Isaac

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> Issac’s description

**Isaac** is a playable character in *IndieVisible*, being the first representative of the Binding of Isaac series. In *IndieVisible,* Isaac uses the various abilities and items used throughout his original game, as well as a few tactics from his boss fight.

## Playstyle

Isaac is best described as a sort of all-rounder character, having a good amount of options for any scenario. Despite this, Isaac does lean a bit towards a zoner-like playstyle, particularly being good at mid-to-long range combat and spacing out opponents. Many of his attacks have fairly long reach, either being projectiles or long, disjointed hitboxes, allowing him to outspace opponents and keep his distance between them. Considering his lightweight nature and relatively weak KO potential, Isaac quite heavily relies on keeping his distance from opponents and making sure they don’t get too close to him in order to exploit his weaknesses.

A good example of this is his neutral special, Bomb. When used, Isaac places an explosive next to him which, after one second, explodes, damaging all nearby opponents. As the bomb always appears in front of Isaac and stays put until it explodes, it can be useful for reads of any type due to its good range and damage output, especially for edgeguarding, as it covers many of the opponent’s option when on the ledge. Notably, this special changes when the button is held down before letting go, similar to The Batter’s neutral special. There are a total of 4 different bomb types, not counting the regular types, that can be created, each coming in a cycle that swap between them every second.

The first type of bomb after the normal bombs are the Hot Bombs. When created, the bombs have fire surrounding them, dealing small fliching damage to nearby opponents. When they explode, they create a small fire where they detonate, lasting for a few seconds and damaging opponents on contact. This fire can be useful for edgeguarding due to its long lasting hitbox, as well as acting as a sort of makeshift wall to keep opponents at a distance. If it detonates in the air, the fire will linger in the air, acting as a constant hitbox that can be useful for positioning.

The second type of bomb, after hot bombs, are the Bob’s Bombs. These bombs has a slightly longer fuse than the other bombs, but when they detonate, they leave a poisonous cloud for 5 seconds, dealing small, non-flinching damage to opponents that are within it. Like the Hot Bombs, these clouds can act as good stage control to pressure opponents into staying away from them, allowing Isaac to exploit their opponent. The cloud is also quite thick, allowing Isaac to hide within it for possible mix-up options.

The third bomb type, after Bob’s Bombs, are the Bobby-Bombs. Like the Bob’s Bombs, these have a longer fuse than the other bombs, the longest, in fact. However, what sets it apart from them is that when they are deployed, they will chase down the closest opponent before exploding either after 3 seconds or on contact with the opponent. This can lead to chase set-ups, as well as pressure to make the opponent keep moving away from the bomb, allowing for possible punishes. The bomb can be shielded somewhat easily, though gain, it can lead to punishes.

The fourth and final bomb type, after the Bobby-Bombs, are the Brimstone Bombs. When detonated, the bombs emit laarge blood lasers in four directions in a plus shape. With how big and powerful the lasers are, they are quite strong, and they reach a long distance, capable of hitting opponents from long distances. Where the opponent is launched by the lasers depend on which direction the laser is fired at, with the horizontal lasers launching opponents horizontally, upwards lasers launching opponents upwards, and the downwards laser spiking opponents.

Moving on to Isaac’s side special, Aquarius, this is a fairly unique dash attack, having him move across the stage while spreading a puddle of tears on the ground. This puddle of tears lasts a few seconds, and any opponent who runs over it will have their traction lowered for a bit, having them slide forwards when coming to a stop and turn around slower. Isaac sliding can also damage opponents on contact, popping them into the air to deal damage and possibly set up combos. If done in the air, Isaac sprays a geyser of tears from his eyes to rise upward, acting as a recovery option that pushes opponents directly below Isaac via a windbox, though he is fairly undefended at other angles.

Like neutral special, this move can be charged up to change the properties of the tears, with it changing every two seconds. There are three different tear properties other than the normal tears, with the first being the Mysterious Liquid. This changes the tears Isaac leaves behind into a toxic sludge, trading the lowered traction for opponents to directly damage opponents who step on it. This can be useful to deter approaching from opponents, overall adding to Isaac’s stage control capabilities. In the air, the toxic sludge that now shoots from Isaac’s eyes can also directly damage foes instead of pushing them downwards, allowing for more combo potential and KO options.

The second tear type is the Ball of Tar. This makes Isaac slower and go less distance when sliding, but leaves behind a thick puddle of tar on the ground that slows down opponents who walk over it, as well as reducing their jump height. This allows Isaac to combo opponents with little to no risk, or as a more defensive option to keep opponents away and act as an escape option. In the air, Isaac fires a ball of tar downward instead of a geyser, boosting him upwards with more vertical height. The ball of tar Isaac fires can also damage opponents, dealing some decent damage and knockback.

The final tear type after the Ball of Tar is the Headless Baby. Unlike the previous moves, Isaac rides on a headless baby forwards, leaving behind a puddle of blood. The blood left behind, like the Mysterious Liquid, damages opponents that walk over it. The blood deals less damage than the Mysterious Liquid, but it damages opponents faster, quickly racking up damage if the opponent stays on it for too long. In the air, unlike the previous moves, Isaac riding the headless baby makes Isaac float directly forwards in the air, trading vertical height for horizontal range, being the fastest movement option while in the air. Also unlike the other variants, the headless baby does not drop blood while moving, making it purely for maneuverability purposes.

