Simon (Super Smash Flash 2)

Simon is a veteran unlockable character in Super Smash Flash 2. His reveal was shown during the Day 1 Livestream at Super Smash Con 2018. His appearance is based on his design in the game Castlevania Chronicles, in which Simon has long red hair and black armor, and his voice clips come from Castlevania Judgment. Simon's moveset mainly consists of attacks with his whip, the Vampire Killer, along with several items he uses in the series. Simon's forward aerial and back aerial can be angled upwards and downwards. He is the only character in the game as of now capable of angling his aerials.
== Attributes ==
Simon is a tall character with a handful of projectiles and long reach in his attacks. However, this is compensated by a below average mobility.
As mentioned before, one of Simon's key traits is his projectiles, which mainly take the form of his special moves. His neutral special move, Axe, is a strong, powerful projectile that can serve a variety of functions, such as edgeguarding. It also creates a lingering hitbox once touching ground before disappearing, making it a useful tool to disrupt approaches. His side special move, Cross, functions much like 's Boomerang, though it does not follow Simon once thrown. Instead, it will continue going backwards until it hits an opponent. In addition, it launches vertically with low knockback, making it a favorable tool for set ups. His up special move, Ring Grapple, covers a decent amount of horizontal and vertical distance, as well as functioning as a tether recovery after its first midair use; the move also includes a kick hitbox, and can serve as a movement option if Simon lands on the ground during the initial swing. Finally, his down special move, Holy Water, moves forward as it deals repeated flame damage, making it a useful combo tool or ledge-trapping tool.
Simon's other notable trait is his long reach. His whip, the Vampire Killer, grants him the longest disjointed reach out of the cast, making his normal moveset very versatile. While his air mobility is below-average, his aerials do make up for it. Neutral aerial is a circular whip swing that covers all around Simon, making it a useful approach tool. In addition, his up, forward, and back aerials all have impressive ranges, further exacerbated by the latter two's ability to be angled either upward or downward. While his down aerial lacks the range of his other aerial attacks, it more than makes up for by being a versatile combo tool: the clean hit is able to strongly spike opponents hit, but the late hit makes Simon and the opponent bounce upward, opening up combo or KO setups.
His grounded moveset continues the trend of long, disjointed attacks, some of which are more powerful if connected at the tip, at which they can be considered safe on shield. His forward smash is a notable example of this: it is very powerful when connecting its tip sweetspot, while also being able to poke shields due to its downward angle. His up smash can serve as a very useful anti-air due to its high vertical reach, while down smash is a useful out of shield option that keeps Simon's range while also launching at a semi-spike angle, making it useful for forcing opponents offstage. His forward tilt has decent range and low ending lag, allowing it to be a useful spacing tool, while his dash attack is a useful way to cross up shields. Like his down aerial, Simon's up tilt lacks the range the rest of his grounded moveset sports, but compensates by being a fast, relatively powerful attack. Finally, his down tilt functions as a useful combo starter due to its spike hitbox, while also functioning as a short-range spacing tool.
His grab game is also very useful. While his grab is somewhat medium-range, all of his throws have low knockback as well as low ending lag. His up and down throws both launch at vertical angles, allowing them to be used as combo tools, while his forward and back throws can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding set ups.
However, Simon is burdened by a somewhat below-average mobility; despite his dashing speed being below average, his air speed is also very low, making his aerial approach very limited, despite the reach in his aerials. This trait can make his struggle against faster characters who can effectively bypass his range. In addition, his high falling speed makes him very susceptible to being comboed, while his tall frame makes him easy to hit.
By far however, his two most glaring weakness are his susceptibility to characters with a reflector, as well as narrow hitbox placements on his whip attacks. While his multiple projectiles do play a huge part in Simon's playstyle and the way he plays the neutral game, all of them can be reflected, which gives Simon trouble against characters that possess a reflector, such as or , as his projectiles are an integral part of his neutral game. Additionally, most of his whip attacks have narrow hitbox placements, which can spell trouble when going against smaller characters, such as . Simon also struggles in finishing opponents when his attacks aren't timed and spaced properly, as the sweetspots of his attacks is located on the tip of the Vampire Killer, and only the sweetspots are capable of KOing at reasonable percents.
Additionally, while Ring Grapple covers a decent amount of vertical and horizontal distance, this can cause Simon to miss the ledge entirely if he is recovering from under the stage. To further this, the kick hitbox does not activate immediately, making him very prone to gimping and while he can use any aerial attack after the first use, most of them have more than 10 startup frames, making his aerial protection somewhat unreliable.
Overall, Simon is a fighter who specializes in distance-based combat. The objective of his playstyle is to keep opponents at bay using a combination of his long reach and his projectiles to compensate for his rather average mobility. As of now, Simon sees no notable tournament play.
