Bayonetta (SSBU)

Bayonetta (, 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 . 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 '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.
Bayonetta is currently ranked 19th out of 82 characters on the current tier list, placing her around the middle of the 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 , , and .
==How to unlock==
Complete one of the following:
*Play VS. matches, with Bayonetta being the 43rd character to be unlocked.
*Clear with or any character in his unlock tree, being the 2nd character unlocked after .
*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 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 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 ), 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.
==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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
==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.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Bayonetta English Announcer SSB4-SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese
Bayonetta French Announcer SSBU.wav|French
Bayonetta German Announcer SSBU.wav|German
Bayonetta Italian Announcer SSBU.wav|Italian
Bayonetta Russian Announcer SSBU.wav|Russian
Bayonetta Spanish Announcer SSBU.wav|Spanish
===On-screen appearance===
*Emerges from her Bat Within form while surrounded by the Umbra Witches' symbol, then proceeds to wield her guns.
BayonettaOnScreenAppearanceSSBU.gif|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." (, 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." (, 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.
SSBUBayonettaTaunt1.gif|Bayonetta's up taunt.
SSBUBayonettaTaunt2.gif|Bayonetta's side taunt.
SSBUBayonettaTaunt3.gif|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.
SSBUBayonettaIdle1.gif|Bayonetta's first idle pose.
SSBUBayonettaIdle2.gif|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; "", 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; "", How tedious.) or "Don't make me beg." (Takemikazuchi; "", Don't be shy/Don't be reserved.). 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; "", Show me your full power.) or "You're making it easy." (Rakshasa; "", An easy win.).
BayonettaVictoryPose1SSBU.gif
BayonettaVictoryPose2SSBU.gif
BayonettaVictoryPose3SSBU.gif
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Bayonetta players (SSBU)
* - One of the greatest Bayonetta players of all time and one of the best players in Europe in the post-pandemic metagame, being a frequent bracket demon for Europe's other two best players, and . Aside from winning many large European events, he is best known for winning , the first national-level victory from a Bayonetta player, and several top 8 finishes at European majors such as placing 4th at , , and .
* - The second-best Bayonetta player in North America in the post-pandemic metagame. He is best known for placing 7th at as well as placing 5th at defeating . In addition, he has placed 17th at , 25th at , and 33rd at , and had also defeated at .
* - One of the greatest Bayonetta players of all time and the greatest Bayonetta player from North America, with his best performances taking place in the post-pandemic metagame and regularly ranking in the top 50 since UltRank 2022. He is the second Bayonetta player to win a major, doing so at , and saw a plethora of top 8 finishes at several other majors, including 2nd at and , 3rd at and , and 5th at . 
* - The second-best Bayonetta player in Japan, first known for placing 13th at after defeating . Nizemamo is best known for placing 5th at with a win over , as well as consistent strong performances at 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.
* - One of the best Bayonetta players of all time and the greatest Bayonetta player from Japan, first breaking out onto the scene after placing 4th at . He is especially known for his performance in the LumiRank 2024.1 season, beginning with a 2nd-place finish at and culminating in his victory at , becoming the first Bayonetta player to win a major. During this time, he also placed top 8 at every major he attended aside from , and as such was eventually ranked 8th for that season, making him the highest-ranking Bayonetta player in Ultimate history. 
===Tier placement and history===
Due to the drastic nerfs she received in her transition to Ultimate, many players in the early metagame considered Bayonetta 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. Owing to her poor initial reception, her representation in the early metagame was equally underwhelming: her primary representation during this time came from , who not only had better performances with and , but was also banned in mid-2019, leaving Bayonetta with no notable representatives at a major level for the rest of the early metagame. As such, top players initially dismissed her as a shell of her former Smash 4 self, and often considered her to be a lower mid-tier or low-tier character.
However, Bayonetta would receive many buffs in updates and that made her strongest options more consistent. Dedicated Bayonetta players were also able to adapt remarkably to the changing metagame, leading to a small yet noticeable improvement in her representation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This improvement continued into the early years of the post-pandemic metagame, owing to strong performances from Bloom4Eva and who were able to demonstrate that, despite being nerfed from Smash 4, Bayonetta's combo game remained incredibly deadly. Bloom4Eva would also become the first Bayonetta player to win a superregional by winning , convincing many to reassess Bayonetta as better than previously perceived. As such, she was ranked 45th on the first tier list as an upper-mid tier character.
