A.B.A

**A.B.A** (アバ, *Aba*) is a character in the *Guilty Gear*series. She is a homunculus from Frasco who makes her debut in the spin-off *Guilty Gear Isuka*. As of *Guilty Gear XX Slash*, she is now a member of the main series' cast.

## Character Design

A.B.A has sunken eyes, grayish skin and vivacious red hair. Her attire is strange, as it mainly consists of blood-drenched bandages that cover her body, with the only clothing item being a gray skirt with a key hanging on the brown belt enveloped around her belly. She wears gray shoes, and a black key sprouts from either side of her head.

## Personality

To put it simply, A.B.A is a very shy person. Since she lived by herself in seclusion for 10 years, she doesn’t have confidence about anything in the “outside” world. She is an artificial life form and has strong principles by nature, but she is also very frightened of competition at times. Due to her complicated personality, she tries to treat others authoritatively, oftentimes using difficult expressions that no one usually uses. There is no hatred towards others in her heart and she can be just as thoughtful as other human beings. A.B.A finds motivation in Paracelsus, her axe, who she decided to take as a partner years ago. He helps her to act positively, however she still lacks cooperativeness at times. A.B.A is of a possessive nature and very jealous when it comes to Paracelsus; there is nothing but pure love for him in her heart.

## Gameplay

A.B.A. is initially a very slow character with high defense and decent damage ability. Standard attacks have poor range and combo-ability, however this can be made up with the use of her 3-hit command combo special of her Masshou, Fukumetsu, and Dangoku, which has good range and damage, and her projectile: Kihi, which has very little ending lag and can be followed by the 3-hit combo if the projectile hits at its farthest. Both of these can be Force Roman Cancelled to negate ending lag, at which point it is a great idea to use her free-transformation command throw: Ketsugou.

In her normal mode, A.B.A.’s game is very defensive (too slow, no run with only a dash), but her moves can be used well if one is skilled with her normal mode. It is recommended that the player should transform immediately either using the Ketsugou free-transform in a combo, or just using a blood pack. Blood packs are recommended against campy enemies.

In her Moroha Mode (Double-Edged Mode), the benchmark of A.B.A.’s game-play, this terrifying ram-head comes with a new set of normals and an altered moveset, along with a decent running speed and great combo potential. However, A.B.A.'s health will slowly drain through out this process, so one must learn either maintain long combos, maintain a strong smart offense, or both, all from a rather pressured rushdown against the clock for Moroha Mode won't last long, and plus, being knocked down will also be sure to end the mode fast as well. It is possible to land two Ketsugou finisher combos in a row in order to switch well between the two modes. As another precaution, cautious A.B.A. players can also use blood packs to switch back to normal mode with a small amount of health regained. Thus, combos in both modes require a good amount of skill and knowledge in order to make sure A.B.A. can make sure of any moment as she gains the momentum.

## Powers & Abilities

Paracelsus (Flament) is A.B.A's weapon, who serves somewhat like an axe. She uses blood transfusion packs to temporarily power herself up, labeled "Super Body Fluid" in most artwork. While transformed, she becomes more powerful and begins dripping blood, in addition to losing health by performing actions. In order to regain the spent health, she can use more blood to revert to normal. Her unusual fighting style may be the reason why she is constantly covered in blood splotched bandages (which also compliments her frail appearance). In her Moroha form, she is powerful enough to pressure even the likes of Slayer.

In spite of her appearance, she is incredibly durable. In her Drama CD side story, she survived Slayer's All Dead(though he was holding back tremendously), which sent her crashing through the multiple floors of her mansion and flying over the horizon until she landed somewhere miles away from Frasco, and was relatively unscathed. She also boasts regenerative capabilities as she had her arm torn off in her fight with Slayer and was able to reattach it by merely realigning it to the stump.

## Musical Themes

* Quicksilver - *Guilty Gear Isuka*
* Keep In Gates- *Guilty Gear XX:Slash and AC*

## References and Allusions

* A.B.A. can be taken as a reference to the Sweden pop group ABBA, and also from the musical term known as "ABA".

## TMNT X Pokemon

When she was sent to New York, she was amazed by the sight of it. A.B.A wander around the streets at night when few people could see her. It may freak out a lot of people but she didn't mind at all.

## Trivia

* The name "A.B.A" could also be an indirect reference to blood types, especially due to A.B.A's focus on using blood throughout her gameplay.
* A.B.A. has a deep infatuation with Paracelsus, but he does not feel the same. He does however, worry about her.
* I-No's win quote against her in *Guilty Gear XX Λccent Core Plus* implies that she masturbates (or at least tries to) with Paracelsus. But by the mocking nature of I-No, that can be taken as an insult more than an actual fact.
* A.B.A is also a clairvoyant, a person who can see ghosts, which includes Slayer and Anji Mito, as she saw S-Ko (Zappa's vengeful spirit) when they see each other.
* A.B.A's current theme, Keep In Gates, is the only character theme not composed by Daisuke Ishiwatari.