== Moveset ==
=== Ground attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Neutral attack	Twirls his whip in a circle in front of him. When the input is held, the whip remains held out and can be continuously twirled by holding left or right, dealing damage based on the speed. Has very little startup lag and disjointed range. Based on Simon's Whip Twirl from .	
Neutral attack	Twirls his whip in a circle in front of him. When the input is held, the whip remains held out and can be continuously twirled by holding left or right, dealing damage based on the speed. Has very little startup lag and disjointed range. Based on Simon's Whip Twirl from .	
Forward tilt 	Swings his whip forward. Has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. Has moderate startup lag but high range, making the move an effective spacing tool. Based on Simon's whip strike from . 	
Forward tilt 	Swings his whip forward. Has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. Has moderate startup lag but high range, making the move an effective spacing tool. Based on Simon's whip strike from . 	
Up tilt 	Performs an uppercut. A fast combo starter with low range. 	10%
Down tilt 	Swings his whip downwards. Has a sweetspot at the base of the whip, which can meteor smash grounded opponents or semi-spike aerial opponents. 	
Down tilt 	Swings his whip downwards. Has a sweetspot at the base of the whip, which can meteor smash grounded opponents or semi-spike aerial opponents. 	
Dash attack 	Dashes forward while spinning his chain around. Hits five times, with the final hit launching at a low angle. Based on Richter's Blade Dash from . 	
Dash attack 	Dashes forward while spinning his chain around. Hits five times, with the final hit launching at a low angle. Based on Richter's Blade Dash from . 	
Forward smash 	Performs a long-ranged whip crack in front of him. Has a powerful sweetspot at the end of the whip. A strong KO move that suffers from somewhat high startup and ending lag. 	
Forward smash 	Performs a long-ranged whip crack in front of him. Has a powerful sweetspot at the end of the whip. A strong KO move that suffers from somewhat high startup and ending lag. 	
Up smash 	Swings his whip upwards twice. Hits two times, with the second hit having longer range. 	
Up smash 	Swings his whip upwards twice. Hits two times, with the second hit having longer range. 	
Down smash 	Swings his whip around him at a low height, hitting on both sides. Launches opponents at a relatively low angle behind Simon. 	
=== Aerial attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Neutral aerial	Swings his whip around himself. Covers a large area and deals low upward knockback, making it useful for combos, punishes, and approaches. 	
Neutral aerial	Swings his whip around himself. Covers a large area and deals low upward knockback, making it useful for combos, punishes, and approaches. 	
Forward aerial	Swings his whip forward. This attack can be angled upwards or downwards and has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. A fast, long-ranged, and versatile tool for many different purposes, such as racking damage, starting combos, spacing, and edgeguarding. 	
Forward aerial	Swings his whip forward. This attack can be angled upwards or downwards and has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. A fast, long-ranged, and versatile tool for many different purposes, such as racking damage, starting combos, spacing, and edgeguarding. 	
Back aerial 	Swings his whip behind himself, being more powerful at the tip. Similarly to his forward aerial, this attack can also be angled upwards or downwards and has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. Deals more knockback than forward aerial, making it a potent KO move.	
Back aerial 	Swings his whip behind himself, being more powerful at the tip. Similarly to his forward aerial, this attack can also be angled upwards or downwards and has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. Deals more knockback than forward aerial, making it a potent KO move.	
Up aerial 	Swings his whip upwards. Has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. Has long but narrow range and moderate knockback, making it a good juggling tool and a KO move at higher percents. 	
Up aerial 	Swings his whip upwards. Has a sweetspot at the end of the whip. Has long but narrow range and moderate knockback, making it a good juggling tool and a KO move at higher percents. 	
Down aerial 	Performs a stall-then-fall dive kick at a downward angle, bouncing off of opponents on contact. Can meteor smash opponents during the first few active frames. This can setup into many different options. Based on the Jump Kick ability from the Castlevania series.	10%
=== Grab and throws ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Grab 	Reaches out with one hand. 	
Pummel 	Knees the opponent. 	2%
Forward throw	Swings the opponent around and throws them forward. Launches opponents at a low angle. 	9%
Back throw 	Slams opponents down on the ground behind him. Can often be followed up with a back aerial. 	11%
Up throw 	Throws the opponent upward and slams them to the ground with the whip. Can chain grab certain opponents at low damage.	11%
Down throw 	Lifts the opponent up and slams them onto his knee. Can be followed up with many different moves. 	15%
=== Other attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Floor attack	Kicks behind him and then in front of him.	6%
Ledge attack	Climbs upward and kicks with both feet. 	8%
=== Special moves ===
Special move 	Name 	Description 	Damage
Neutral special move	Axe 	Throws a large, powerful axe in an arc forward. It falls down quickly and gets stuck in any platform or wall it comes into contact with. Only one axe can be onstage at a time. Useful for edgeguarding or catching opponents from below, but very punishable due to its high startup lag. 	16%
Side special move 	Cross 	Throws a large cross that travels straight forward, stops momentarily, and then travels straight in the opposite direction. Only one cross can be onstage at a time. Can hit once when traveling forward and then once when traveling back. Has low knockback and travels far, making it very useful for covering large areas of the stage and setting up follow-ups. Can be auto-canceled when performed in the air. 	