Following the release of the first tier list, Bayonetta's results improved significantly, owing to Lima's improved consistency and 's rise in the second half of 2023. This led Bayonetta to receive a massive boost on the second tier list, where she rose 19 spots to rank 26th in the A- tier, the largest rise out of any character from the first to second tier list. Even with this rise, many argued that Bayonetta was still ranked too low, especially as TamaPDaifuku established himself as a top 10 player in the first half of 2024, both TamaPDaifuku and Lima were able to win their first majors that year, and several other Bayonetta players such as and were able to put up exceptional performances in their respective regions.
==: The Requiem of Fallen Wings==
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 .
Round 	Opponent 	Stage 	Music 	Notes
1 	 	Umbra Clock Tower 	 	A reference to the Loptr boss fight from Bayonetta 2. Takes place in same location.
2 	 	Castle Siege 	 	A reference to the Flaming Affinity from Bayonetta.
3 	 	Reset Bomb Forest 	 	A reference to the Inspired Angels from Bayonetta & Bayonetta 2.
4 	Giant 	Skyloft 	 	A reference to Fortitudo from Bayonetta & Bayonetta 2.
5 	 	Skyworld 	 	A reference to the Masked Lumen from Bayonetta 2.
Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage
6 	(x6) 	Skyworld 	 	Horde Battle (3 at a time).A reference to the Affinity Angels, which usually attack in groups.
Final 	Giant 	Palutena's Temple (Ω form)	 	A reference to Jubileus, The Creator from Bayonetta.
Note: When fighting Charizard, its is absent. Additionally, every stage plays a track from the universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Bayonetta has accompany the credits.
==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 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 .
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 , she is called by Dharkon as part of his reinforcements after is awakened and 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	 	12,500	Umbra Clock Tower (Ω form)	
==Spirits==
Bayonetta's Bayonetta 2 fighter spirit can be obtained by completing 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.
SSBU spirit Bayonetta (Bayonetta 2).png|1,006. Bayonetta (Bayonetta 2)
SSBU spirit Bayonetta (Bayonetta).png|1,007. Bayonetta (Bayonetta)
SSBU spirit Cereza.png|1,015. Cereza
==In Spirit Battles==
===As the main opponent===
Spirit	Spirit	Spirit 	Spirit 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Inspiration
No. 	Image 	Name 	Series 	Enemy Fighter(s) 	Type 	Power 	Stage 	Rules 	Conditions 	Music 	Character
97 	 	Paper Mario Series 	• 	 	2,000 	Paper Mario 	•Invisibility 	•All fighters are invisible after a little while•The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod 	 	 	
142 	 	Donkey Kong Series 	• 	 	3,800 	Kongo Falls 	•Item: Bananas 	•The enemy starts the battle with a Banana Gun•The enemy has increased move speed 	 	 	
202 	 	The Legend of Zelda Series 	• 	 	3,700 	Gerudo Valley 	N/A 	•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower•The enemy starts the battle with a Freezie 	 	Koume (pink costume)Kotake (blue costume)	
222 	 	The Legend of Zelda Series 	• 	 	9,200 	Bridge of Eldin (hazards off) 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Midna)•Item: Transforming Types	•Hostile assist trophies will appear 	 	 	
745 	 	Wario Land Series 	• •Giant 	 	3,500 	Pirate Ship 	N/A 	•Items will be pulled toward the enemy•The enemy is giant•The enemy is easily distracted by items 	 	 	
768 	 	Metal Gear Solid Series 	• •Metal 	 	1,600 	Midgar (Battlefield form) 	N/A 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Reinforcements will appear during the battle•The enemy is metal 	 	 	
961 	 	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	• 	 	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	 	 	
1,003 	 	Street Fighter Series 	• (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 	 	 	
1,008 	 	Bayonetta Series 	• 	 	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 	 	Bayonetta 	
1,009 	 	Bayonetta Series 	• (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 	 	Bayonetta 	
1,010 	 	Bayonetta Series 	• (160 HP) 	 	9,400 	Umbra Clock Tower 	N/A 	•The enemy's ranged weapons have increased power•Stamina battle 	 	 	
1,020 	 	Bayonetta Series 	• (100 HP) 	 	3,800 	Umbra Clock Tower 	•Item: Timer 	•The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power•Stamina battle 	 	 	
1,024 	 	Bayonetta Series 	• (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 	 	 	
