit like its aerial hitbox, rather than away from Bayonetta, allowing it to rack up damage and combo more consistently.
  • Up tilt has more startup (frame 7 → 9) and ending lag (FAF 27 → 32), hindering its combo potential.
  • The first hit deals less damage when clean (5% → 1.5%), now being less than the late hit's damage.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 27 → 29), hindering its combo potential.
  • It deals less damage (6%/7% → 5%/6%). While its knockback has not been fully compensated, its combo potential remains worse due to its increased ending lag.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 47 → 43).
  • It deals more knockback.
• Bayonetta's smash attacks have a lower maximum damage multiplier (1.4× → 1.2×).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has less startup (frame 19 → 17) and ending lag (FAF 68 → 67).
  • It can now be angled.

Aerial attacks

• Forward, back and up aerial have less landing lag (14 frames → 12 (forward), 12 frames → 10 (back), 12 frames → 8 (up)).
• All aerials except down aerial have more landing lag if their Bullet Arts extensions are used (10 frames → 18 (neutral), 12 frames → 18 (forward), 12 → 16 (back, up)). This worsens Bayonetta's pressure ability with her neutral and up aerials.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial deals drastically less knockback, 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%).
• Forward aerial:
  • All hits deal more damage (3% → 4% (hit 1), 2.2% → 3.3% (hit 2), 6% → 7% (hit 3)), with knockback compensated on the third hit.
  • 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 slightly less range.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).
  • Its hitboxes are smaller (6.2u/4.8u → 4.6u/4.2u).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial deals less damage (9% → 7.5%) and its knockback scaling has been reduced (90 → 80). This significantly hinders its KO ability.
  • It launches at a more horizontal angle (75° → 55°). While this allows it to follow up with an upwards After Burner Kick, it mostly reduces its combo potential and making it vulnerable to LSI.
  • The Bullet Arts extension deals less damage (4% → 3%).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial now deals set knockback to grounded opponents to always lead into the landing hit, allowing it to deal more damage and KO them more effectively.
  • It deals less knockback to aerial opponents and with the landing hit, no longer being able to KO off a meteor smash at very low percents, and 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).

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs have increased 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 now 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:
  • Pummel is significantly faster, but deals much less damage per hit (1.6% → 0.65%).
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals slightly more knockback, improving its KO potential.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Bullet Climax:
  • Bullet Climax's bullets have more range.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 71 → 76).
  • It now needs to be fully charged before it can be charge-canceled.
  • It can only be held for up to one second upon reaching full charge.
• Heel Slide:
  • The second hit comes out faster (frame 54 → 51).
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 78 → 73), improving its combo potential.
  • All hits deal less damage (9%/8.5%/8% → 8%/7.5%/7% (hit 1, clean/mid/late), 6% → 5% (hit 2)).
    • However, this also allows the second hit to combo for longer.
  • The second hit cannot be performed if the first hit is shielded. Combined with attacks no longer being able to cross-up shields in Ultimate, this makes the move much easier to punish.
• After Burner Kick:
  • Upon hitting an opponent with After Burner Kick, the second one can only be used within a one-second window afterwards, hindering its mixup potential.
    • Additionally, it cannot be used altogether if the first one is shielded.
  • Downwards After Burner Kick launches grounded opponents at a higher angle, much like in Smash 4 before update 1.1.6, allowing it to be a reliable combo starter once again.
  • Downwards After Burner Kick can no longer be autocanceled.
• Witch Twist:
  • Witch Twist's looping hits deal less hitlag, making them harder to SDI out of.
  • It has increased startup (frame 4 → 6) and ending lag (FAF 29 → 32), weakening it as an out of shield option and followup.
  • It gains less vertical height making it unable to reach at higher blast zones 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.
• Witch Time:
  • Witch Time's slowdown hitbox is twice as large (30u → 60u), allowing it to affect opponents from much farther distances.
  • Witch Time has increased startup with a shorter counter window (frames 5-21 → 8-21), and grants less intangibility (frames 5-16 → 8-17).
  • It has significantly more ending lag (FAF 50 → 67), making it easier to punish if missed. It also takes longer for Bayonetta to act out of the move after its activation (frame 15 → 20).
  • Its base duration has been significantly lowered (180 frames → 90), no longer being effective at any percent range, even against uncharged smash attacks.
    • However, its duration scaling is higher (10 → 30), meaning its duration increases by 30 frames for every 100% the opponent takes, rather than by 10 frames. This mostly compensates for the move's lower base duration at higher percents, and allows it to reach its maximum duration faster.
  • It has less penalty frames per use (75 → 60).
  • Its regeneration per frame is slower (0.06 → 0.03).
  • Witch Time scales with the power of the move it is used on, so using Witch Time on a weaker move such as a jab will result in the effect lasting for a much shorter time, and a stronger move such as a smash attack will result in a longer effect.
  • The screen turns dark whenever someone is affected by Witch Time.
• Infernal Climax:
  • When Witch Time is activated, opponents move a little faster, making it easier to dodge her attacks.
    • Due to this change, however, opponents dodging during the Final Smash are effectively intangible for a shorter amount of time.
  • Infernal Climax deals less damage before releasing opponents (30% → 28% (Gomorrah), 15% → 13% (full Climax Gauge)).
  • When the Final Smash ends, opponents take an additional 10% damage.

