King Ghidorah

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Introduction

He's basically just CvS2 C-Sagat. One of the most solid well rounded zoning characters in the game, with a very high priority long range jump in, the biggest throw range in the game, excellent ground pokes and antiairs, and the only true 3 way mixup in the game. One of the 3 top tiers in the very old jp tier list, and conveniently having a favorable matchup against Mothra, King Ghidorah will surely be a competitive tournament staple if that kind of scene ever happens. A good pick for players who prefer a medium paced methodical approach.

Overview

Strengths

  • Absurd throw range, with huge throw damage potential to boot. A frame perfect 100% stun combo is possible off his easy to input bite throw
  • Crouch fierce (d+X), though the 2 hits don't actually combo, still comes out extremely fast, hits low, has a ton of range, and has amazing recovery and small hurtbox
  • j.d+X has very high priority and can instant overhead, albeit for low low damage and will sometimes be punished afterwards
  • j.X has more or less the same hitbox properties as Sagat j. HK, making it very difficult to antiair, while also being an effective air to air and spikes fliers downwards
  • Y is a very easy 1 button antiair launcher that does good damage and lets him follow up with a mixup or forced chip
  • Has a high priority dive kick that can lets him travel full screen away to the opposite side, making him difficult to corner or stay in on
  • Fireball height can be altered on reaction, making it a bit harder to avoid than most
  • Much like ST Sagat, his crouch hurtbox is very small, despite being huge when standing

Weaknesses

  • Huge hurtbox when standing
  • Both ground and air fireballs lean his hurtbox very far forward, and can easily be stuffed by midrange pokes from over halfscreen away if he gets predictable
  • Wrath attack is not very effective
  • No knockdowns besides throws
  • Slowest and longest dash in the game, which when coupled with his already huge hurtbox, limits his ground mobility

General Strategy

He has a very basic and simple gameplan. Throw fireballs without being predictable. The fireball checks your dpad for the height right before the active frame, so try to react to their reaction to your startup. If they jump, you will antiair with either st Y, j X, or st X rarely. Whiff punish and poke with d+X a lot, but be aware of low crushes like Anguirus d+X. If you feel too close to the corner and aren't comfortable, just wait for them to approach a bit and qcb~f+Y/X to dive kick to the other side of the stage. j X is also an effective poke to take space back. When the opportunity arises, throw them with your massive throw range to deal massive damage. He has the most powerful bite throw in the game, so it should be fairly easy to get it in before they can tech if you're not being super obvious. If they're close and close to death or stun, or do not have a high damage antiair option, instant overhead with instant air j d+X is really good harass. Y HHS (Hundred Head Slap) is a good priority mid/high poke that chips and is difficult to punish on reaction even on whiff, so you can consider that sometimes too. If you're buffering from d+X, stop mashing right before it recovers, then press Y again a few frames later to give yourself time to stand up first, otherwise, frame perfect HHS input after d+X will result in d+Y instead.

Instant air Y fireball is also an option to be considered, as his air fireball has one of the fastest startups of all fireballs in the game and he leans his head even farther forward, making it travel fullscreen extremely quickly and can be difficult to even just block on reaction, even more so than Butt's C fireballs in Garou. This can be really strong against tall crouchers like the MGs. Most other characters can crouch or run under it though. Still, this can be a rewarding fullscreen surprise poke if you're smart with it. Also do note that it does half the damage of his ground fireball. Theoretically, this could be a great way to call out and punish long lower pokes like Godzilla's dp at the correct height, as he will be looking to throw that out randomly in normal cases trying to stuff the extended hurtbox on your ground fireballs.


Strategy Against

Data Arsenal

+

  • Slowest of the dashes. Still quick enough to be useable, but you're better off just pushing them back with d+X in most cases

+

  • Slowest of the dashes. Forward dashing can be dangerous, but is effective after antiair Y and from afar to surprise them with max range d+X or throw occasionally

  • Below average-ish?

Range

  • Largest in the game. That his d+X low is such a big threat makes it effectively even bigger. In fact, he can tick throw off a point blank d+X in some cases

Stun Gauge

  • ?

Stun Recovery

  • ?

Wake Up Speed

  • Average

Other Mechanics

Movelist

Ground Normals

  • Quick 2 hit headbutt uppercut. Very high priority, with a deceptively large hitbox and tons of active frames. Launches on hit. Hits very high and I think it's minus on block, but honestly I'm not sure cuz there's no reason to ever use this on a grounded opponent. Used almost exclusively to antiair.
  • I think it also allows for juggle combos on a cornered opponent, but as that never happens in a normal match, I'm not actually sure.
  • When done with a bite throw stand glitch, the opponent will still get launched and be able to be juggled normally. And when they finally land, they'll fall down as they were supposed to after bite throw ends. If anyone wants a TAS combo video idea to explore, there you go.

