Simon (SSBU)

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Simon (, Simon) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is the second fighter from Konami after . He was announced as a newcomer during the August 8th, 2018 Super Smash Bros. Direct alongside , , , and . Simon is classified as Fighter #66.
Keith Silverstein, Simon's English voice actor in Castlevania: Judgment, reprises his role as Simon in English versions of the game. Hideo Ishikawa, who voiced Simon in DreamMix TV World Fighters, also reprises the role in the Japanese version. In the Korean version, Simon uses his English voice clips.
Simon, alongside his Echo Fighter Richter, are ranked 79th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing them towards the end of the D tier and making them the lowest-ranked newcomers. The Belmonts are well known for their strong zoning and keeping opponents away from them thanks to their arsenal of projectiles and their range thanks to their signature whip. They are good at harassing their opponents in neutral and keeping them in a disadvantage for long periods of time. Their strengths culminate in them at the ledge, with several tools for ledgetrapping, such as Holy Water and forward tilt. Uppercut is an effective out-of-shield option against aggressive players or those who can get in their defense. The Belmonts also have the unique property to angle some of their aerials, namely forward air and back air to hit opponents low to the ground or anti-air them. Overall, the Belmonts are effective at controlling the pace of the match.
However, the Belmonts are equipped with a multitude of crippling weaknesses. Their disadvantage state is among one of the worst in the game due to not having a single viable combo escape, with the exception of down air, which can be predictable. They also suffer from one of the worst recoveries in the game with Uppercut, providing very little horizontal distance and drift and their tether recoveries not having much reach, allowing any character in the game to edgeguard them consistently if sent offstage.
The Belmonts are formidable zoners with tools to constantly keep their distance, but opponents who get past their flurry of projectiles can often take advantage of their poor defensive game, and make it difficult for them to reset to neutral. Thus, they are difficult characters to be consistent with at a high level. While their representation have dropped after the first few years of the game, they have seen some respectable tournament results and representation from players, such as and .
==How to unlock==
Complete one of the following:
*Play VS. matches, with Simon being the 18th character to be unlocked.
*Clear with or any character in his unlock tree, being the 3rd character unlocked after .
*Have Simon join the player's party in World of Light.
Simon must then be defeated on Dracula's Castle (the Ω form is used in World of Light).
==Attributes==
Simon is a heavyweight fighter with a handful of effective projectiles and incredibly long disjointed attacks. In turn, he is burdened with poor mobility, especially in the air, and shares his attributes with his descendant and Echo Fighter, ; despite having the 8th-fastest falling and fast falling speed, he has below-average gravity, the 4th slowest walk speed, the 13th-slowest dash and air speed, and is tied with for the lowest air acceleration in the game. He also has the 5th lowest traction, tied with and .
One of Simon's most notable traits are his notorious projectiles within his special moves. Firstly, Axe is a very strong projectile that can be thrown in three angles, which makes it effective at both edgeguarding and a threatening anti-air option, compounded by its ability to go through solid terrain. The axe can additionally lead into forward aerial, or, at higher percents, Uppercut for a KO. His side special, the Cross, functions like a boomerang, though unlike other boomerang projectiles, it does not follow Simon, instead going straight and then briefly going backwards on its own if not grabbed by Simon; in addition to this, it sends opponents vertically in the air with low knockback, which is favorable for setups into aerial attacks, the Axe, or an up smash. His up special, Uppercut, is a very fast out of shield option with decent kill power that has multiple setups into it, such as the Cross, or more notably, down aerial. Finally, his down special, Holy Water is a great projectile for ledge-trapping, combo setups or kill setups such as a forward smash, forward tilt, or Uppercut; its flame effect also enables it to detonate and 's s as well as 's Remote Bombs.
Simon's other notable trait is his impressive range. His Vampire Killer whip offers the overall second longest disjointed range out of any fighter in the roster, and it makes his overall kit well-rounded and versatile. In the air, despite his aerial mobility being sluggish, his aerials are effective in their own rights; his up, forward and back aerials all have impressive range and can be used as tether recoveries, along with the latter two having the unique ability to be angled. His down aerial, while lacking the disjoint of his other aerials, is a notoriously effective combo tool, as it functions much like 's down aerial; it meteor smashes at the beginning, but what makes it versatile is its late hit. On the late hit, both Simon and the opponent will bounce back up at diagonal angles, which opens up many KO confirms, notably into his Uppercut. At low percentages, it can combo into itself multiple times, which can potentially make it a zero-to-death tool if the opponent reacts poorly.
