Invictus Maneo/Bill

**“**You're next!**”**
— Invictus Maneo selection quip
**Bill Rizer** is a world-famous member of the Contra task force, a group of elite soldiers who utilize guerrilla tactics against anything that threatens their world, whether it's human, alien, or robotic in nature. Whether going solo or partnering with fellow soldier Lance Bean, he has thwarted multiple villains' attempts at world domination and continues this duty to this day, ripping and tearing anything in his path. Not even getting framed by a rogue government for 80% of the damage that's occurred since the alien invasions begun could stop him.

Bill originates from the 1987 game Contra, and his home stage is Occupied Street.

## Fighter Info

### Basics

Bill is a middleweight zoner character who can swap between weapons on the fly, giving him access to a large variety of tools across his whole moveset. Uniquely, Bill has diagonal commands which allow him to shoot in any of eight directions on will, giving him massive coverage. He is also pretty difficult to approach.

Bill's attacks revolve around his Machine Gun or whatever weapon is granted to him through tapping the Special A command. He rotates through the Machine Gun, Laser Gun, Spread Gun, Homing Gun, Flamethrower, and Crush Gun respectively, none of which require ammo to be used but have their own benefits and varying degrees of usefulness. Bill has eight tilt attacks of both the light and heavy varieties, which are all identical to each other; the light tilts have him simply fire his gun in the chosen direction, while his heavy tilts have him charge up his gun before firing a destructive blast that may be a very potent killing option; all of these tilts are additionally applied to his aerials. Bill's jab is a simple rifle shot that pushes his foe back, his dive is an explosive tackle, and his throws all have him shoot his enemies around.

Bill has some weaknesses, though. He's pretty slow compared to the cast, making him easy to overtake, and his weapons have varying priority which means handling incoming projectiles and opposing zoning tactics can get pretty messy.

### Specials

* **Special A: Fire Swap**
Bill swaps through his weapons quickly if the player repeatedly taps the Special A command. Alternatively, holding the command allows him to pick any weapon immediately by picking from a circle surrounding him. Whichever weapon he chooses replaces his current one, or his Machine Gun if he hasn't replaced his Machine Gun yet.
	+ Bill's Machine Gun is his primary weapon of choice. Its bullets have low priority but extend beyond the screen, making it useful for chipping at his foes' health. Its charged-up version for his heavy tilt attacks is a large bullet that inflicts moderate damage and knockback.
	+ His Laser Gun has a slow rate of fire but the shots come out quick and pierce through enemies, making it useful against multiple or thicker targets. Unique to *Invictus Maneo*, the lasers can also bounce off of surfaces and blast zones, allowing for trick shots.
	+ His Spread Gun fires five bullets in an arc that covers Bill's front, which deal less damage than the Machine Gun and don't reach as far but allow for edge-guarding and destruction of energy shots that come Bill's way. It's also great for racking up damage.
	+ His Homing Gun fires multiple bullets that chase after his foes, dealing respectable damage but do not cause them to flinch at all. A limit of five bullets can be on the screen at once, and the bullets can occasionally miss, so it's recommended to not rely on this.
	+ His Flamethrower is unique since it doesn't fire bullets, rather a constant stream of fire that stays active even as Bill changes firing directions. It can deal high damage if it keeps foes trapped in the flames, but it's best used for destroying projectiles with high priority.
	+ Finally, his Crush Gun may have short range and a very low firing rate but it allows him to fire blue missiles that deal high damage and knockback, dealing explosive damage that can additionally affect several enemies at once. It is his main killing tool of choice.
* **Special B: Slot Swap**
Bill can store two weapons at once in two different slots, which are referred to as Slot A and Slot B and hold the Machine Gun by default. The player can swap between either of them simply by using the Special B command. This command can be extremely useful since it can give Bill a great deal of versatility for combat.
* **Special C: Lethal Rain**
Bill will aim towards the ground, shooting a series of bullets down to give him high into the air. His Crush Gun is unique since it will give him a very high bounce in the air, but his Flamethrower is much different since it will not grant him any recovery. It's recommended to swap out the Flamethrower in either slot for air combat.
* **Special D: Bomb**
Bill will drop a bomb onto the floor, which will tick before exploding, dealing moderate-to-high damage to anyone in its radius before launching them. It's very slow and easy to read, and it doesn't have that much range either, but it's especially effective against dazed foes and for edge-guarding if Bill can interrupt their comeback.
* **Showstopper: Mega Shell Fire**
Bill Rizer will fire a shot-ranged series of bullets. If he manages to trap anyone, he will summon his good friend Lance Bean, with both of them grabbing onto a helicopter as alien forces invade the stage, dropping a series of explosive Mega Shells that deal rapid damage against his foes while both Bill and Lance watch the aftermath.