  • A very slow long ranged chinbutt to the foot. Has more range than d+X, but the shorter hitstun and overall long animation of this move just feels icky. That said, because it has so much range, it's generally safe on block. Very unsafe and punishable from up close though, active frames start as soon as his head starts moving.

  • Mid level head thrust with moderate startup, but quick recovery and good knockback, great priority. Objectively a great button, but often unused since it often gets outshined by st. Y for antiairing and d+X for poking. Still an important button to remember for cases when those 2 are countered in some way.

  • Spins around and sweeps with both tails. 2 hits, both lows, very fast startup and recovery, and maintains a low profile. It's like if Sagat's c. mk and c. hp were rolled into one button, and hit twice. Absolutely insane button and what makes Ghidorah so difficult to approach. It works out better than his Ys for challenging out of pressure, and either forces them to crouch or take harass damage from it from like 1/3 screen away. His main poke and defensive "get off me" button.
  • Because of input leniency, you may want to get used to inputting this specifically with d+X, or df+X. db+X tends to get the dive kick by accident if you've been shimmying and quick crouch blocking a lot, as people tend to do in neutral footsies where this button is often used.

Jumping Normals

  • Jumping headbutt uppercut with a hitbox so absurdly high, it can actually hit Gotengo out of his offscreen running stance change glitch, where he literally slides past the upper bound of the screen into the lifebars. Active for the entire jump and has good priority, but lacks practical use outside of extreme edge cases scenarios where you made a bad jump and need to deny them from approaching you from the air.

  • 1 hit double kick. Unremarkable and generally outshined by his air Xs.

  • Rotates forward and pokes down with his heads. Similar properties to Sagat j.HK, with very far horizontal reach, but also a very large vertical hitbox, covering the area at his height and far lower. Incredibly difficult or impossible to antiair in most cases, making it an excellent long range jumping poke. It also spikes aerial opponents down, which when coupled with its range, lets him easily counter fliers. Also excellent for punishing projectiles. The only thing to beware of is he has no hitbox at his body and lower neck, so it will whiff if you do use it from close or if they manage to run forward under it.

  • Double headstomp with almost instant startup and high priority. Similar to ChunLi's, he will bounce off and be able to slightly adjust his trajectory on hit or block. Unlike Chun, he can't do a different jumping normal after bouncing. If done deep enough, such as when using it as instant overhead, will combo into itself for 2-3 hits depending on opponent height. Can bounce up to 10 times, bouncing higher each time. Does less damage per hit than most jumping heavies. Never truly 100% safe even on hit, as it gives his opponent a chance to guess his trajectory and try to position to antiair. Still an important pressure tool in his arsenal regardless, and is highly abuseable against matchups that struggle to antiair directly above them.

Throws

  • The highest damage normal bite throw in the game. Generally the only throw he needs. Also deals a large amount of stun, and gives more wrath than average. This isn't much of a drawback, as glitched HHS follow up leads to full stun.

  • High launcher throw with low initial damage. A lot more work for marginally more consistent damage, less stun, and less wrath given. Also a consistent way to dump wrath gauge to recover stun if you're punishing a roar attempt. Could skip and never use and do fine, but there are times when this throw is more optimal.

  • Back throw with low initial damage. Not enough frame advantage to do any worthwhile unblockables, such as fireball or wrath. Never use.
  • With godlike execution, you could buffer HHS during the last frames of recovery, then use the maximum input leniency to turn around, walk towards them slightly, and combo into unblock X HHS to knock them down and away. Sadly this is still less damage and stun than his standard bite throw combos, so it's nothing more than a pure swag combo.

Special Moves

/ (air ok)

  • Gravity beam, a fireball with adjustable height and good startup and recovery. Can be fired high, mid, or low depending on if up, neither, or down is held at the time the fireball comes out. Compared to most fireballs, Ghidorah leans extremely far forward before firing his, so it will whiff from very close, reaches full screen a bit quicker, and is far more susceptible to being stuffed by a long range poke. If you get predictable about using it in midrange, you will get punished. Otherwise, an excellent fireball overall.
  • High fireballs are more difficult to jump over.
  • Low doesn't actually hit low, but can go under opposing fireballs, and more importantly, cannot be ducked by Anguirus.
  • Air Y version has almost instant startup, and leans even farther forward, making it very difficult to block on reaction. It does about half damage to compensate. Tiger knee'd air Y fireball is a great surprise alternative to high fireballs, and can go over some midrange low pokes attempting to stuff his regular fireball.
  • Air fireball can also be fired prone if done right before landing. This has really good recovery and gives a very low profile hurtbox, but has limited usage because it's so telegraphed.