Simon's range is also effective on the ground, as his sluggish frame data is compensated by his attacks having immense range and power at the spiked ball at the end of the whip, to the point where they can be considered safe on shield if spaced, despite their lag. All of his smash attacks are notable examples of this; his forward smash is very powerful when tippered, and when combined with its ability to be angled, this makes it a deadly edgeguarding and ledge-trapping tool. His up smash is very strong when tippered, making it a reliable anti-air tool and a combo finisher and KO confirm out of his Cross. His down smash hits on both sides like most others, and keeps his trademark range while possessing decent power when sweetspotted. His forward tilt possesses decent range and uncharacteristically low ending lag, his dash attack is relatively quick and effective for crossing up shielding opponents, and his down tilt, while not disjointed, is a unique two-hit move that causes him to pseudo-crawl, allowing him to cross up foes or effectively retreat from the corner. Due to Simon's excellent range and his three projectiles, he is very good at keeping the opponent at bay.
Simon also has a good grab game. His grab has below-average range and possesses noticeable lag, but his dash grab gives him a lot of momentum due to his low traction. His throws also have great utility: his forward and back throws have good KO potential despite their rather quick speed, and can be used to set up edgeguards otherwise. His up throw is considered to be his most useful throw, as its decent damage is compounded with its great setup ability, being able to start juggles. His down throw is rather situational and is his least used throw, but nevertheless has combo potential thanks to Simon's range.
Despite all these strengths, Simon has some glaring weaknesses. Perhaps his most infamous shortcoming is his extremely poor recovery, being among the worst in the game, despite having three aerials function as tether recoveries; his very low air movement, combined with Uppercut offering very poor vertical and horizontal momentum, give him very poor offstage presence. As such, he is very easy to gimp, and overall has a slim chance to return to the ledge, making him easy to KO despite his good endurance due to his almost non-existent offstage game. This is further compounded with Simon's susceptibility to combos due to his heavyweight status, poor aerial attributes, and lack of effective combo breakers within his moveset, preventing him from easily getting out of combos or escaping pressure. Due to his very low traction and slow attacks, he also has a poor out of shield game outside of Uppercut.
Despite his zoning and spacing potential, it is overall burdened by his poor frame data, lackluster overall mobility, and narrow attacks. His slow movement makes him vulnerable to pressure and zoning. To make things worse, he only has one aerial move that comes out before frame 10, and that is his frame 8 neutral aerial, while forward back and up aerials come out on frame 14 and down aerial on frame 13. While he has his projectiles, they each have noticeable startup and are susceptible to being reflected back, which can be a huge turnabout, especially since the projectiles play a huge role in Simon's neutral game. An opponent can also catch Holy Water mid-flight and use it against Simon, as he can only have one out at a time, allowing his opponents to perform combo setups or kill setups on him.
Simon's poor frame data also gives him a mediocre close-range game, as many of his attacks are unsafe if not spaced properly, which often leaves him heavily susceptible to punishment. While Simon's whip attacks have excellent range, they are also very narrow, and some attacks, such as up tilt, up smash, and up aerial only hit directly above Simon, giving him poor hitbox placements and creating big blindspots that can cause them to miss opponents even if they are directly touching him, which hampers his juggle ability and overall punish game, and gives him a hard time hitting smaller characters. Finally, his moves tend to be rather weak when sourspotted, making spacing crucial if the player plans to score an early KO. With his grab range being below-average and his kill power being noticeable with his tipper mechanic, he must keep his space and fish for tippered tilts and aerials for maximum effect, in a similar vein to .
Overall, Simon is a fighter who excels when he is distanced from his opponent and controlling the main stage: he should use his variety of projectiles to keep opponents at a workable distance to take full advantage of his spectacular range, all while avoiding getting sent offstage due to his poor offstage survivability.
==Update history==
Simon was slightly buffed overall in game updates. In 3.0.0, his edge attack received a range increase, but his Cross projectile was nerfed due to it receiving reduced shield damage. 4.0.0 removed his ability to perform the down air stall that he and many other characters with stall-then-fall down aerials could perform.