Up special move 	Ring Grapple	Grabs a ring-shaped grapple with his whip and swings himself forward, attacking opponents in the way. Covers little vertical distance but far horizontal distance and can tether onto ledges with the whip. When used a second time, there is no ring grapple and the whip can be used as an attack, leaving Simon helpless if no ledge is grabbed. The ring grapple can be reused if Simon bumps into a wall while swinging. When landing onto a platform while swinging, he can perform a large pseudo wavedash.	
Up special move 	Ring Grapple	Grabs a ring-shaped grapple with his whip and swings himself forward, attacking opponents in the way. Covers little vertical distance but far horizontal distance and can tether onto ledges with the whip. When used a second time, there is no ring grapple and the whip can be used as an attack, leaving Simon helpless if no ledge is grabbed. The ring grapple can be reused if Simon bumps into a wall while swinging. When landing onto a platform while swinging, he can perform a large pseudo wavedash.	
Down special move 	Holy Water 	Tosses a vial of holy water downward, which creates a blue flame pillar after landing that moves a short distance forward. Only one pillar can be onstage at a time. The vial can hit opponents once, with the pillar hitting twice. Knocks opponents upward and sets up for follow-ups. 	
Final Smash 	Grand Cross 	Traps nearby opponents in a coffin and repeatedly attacks them with crosses made of holy light. 	
Final Smash 	Grand Cross 	Traps nearby opponents in a coffin and repeatedly attacks them with crosses made of holy light. 	
=== Misc. ===
Misc. 	Description 	Description 	Description
On-screen appearance	Swings onto the stage with his whip from a Ring Grapple and says, "To arms!". 	Swings onto the stage with his whip from a Ring Grapple and says, "To arms!". 	Swings onto the stage with his whip from a Ring Grapple and says, "To arms!".
Taunts 	Neutral 	Puts his whip on the ground and says "If you will fight, then stand resolute!". 	
Taunts 	Side 	Swings his whip in front of him twice. 	
Taunts 	Down/Up 	Holds his whip out and says "I will destroy you!". 	
Idle pose 	Looks to his left or right, depending on which way he is facing. 	Looks to his left or right, depending on which way he is facing. 	Looks to his left or right, depending on which way he is facing.
Victory theme 	A remix of the flourish that plays whenever Simon clears a stage in the original . 	A remix of the flourish that plays whenever Simon clears a stage in the original . 	A remix of the flourish that plays whenever Simon clears a stage in the original .
Victory pose 	Swings his whip, then looks at the screen, saying "That's the power of the Belmont!". When fighting another Simon, he instead says, "One Simon Belmont is enough for this world.".	Swings his whip, then looks at the screen, saying "That's the power of the Belmont!". When fighting another Simon, he instead says, "One Simon Belmont is enough for this world.".	Swings his whip, then looks at the screen, saying "That's the power of the Belmont!". When fighting another Simon, he instead says, "One Simon Belmont is enough for this world.".
== Gallery ==
=== Costumes ===
=== Artwork ===
Simon Beta 1.2.png|Simon's first early artwork, used from Beta 1.2.0 to Beta 1.2.5.1.
=== Screenshots ===
SimonFSmash.png|Simon using his forward smash against on Crateria.
MKIITaunt.png|Simon, , and taunting on Mushroom Kingdom III.
Simon 1.png|Simon and about to use Axe on Dracula's Castle.
Ball - Simon.png|Ball version.
=== Misc. ===
SSF2 - Classic mode - Simon.png|Simon's congratulations screen on Classic mode.
SSF2 - All-Star mode - Simon.png|Simon's congratulations screen on All-Star mode.
Splash screen - Simon.png|Simon being revealed at Super Smash Con 2018.
== Trivia ==
*Simon Belmont's confirmation as a playable character in Super Smash Flash 2 came only two days after his confirmation as a playable character in . Coincidentally, the two versions of the character feature similar movesets.
**Due to said inclusion, several aspects of Simon were changed during development to more closely match his Ultimate incarnation, such as his up aerial, dash attack, Final Smash, and voice clips.
*Simon, like and , was sprited solely by Steven.
*Simon's artwork in SSF2 is based on his artwork from Castlevania Chronicles.
*Simon's All-Star mode congratulations screen references Captain N: The Game Master, which features him, Pit and Mega Man as protagonists and Mother Brain as the main antagonist.
== External links ==
*Simon's reveal video
*Simon's basic introduction
Category:Bonus characters
Category:Third-party characters
Category:Unlockable characters
Category:Veteran characters
Category:Super Smash Flash 2
Category:Super Smash Flash series