/

  • Dive kick. He jumps, then dive kicks down forwards. His jump angle can be altered to jump back, neutral, or forwards depending on which direction is being held when you press attack (ie qcb+X; qcb, neutral+X; or qcb, f+X). It has a deceptively large hitbox and huge priority, making it impossible to antiair in most cases, and difficult to air to air. The damage is unremarkable though, and is mostly used as a movement tool.
  • Y version has surprisingly good recovery, but doesn't jump as high, and dives at a steeper angle. If you're going to use it as a surprise attack, this is what you want to use.
  • X version has abysmal recovery, but because of how far he slides forward and how low he makes his hurtbox during recovery, many punish attempts will go over or through him. This doesn't include grab attempts, so be prepared to option select throw tech if this connects by accident. Mostly, you will use this to change sides and reset back to fullscreen distance when an opponent threatens to corner you.

(neutral)mash /

  • Hundred head slap (HHS), similar to Honda's hundred hand slap. Note that your dpad must be neutral to get this instead of a normal. Meaning you can still mash a reversal normal as long as you're holding any direction.
  • Y version has more damage, knockback, and stun per hit, but a lower rate of fire. Stops attacking when you stop mashing, attacks indefinitely if you keep mashing. Damage per hit is inexplicably random and varies widely. Comes out on the 2nd Y input, with a very generous mash rate window.
  • X version has less damage/kb/stun per hit, but launches slightly and has a very fast rate of fire. Has a maximum duration, and will always end with a st.X that knocks down and very far away. Because of this, it can secure more damage compared to Y version if it hits at max range. However, it is much more punishable on whiff/block compared to Y, and Ghidorah generally has stronger combo finisher options, so this is rarely, if ever, used in optimal play.

Wrath Attack

+

  • Air gravity beam raid. Jumps up and waves gravity beams from all 3 heads in an arc covering the entire screen in front of and below him. Inexplicably hits low, and launches slightly on hit. Because of the way the beams wave around, it can sometimes hit then get the rest blocked. Along with the telegraphed startup and his large hurtbox that can be stuffed on reaction, it is overall a pretty bad wrath. Mostly it'll just be used as fullscreen forced chip damage. It is not safe if blocked from very close. You're usually better off holding onto the wrath as long as you can for the passive damage bonus, and then trying to dump it safely to avoid being stunned.
  • It's guaranteed stun if it hits from close because he pulls them up into his heads and they got shotgunned by all 3 beams, but the only reliable setup for this is as a back turned unblock after stun, leading into basically a guaranteed kill due to restun.

Combos/Punishes

Tech Punish

  • d+X
  • Walk up B
    • Totally reasonable throw range!

General OTG

  • d+X

Links

Advanced

  • qcd throw, JF mash Y (2-3 hits), dash after them, OTG d+X, roar
    • Frame perfect glitch guaranteed stun combo. Some characters will just get stunned from HHS if they didn't mash out of bites hard enough. Since failing the glitch usually only leads to a minor damage loss on average compared to the normal d+X followup, you should always go for it unless d+X will kill. How many OTG hits you get from HHS and how much damage they do seems random
  • 270 throw, f+A, Y, walk up, d+X
    • Does about as much damage as a failed glitch bite with 3 hits high damage rng on the HHS (around 40%), but it can't be reduced by mashing so it's more consistent if you're just looking to finish a kill
  • 270 throw, OTG wrath
    • The only way to combo into his wrath outside of stun, but only does the same damage as the above. It's just a safe way to dump your stun bar pretty much
  • (after stun)cross up qcb+Y, meaty unblock wrath, roar (stun)
    • Practical redizzy combo, but kinda moot cuz the wrath itself does 50-70% damage at that range, and will almost always just kill them, especially if the dive kick also hit. Damage varies depending on opponent size, some get stunned from the wrath itself

Matchups

Godzilla

Anguirus

King Ghidorah

Gigan

Megalon

MechaGodzilla 74

Biollante

Mothra

Super MechaGodzilla

Godzilla Kaijuu Daikessen
Godzilla Anguirus King Ghidorah Gigan
Megalon Biollante Mothra Gotengo
Mecha Godzilla (Showa) Mecha Godzilla (Heisei)
Super Mecha Godzilla
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