After a long absence from the game's patches, Simon was given more noteworthy changes, and was buffed overall in 9.0.0. His rapid jab received transcendent priority, which prevents it from being cancelled by weak attacks. His dash attack deals more damage and altered knockback, making it KO more often near the ledge but not from center stage. His up tilt also received altered knockback, which makes it safer to hit at low percentages but reduces its KO ability. His up smash has less start up and ending lag, and also deals more knockback. His down smash also deals more knockback, and his Uppercut has more vertical range.
Overall, Simon's strengths and weaknesses have been largely kept intact, and his standing relative to the cast remains largely the same.
 
 
 
==Moveset==
*Simon's whip, the Vampire Killer, possesses a sweetspot at the tip of the chain where the spiked ball is.
*Simon's forward aerial, back aerial, and up aerial all act as tether recoveries, allowing them to be used for recovery but also cancels the attacking part of the move while it is in progress.
*Unlike other disjointed weapons, the Vampire Killer's hitboxes cannot pass through solid terrain; hitting an obstacle will cause the move to deal no damage. This applies to every whip move except neutral attack, up tilt, down smash and neutral aerial.
*Simon can crawl.
For a gallery of Simon's hitboxes, see here.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Simon English Announcer SSBU.wav|English
Simon Japanese Announcer SSBU.wav|Japanese/Chinese
===On-screen appearance===
*Appears onstage surrounded by rays of light, and cracks the Vampire Killer before coiling it.
SimonOnScreenAppearanceSSBU.gif|Simon's on-screen appearance
===Taunts===
*Up Taunt: Grunts and holds the Vampire Killer in the air, coiled up.
*Side Taunt: Holds the Vampire Killer lengthwise and spins it around himself twice.
*Down Taunt: Cracks the Vampire Killer on the ground next to him, saying "Come!" (, Come!).
SSBUSimonTaunt1.gif|Simon's up taunt.
SSBUSimonTaunt2.gif|Simon's side taunt.
SSBUSimonTaunt3.gif|Simon's down taunt.
===Idle poses===
*Stands upright with his right hand on his hip. Based on Richter Belmont's pose before his fight in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
*Thrusts his hand downwards. Resembles his idle from Castlevania.
SSBUSimonIdle1.gif|Simon's first idle pose.
SSBUSimonIdle2.gif|Simon's second idle pose.
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (English) 	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian) 	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer 	 	 	 	 	
Description	Si - mon Bel - mont!	Shi - mo - n! 	Si - mon! Si - mon!	Si - mon! 	Si - mon! Bel - mont!
 	Cheer (German) 	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian) 	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer 	 	 	 	
Description	Si - mon, jepp!	Si -- mon! 	Si - mon! Si - mon!	Si - mon!
===Victory poses===
*Left: Shouts "I vanquish the darkness!" ("", Strike the darkness!) as he whips the ground around him twice, before holding the Vampire Killer taut. This is a possible reference to Castlevania II: Simon's Quest during the end of nighttime when the game will show a prompt stating "The morning sun has vanquished the horrible night."
**Against non-DLC characters affiliated with darkness (Bayonetta, Dark Pit, Dark Samus, Ganondorf, and Ridley), Simon has an 80% chance to simply say, "To darkness!" ("", Turn to darkness!).
*Up: Holds the coiled Vampire Killer in the air before lashing it out against the ground while spinning once. The ending pose appears similar to promotional art for Castlevania Chronicles.
*Right: Jumps up to grab a Magic Crystal then whips forward. Simon will then continuously whip and jump as the camera cuts to a side view, referencing a phenomenon when the A and B buttons are held after collecting an orb in the original Castlevania.
SimonVictoryPose1.gif
SimonVictoryPose2.gif
SimonVictoryPose3.gif
==In competitive play==
==: Smash-vania==
Simon fights monstrous characters that reference the beasts he battles in the Castlevania series.
Round 	Opponent 	Stage 	Music 	Notes
1 	and 	Dracula's Castle (Battlefield form)	 	Most likely based on the appearances of the Creature and Flea Man from the first Castlevania game. Could also be based on Minotaur and Werewolf from Symphony of the Night.
