Vladimir Bootin

* Normal
* EX

Vladimir Bootin is a parody of the current president of Russia, Vladimir Putin. He is a bonus fighter in Election Year Knockout, released on July 18th, 2022.

## Fighting Style

Bootin holds an orthodox boxing stance throughout most of the fight. He uses mostly jabs and kicking moves, and utilises counter-moves to his advantage. His default patterns aren't too difficult to dodge or counter, but his counterattacks can be devastating. His meteor stomp move, which is a one-hit knockdown in the EX fight, followed by two rapid punches, is a formidable attack, which requires quick reactions and well-timed inputs. Using haymakers when he is idle often results in a highly damaging counter-punch, which deals even more damage than the haymaker itself, so it is advised to use haymakers while he is stunned. If Bootin is on his last knockdown, he will perform a traditional Russian squat/prisyadka dance, where his kicks damage the player, and an uppercut after 3 kicks. Perfect blocking these kicks and using a haymaker on the uppercut is the intended way of countering this.

In Bootin's EX fight, Dmitry the Bear serves as the first phase of the fight. He is an incredibly strong bear whose paw-punches are one-hit knockdowns. His punches can be either left or right, and will always start off low then become high (which need to be countered with a body blow and jab respectively). After his paws are weakened enough, the bear will then use a headbash attack, which can be dodged or countered. Countering the move stuns the bear and allows the player to finally damage it, using haymakers if they can. If the player doesn't counter the headbash, the bear will then use a biting attack at the player, which can be either dodged or countered. After the bear is dealt with, EX Bootin can finally be fought, a much faster version of the fight who is far more adept at countermoves. In round 5, Bootin will start to attack less, and eventually will stand in the corner of the ring and launch a nuclear missile into the ring, detonating when 2 seconds is left and ending the match in a decision.

## Normal Attacks

* **The One-two:** Two fast jabs that can be dodged, blocked, or intercepted. Perfect Blocking this attack requires quick reactions. There are two ways to counter this attack: If the second hit goes low, exposing his head, counter it with a jab. However, if the second hit goes high, you need to counter it with a hook. In EX mode, the attacks are faster, and Bootin will occasionally throw in up to two extra hits to throw you off. Remember to stay alert.

## Special Attacks and Attributes

* **Meteor Stomp:** Bootin raises his right foot, and stomps down for a heavy-hitting attack, then follows up with a downward one-two. The attack can be perfect blocked, or intercepted with a haymaker to deal insane damage. In EX mode, the attack is a OHKD, with Bootin jumping briefly before landing the attack.

* **Counter Haymaker:** Bootin will throw this punch anytime the player uses a haymaker carelessly. Because of the end-lag associated with throwing a haymaker, you are usually forced to take this punch. In his EX fight, Bootin incorporates this attack into his normal pattern, and in situations where he throws and you didn't just throw a haymaker, you can actually avoid his haymaker by either dodging right or perfect blocking the punch.

* **Winded Punisher:** Similar to A-Oh, Bootin will always respond to the player depleting their stamina the same way. In his normal fight, he'll continuously throw fast overhead punches until you are either knocked down or recover your stamina, whether that be naturally overtime or if you block one of his overhead punches. In his EX fight, he'll respond by continuously kicking the player. These kicks deplete roughly 50% of your health, and the timing to block them is very tight.

* **Prisyadka Kick Dance:** Bootin will only use this attack when he's on his last knockdown, whether that be his 3rd knockdown in a single round or his 5th knockdown overall. He hops down into one of the lower corners of the screen and starts doing the famous Russian Prisdyadka Kick Dance, throwing 3 kicks followed by a powerful delayed uppercut, and then repeats the attack from the other side of the ring. He'll go back and forth between the sides of the ring over and over until either you or Bootin are knocked down. The only way to damage Bootin once he starts dancing is by countering the delayed uppercut after his 3 kicks. In his EX fight, the 3 kicks are significantly faster, and the delayed uppercut is a OHKD.

* **The Bear:** Seen in the EX fight, hence the name, "Team Bear". This is the first phase of the EX fight, and it requires the player to intercept the paw attacks to disarm them, then countering the bear's bite attacks to stun it and land hits.
	+ The paw attacks require two hits to stun, a hook and a jab respectively. The bite attacks can be intercepted with a jab or a haymaker, and then land hits with hooks. Once the bear is defeated, EX Bootin will slide down the bear in the same way as the intro, and the actual fight starts proper.

* **Nuclear Annihilation:** Only seen in EX mode. As you progress into the fight after defeating the bear, EX Bootin's attacks start to appear less, stalling the fight. If he isn't KO'ed at round 5, he will step to the right corner of the ring, and launches a nuke right into the ring, ending the match. The decision text also changes to "Decision: MUTALLY ASSURED!" to fit with this last attack.

* **Instant KD Trick:** Like Contender Uncle Joe, There's a instant KD trick against Contender Bootin by countering his Meteor Stomp with a haymaker, which can be done by intercepting the stomp itself or perfect blocking the stomp then using the haymaker. However, this trick requires the player to have taken no damage. If the player takes any damage at all, even if that damage is healed back to full, the haymaker counter will not be an instant KD.

## Maverick's Advice

 "Why is that guy’s name written in Terrorism? HEY. USE THE NORMAL ALPHABET, WEIRDOS."

 "Hey Vlad! In hot Russian summers, do you use bear conditioning? Ha, GOT ‘EM! Get it, kid? Bear Conditioning?"

 "\*Sniff, sniff\* Wait. Is that… \*sniff.\* Is that nuclear I smell?"

## Infractions

1. He uses 6 kicks in his Prisyadka Kick Dance, 3 on the left, 3 on the right. (That already gives him 6 infractions)
2. He is wearing a shirt in his normal form, which is not allowed
3. He uses his Meteor Stomp, which is a kick, you can't kick in a boxing match
4. His pants are stuffed into his boots.
5. He uses a literal bear to fight in his Presidential Match, I'm giving him 2 infractions for using the bear to fight, and animal abuse.
6. He uses a nuclear bomb in his Presidential match, basically he does genocide
7. He is way too old to be fighting, since he's 71 years old.
8. He might've also trained his bear to use bites (Illegal Attack) and a chin move. (Also Illegal)
9. He also uses a tie in his normal match, ties aren't allowed.
10. He also gets an infraction for bringing the bear with him in the ring or in boxing. He does this 4 times (Intro and Resting)

Vladmir Bootin has 19 infractions in total, almost besting Aran Ryan.

## Trivia

* His idle sprite resembles Soda Popinski's idle sprite from *Mike Tyson's Punch Out*, referrencing their shared Russian nationality.
* His EX fight is one of 3 fights that can't be completed in 1 round, besides EX A-Oh! and EX Thump.
* His EX fight has the most true OHKD attacks of any fight in the game, with a total of 8.
* His EX fight is the only fight to have a special decision text.
* His EX fight is a reference to a famous photoshopped image of Vladimir Putin riding on a bear.
* The line "Your elbow is close, but you can't bite it." is a reference to the Aran Ryan fight from Punch-out!! [Wii], who sometimes uses his elbows as an attack