1,066 	 	Castlevania Series 	• 	 	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 	 	 	
1,100 	 	Super Smash Bros. Series 	•Metal (150 HP)	 	13,900 	 	•Sudden Damage 	•Stamina battle•You'll occasionally take sudden damage after a little while•The enemy is metal 	 	 	
1,290 	 	ARMS 	• 	 	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 	 	 	
1,402 	 	Warframe 	• 	 	3,600 	Frigate Orpheon (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Gray Fox) 	•Hostile assist trophies will appear 	 	 	
1,424 	 	OCTOPATH TRAVELER 	• 	 	9,500 	Coliseum 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Black Knight) 	•Hostile assist trophies will appear•The enemy favors air attacks 	 	Primrose 	
===As a minion===
Spirit	Spirit 	Spirit 	Spirit 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Inspiration
No. 	Image 	Name 	Series 	Enemy Fighter(s) 	Type 	Power 	Stage 	Rules 	Conditions 	Music 	Character
225 	 	The Legend of Zelda Series 	• • 	 	1,900 	Kongo Falls 	•Item: Beehive 	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle 	 	 	
672 	 	Fire Emblem Series 	• • 	 	3,700 	Find Mii (Ω form) 	N/A 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•The enemy has increased attack power 	 	 	
973 	 	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	• • 	 	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	 	Pandoria 	
973 	 	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	• • 	 	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	 	Pandoria 	
1,015 	 	Bayonetta Series 	•Tiny • 	 	1,900 	Luigi's Mansion 	N/A 	•Defeat the main fighter to win 	 	Bayonetta 	
1,319 	Professor Gerry, Plaise, & Lerna	Nintendo Labo Series 	• • •Tiny	 	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 	 	Lerna Lotte 	
1,406 	 	Ring Fit Adventure 	• •Clear 	 	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 	 	Ring's Fitness Attacks	
This alternative occurs when the corresponding DLC has been purchased and downloaded.
==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==
Bayonetta Ultimate artwork.png|Artwork of Bayonetta, Rodin, and Madama Butterfly as posted on the official Japanese PlatinumGames Twitter account.
SSBU Bayonetta Number.png|Bayonetta's fighter card.
Bayonetta unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Bayonetta's unlock notice.
SSBUWebsiteBayonetta1.jpg|Taunting on Umbra Clock Tower.
SSBUWebsiteBayonetta2.jpg|Performing Bullet Climax on Skyworld.
SSBUWebsiteBayonetta3.jpg|Attacking on Mario Galaxy.
SSBUWebsiteBayonetta4.jpg|Jumping next to on Tortimer Island.
SSBUWebsiteBayonetta5.jpg|Attacking with her forward smash on Spirit Train.
SSBUWebsiteBayonetta6.jpg|Crouching near Mr. Saturn on Yoshi's Story.
SSBUWebsite23.jpg|Performing on Castle Siege.
SSBUWebsiteDarkPit5.jpg|Taunting near on Great Plateau Tower.
SSBUWebsiteAlolanExeggutor1.jpg|Wall clinging with on Alolan Exeggutor.
SSBUWebsiteIsaac2.jpg|Bayonetta using a Wicked Weave against Isaac's Pound Psynergy on Kalos Pokémon League.
===Fighter Showcase Video===
==Trivia==
*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 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 were under consideration to survive Galeem's attack in the World of Light opening. They were turned down in favor of , 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 from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had modified artwork to be less provocative.
**This oversight appears to be shared with the Fighter Spirits for , female , and , 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 .
*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 s 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 , likely referencing the original release of Bayonetta being published by Sega. Additionally, as has no assigned character unlock column, he uses 's unlock column, technically making all three Sega characters share the same unlock column.
*The patch notes for version indicates Bayonetta's rapid jab finisher gained transcendent priority; however, this is false, as the script as early as version was coded as suchhttps://rubendal.github.io/ssbu/#/Patch/3.0.0/Character/Bayonetta ("Attack100End" section; the parameter "ATTACK_SETOFF_KIND_OFF" indicating transcendent priority; pre-3.0.0 scripts unavailable on the site).
*Prior to version , 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 "Applying Mountain Lean"; has the same pinyin reading but different characters
==References==
 
Category:Third-party characters
Category:Sega
Category:Spirits
es:Bayonetta (SSBU)