2 	Giant 	Luigi's Mansion (Ω form) 	 	Based on the Giant Bat from Castlevania, evidenced further by its appearance in the final stage of that game with the same song playing.
3 	and 	Umbra Clock Tower 	 	This battle is a free-for-all. Likely based on Carmilla and her servant from Rondo of Blood, Laura.
4 	and 	Kalos Pokémon League 	 	Charizard's is absent. Most likely based on the appearances of Leviathan and Cyclops from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Could also be based on Slogra and Gaibon from Super Castlevania IV. Stage transitions are turned off.
5 	, , and 	Reset Bomb Forest 	 	Most likely based on the final three bosses right before Dracula in the final stage of Super Castlevania IV, Slogra, Gaibon, and Death, evidenced further with Simon's theme playing as it did during the final battle against Dracula. Stage transitions are turned off.
6 	 	Dracula's Castle 	 	Based on Richter's brainwashing in Symphony of the Night.
Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage
Final 	Dracula 	 	Phase 1: Phase 2:	
Note: Every stage plays a track from the Castlevania universe, no matter what universe the stage originates from.
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Simon has accompany the credits.
==Role in World of Light==
Simon was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army of Master Hands.
During the opening cutscene, Simon was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters, excluding . A puppet fighter cloned from him is later seen with ones cloned from , and other fighters.
In the mode proper, he is a mandatory unlock found in the middle of the Temple of Light, that needs to be beaten to activate a teleporter which leads to the second portion of the sub-area.
He is later seen alongside several other fighters, as they make their final stand against Galeem and Dharkon.
===Fighter Battle===
No.	Image	Name 	Type	Power	Stage 	Music
66 	 	Simon	 	7,500	Dracula's Castle (Ω form)	
==Spirit==
Simon's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing as Simon. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Simon has been unlocked. Unlocking Simon in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.
SSBU spirit Simon Belmont.png|1,050. Simon Belmont
==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
624 	 	Fire Emblem Series 	• ×2 	 	1,800 	Wuhu Island (Swaying Bridge) 	N/A 	•The enemy favors neutral specials 	 	Barst (blue costume)Bord & Cord (yellow costumes)	
648 	 	Fire Emblem Series 	• (220 HP) 	 	9,700 	Coliseum 	N/A 	•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch•Stamina battle•The enemy has increased attack power 	 	 	
900 	 	Mega Man Series 	•Metal (120 HP)	 	2,500 	Castle Siege (Throne Room) 	N/A 	•Stamina battle•The enemy favors smash attacks•The enemy is metal 	 	 	
1,052 	 	Castlevania Series 	• • • 	 	13,000 	Dracula's Castle 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Alucard)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear when the enemy's at high damage•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	 	
1,055 	 	Castlevania Series 	• 	 	13,500 	Dracula's Castle 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Alucard)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear 	 	Trevor Belmont 	
1,056 	 	Castlevania Series 	• 	 	1,900 	Find Mii (hazards off) 	N/A 	•The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge 	 	 	
1,062 	 	Castlevania Series 	• 	 	9,600 	Dracula's Castle (Battlefield form)	N/A 	•The enemy has increased attack power•The enemy has increased move speed 	 	 	
1,067 	 	Castlevania Series 	• 	 	3,800 	Temple 	N/A 	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power•The enemy favors side specials•The enemy starts the battle with a Beam Sword 	 	 	
1,234 	 	Glory of Heracles Series	• 	 	3,600 	Temple 	•Item: Food 	•The enemy starts the battle with an Ore Club 	 	 	
1,250 	 	The Last Story 	• • 	 	3,600 	Temple 	•Sudden Damage 	•You'll occasionally take sudden damage when the enemy's at high damage 	 	 	
1,252 	 	Pandora's Tower 	• 	 	3,900 	Great Plateau Tower 	•Item Tidal Wave 	•The enemy becomes more powerful after eating•The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge•Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while	 	 	
===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
1,127 	 	Disk System 	• • • •	 	9,100 	Temple (Battlefield form)	N/A 	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	 	Simon Belmont (Akumajō Dracula for the Famicom Disk System)	
1,251 	 	The Last Story	• • 	 	3,700 	Reset Bomb Forest 	N/A 	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	 	Zael 	
==Alternate costumes==
							
							
==Reveal trailer==
==Gallery==
Simon Lashes Out.png|Simon's splash art.