Update history

1.1.0

• Witch Time's duration scaling is lower (40 → 30).
• Witch Time's regeneration per frame is slower (0.04 → 0.03).
• Infinite Witch Time glitch created.

Classic Mode: The Requiem of Fallen Wings

All of Bayonetta's opponents have wings, in reference to her battles against angels, with the exception of Giant Palutena, who is a reference to the final boss battle of Bayonetta against Jubelius, the Creator.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Dark Pit	Umbra Clock Tower	One of a Kind
2	Falco	Castle Siege	Tomorrow is Mine (Bayonetta 2 Theme) (Instrumental)
3	Ridley	Reset Bomb Forest	Riders Of The Light
4	Giant Charizard	Skyloft	Time For The Climax!
5	Meta Knight	Skyworld	Theme Of Bayonetta - Mysterious Destiny (Instrumental)
Bonus Stage
6	Pit (x6)	Skyworld	Let's Hit The Climax!
Final	Giant Palutena	Palutena's Temple (Ω form)	The Legend of Aesir

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.

Role 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 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 to be 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 power of balance in Galeem's favor).

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

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

• 

  Bayonetta's alternate costume based on her appearance in the original Bayonetta.

• 

  Bayonetta's fighter card.

• 

  Taunting on Umbra Clock Tower.

• 

  Performing the end of her neutral jab on Skyworld.

• 

  Attacking Ganondorf on Mario Galaxy.

• 

  Jumping next to Villager on Tortimer Island.

• 

  Attacking Samus with her forward smash on Spirit Train.

• 

  Crouching near Mr. Saturn on Yoshi's Story.

• 

  Performing After-Burner Kick on Castle Siege.

• 

  Taunting near Dark Pit on Great Plateau Tower.

• 

  Wall clinging with Diddy Kong on Alolan Exeggutor.

• 

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

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• Bayonetta's official artwork strongly resembles her official artwork for Bayonetta 2, 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.
• Bayonetta can be unlocked by clearing Classic Mode as either Sonic or Mario. This could be a reference to Sega publishing the first Bayonetta game and Nintendo publishing the sequels.
• The Umbra Clock Tower being the stage in the first round of Bayonetta´s classic mode may be a reference to it being the setting of ´The Witch Hunts´, the opening scene of the first Bayonetta game.
  • Similarly, the fight with Mecha Ridley in the Reset Bomb Forest may be a reference to the fight against Fortitudo in the Colisseum Ruins.
• Out of all of the veterans, Bayonetta has received the most nerfs.