Isaac’s up special, Holy Grail, is a fairly standard recovery move, having Isaac fly forwards in any direction. At peak distance, Isaac will glow to damage opponents nearby, having decent knockback and damage. While flying, Isaac goes quite fast, making him a hard target to hit. This can allow him a quick escape option if an opponent gets too close, and the attack at the end can be useful as a possible punish for anybody trying to punish him for using the attack.

Isaac’s down special, Familiar Creation, has Isaac create a Familiar at his side. Most familiars will fight alongside Isaac, assisting him by either damaging opponents or giving him more defensive capabilities. Isaac can ‘charge’ the move, in which the type of familiar he summons will change every 2 seconds, with only one being able to be out at a time.

There are four different types of familiars, the first being the Leech. This will follow Isaac around, teleporting to his side if it cannot find its way back to him, and has a close range bite for its main attack, dealing decent damage and knockback. When an opponent is damaged, Isaac will be healed equal to the amount of damage the Leech dealt to the opponent, usually being around 9 or 10% of damage. The Leech lasts for 20 seconds before automatically disappearing.

The second type of Familiar is the Smart Fly. It will fly right next to Isaac at all times, never leaving his side. It will initially be passive, not damaging opponents and generally never going where Isaac isn’t. However, if Isaac is damaged via an attack that deals 10% of damage or more by an opponent, the Smart Fly will fly towards the opponent and deal heavy damage and knockback. This essentially gives Isaac a counter hitbox active at all times, making it harder to directly hit Isaac. Unlike most counter attacks, however, it isn’t guaranteed to damage opponents when connected, as the fly still has to fly towards the opponent in order to damage them, with the fly itself being able to be dodged or shielded. The Smart Fly will last for 25 seconds before disappearing.

The third type of Familiar is the Cube of Meat. Another type of defensive Familiar, it will fly around Isaac in a circle, and will greatly reduce the damage and knockback Isaac would receive from any type of attack. The Cube of Meat lasts for around 30 seconds, but it can be destroyed sooner if it takes a total of 30% of damage or more.

The fourth and final type of Familiar is Lil’ Brimstone. An offensive type of familiar, it will fly next to Isaac at all times, being quite fast. If Isaac were to hold down the attack button with a Lil’ Brimstone active, it will charge up before firing a thin blood beam forwards, being a strong, thin laser that can do heavy damage and has good range.

Isaac does have some noticeable flaws, however. As mentioned above, Isaac is very lightweight, and easy to launch. This is why Isaac heavily focuses on his zoner playstyle, with many of his attacks made to deter approaching and keeping opponents far away. This is also noticeable with his poor close-range combat, with his attacks having a bit of start and end lag and his more close-range attacks not being as powerful as his longer-ranged attacks. This means that Isaac has a clear disadvantage against rushdown-style characters, as aside from some exceptions, their fast-paced gameplan commonly beats out Isaac’s long-ranged and more strategic plan.

There is also the issue of many of Isaac’s special attacks having to be charged in order to use them. For example, in order to create Lil’ Brimstone using Isaac’s down special, he would have to hold it down for 8 seconds in total before creating it. As Isaac is unable to do anything other than slowly walk left and right and jump while creating a Familiar, he is left wide open to punish options and KO moves.

Overall, however, Isaac possesses some great tools when it come to zoning and stage control, with many of his attacks, especially his specials, allowing him to essentially control the stage to his liking, controlling where the opponent goes via a plethora of environment modifiers and pressuring tools.

## Moveset

### On-screen Appearance

* Isaac is seen shivering on the ground in a fetal position before quickly standing up

### Taunts

* **Up Taunt** - Isaac gives a thumbs-up to the camera.
* **Side Taunt** - Isaac uses a reverse Chariot card as he turns into a stone statue, then quickly switches back.
* **Down Taunt** - Isaac cowers as he covers his head.

### Block Animation

* Isaac opens the Book of Shadows as a shield surrounds him.

### Idle Poses

* Isaac wipes some of his tears off his face.
* Isaac looks down while frowning before looking forward.

### Victory Pose

* Isaac opens up a large golden chest before pulling out a quarter, then quickly hops inside of it.

## Win Quotes

Isaac is a silent character, and thus lacks win quotes of any kind.

## Arcade Mode Route

Isaac's Arcade Mode route is titled ***THE ASCENT***.

Like all other Arcade Mode routes for other characters, there is unique pre-fight banter before each fight.

## Trivia

* Isaac's codename is **Grape**, referencing how grapes are used to make wine, which is similar to how Isaac whines to attack enemies. Wine is also commonly used to represent the 'blood' of Jesus Christ, which is commonly drank during religious gatherings, referencing the religious themes of *The Binding of Isaac*. His head is also round, similar to a grape.
* Isaac is one of few characters to lack unique post-fight dialog, simply saying "...". He shares this detail with The Knight, Henry Stickmin, Carrion, OMORI, Hat Kid, Madotsuki, Brad Armstrong, Quote, and The Lost.