Simon amiibo.png|Simon's amiibo.
SSBU Simon Number.png|Simon's fighter card.
Simon unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Simon's unlock notice.
Simon and Richter artwork.png|Simon and Richter artwork, as posted on the official Japanese Konami Twitter account.
SSBUWebsiteSimon1.jpg|Simon on Palutena's Temple.
SSBUWebsiteSimon2.jpg|Simon using his down smash on the Great Plateau Tower.
SSBUWebsiteSimon3.jpg|Simon in his -inspired costume next to on Coliseum.
SSBUWebsiteSimon4.jpg|Simon about to throw his Axe at on Hyrule Castle.
SSBUWebsiteSimon5.jpg|Simon holding a bottle of Holy Water next to on Figure-8 Circuit.
SSBUWebsiteSimon6.jpg|Simon throwing his Cross on Mario Galaxy.
===Fighter Showcase Video===
==Trivia==
*According to Sakurai from a Nintendo Dream Magazine interview, Simon was added in due to the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.https://web.archive.org/web/20190124011353/http://www.japanesenintendo.com/post/182181277319/
*Simon's render is based off of the box art of the original Castlevania, now turned to face the side and with the Vampire Killer in front of him.
*Simon is the first character to be introduced in the same installment as his clone since Melee, where was added to the roster along with his clone, .
**He is also the first third-party character to ever have a clone, the second being .
*The screenshot of Simon holding an axe in front of is a reference to , where the is used to defeat Bowser and his impostors in castle levels.
*Similarly to both and in Smash 4, Simon shares some small animations with , such as his shield break animation and ledge getup attack, likely due to their similar physiques. He shares this trait with fellow Konami characters and .
*In the August 8, 2018 Nintendo Direct, the words: "Richter originated some of these moves. So, Simon also echoes Richter!" are seen on the bottom. Sakurai also mentions that because some of Simon's moves originate from Richter, it's "hard to say who's really echoing who".
**Simon's down tilt, dash attack, up special, and Final Smash all originated with Richter. Simon is unable to use these moves in his original series.
*Like , , , and Richter, Simon's name is pronounced differently between the different international versions of Ultimate. The Japanese version places extra emphasis on the first syllable of Simon's name (and pronouncing it "she" instead of "sigh"), and pronounces the end as "moan" instead of "mon".
**Outside of the English and Japanese versions, the French version pronounces Simon's name like in the Japanese version, while most other languages use the English pronunciation.
*Simon is the only playable character introduced in Ultimate to have an Echo Fighter, that being his blood-relative successor, Richter.
*In Simon's reveal trailer, he creates flames by throwing the Holy Water into some Food items next to , a reference to the cooking mechanic featured in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
**The two foods produced are roast meat and skewers, which are the main collectible foods of Castlevania and Breath of the Wild respectively.
**Simon being unlocked by clearing Classic Mode as Link could be a reference to how both characters have demonic beings for unique bosses in each of their routes.
*Simon is one of the few characters to speak during a KO: his alternate KO line has him mutter "Curses!" ("", Dang it...!).
*The manual for Ultimate previously stated that Simon could wall jump. This is false, as neither Belmont can, and his name was later replaced with 's.
*Simon is the only character to have a special victory dialogue against characters from different series.
**Prior to update 8.0.0, the voice clip itself ("To darkness!") was missing in the Sound Test. , , , and also shared this distinction.
*In the gameplay sections of the Belmonts’ reveal trailer, Simon and Richter are facing and attacking to the right for most of the scenes. This could be a possible reference to Castlevanias left-to-right style of progress throughout levels.
*Simon's forward tilt hitbox becomes active at frame 12, the exact same timing as his whip attack in the NES Castlevania trilogy, among other later games.
*Simon's description on the North American amiibo website is based on his description from Super Smash Blog.
*Despite how the move looks, Simon's down special is considered to be grabbing an item according to the game's statistics.
*Simon has a cartoony tripping sound effect compared to Richter, who has a more realistic sound.
==References==
 
Category:Third-party characters
Category:Konami
Category:Spirits
es:Simon (SSBU)