Mariah

## Introduction

**Mariah** (マライア *Maraia,*also known as **Mahrahia**) is a minor antagonist and one of the only two female characters in *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage For The Future*.

She is one of the *Egypt 9 Glory Gods* and controls the Stand called *Bastet*, which has the ability to turn anyone into a living magnet just by making them touch the Stand itself.

By many considered to be the worst character in the game, by others considered to be undefeatable and absolutely broken, Mariah's gameplay is unlike that of all other characters in the game. She is a Passive Stand character which mostly focuses on ranged combat and trapping opponents with her tricky moves. Mariah fights by throwing knives, cutting power lines and using kitchen utensils and other metallic objects she has in her 'collection'.

### **Pros & Cons**

   + Best waifu
+ Has a ton of setplay and zoning tools, featuring a variety of traps and projectiles
+ Powerful supers
+ Electric burn allows for decent 50/50 play and resets
+ Fast overhead move
+ High chip damage on most projectile moves

- Easy to punish attacks
- Passive Stand character
- Chip damage mostly ineffective against Active/Weapon Stand characters
- Requires 'Leveling Up' for maximum damage output on specials/supers
- Little vertical and/or horizontal range of normals
- Relies heavily on zoning, cheap tricks and opponent not knowing the matchup
- No 'Stand' type attacks, meaning she cannot cut through Kakyoin's nets/other Mariah's electric wires, etc.
- This also means her attacks barely manage to scratch the Stand Gauge of the opponent

## Movelist

### **Special Moves**

#### *Collection* - **236 + A/B/C** (Air OK)

Mariah laughs and drops 3 objects which after a short while begin to fly towards the opponent.

Very long startup but the move itself can be used as a combo starter. It also does okay chip damage and can suppress the opponent for a short while. Higher level makes the projectiles track opponent faster and better, and it also increases projectiles' speed. Possibly also increased start-up speed. This move can be performed midair. Note that similarly to her **S** attacks, it will also momentarily suspend her in place when used.

#### *Enrapture* - **214 + A/B/C**

Mariah poses for a short while. If the opponent is in range, metal wires will drop from Mariah and begin flying towards the opponent.

If this move hits the opponent, they will be stunned for a while. Tapping left/right quickly won't release you from this move.

After this move connects, Mariah can hit opponents one time, after that they will be launched towards the wall, causing wall bounce. Opponents cannot recover from this move until they hit a wall. Note that wires fly only close to the ground and can be easily jumped over. Higher level increases the range the move activates at and also the travel distance of the projectile. This move can only result in a combo from a very lucky projectile attack or Electric Burn's power line.

It's not recommended to use this move on Magnetism levels below 3 due to very slow speed and poor activation range, though there are ways to make the wires activate no matter what. If the move does not activate, the recovery time is insanely long. Otherwise, this move recovers very quickly after the activation is successful.

#### *Electric Burn*- **623 + A/B/C**

Mariah quickly throws a knife into the air. If the knife won't hit the opponent, a cut power line cable will fall from the sky.

After a short while, the cable's end will start sparking, homing towards the opponent and dealing damage on contact. Higher level makes the cable's homing way faster and also increases the number of hits it does, also making it last a lot longer.

Depending on the button pressed, Mariah will throw a knife at different angles. **A** - Right above her. **B** - Slightly angled. **C** - Far away.

Be careful as the opponent's stand attacks can cut the wire, making the attack useless. If that happens you might try punishing them quickly with another move. Also, mind that sparks from the cable aren't instant and you may be countered during the startup with a Super or another move.
If the opponent begins to pushblock during this move, you can easily perform a grab during it for some reason.
Using this move while the opponent is down on the ground can effectively set you up for 50/50s.

### **Super Moves**

#### *What are you thinking?!* - **236 + AA** (Air OK)

Mariah poses and knocks the opponent down with screws hidden inside of her bra. After a while, screws and bolts start flying towards the opponent.

The first hit of this move always causes a stand crash and launches the opponent, plus it causes a lot of stun on block in case it's blocked. Higher level makes Mariah fire more projectiles, makes them faster and gives them better homing. Even if this move is blocked, it does insane amounts of chip damage which makes it a great weapon against any Passive Stand characters. This move can be performed midair. The midair version plays the flash animation earlier than ground version, though works in a similar manner. This move is surprisingly a very good anti-air move, though it's rather risky to use and can be blocked midair. Note that when used in a high combo chain the first hit launcher will instantly ground the target, reducing the usefulness of this move.

#### *Iron Crush -* **214 + AA**

Mariah slashes upwards with a magnetized knife, sending opponents into the air. While they are in the air, various pieces of junk fly towards them.

After all pieces of junk hit the opponent, a car slams them from above, striking them straight into the ground. Higher level makes this move deal more damage to the opponent as more pieces of junk fly towards them. Using this move in a combo will make the damage from the last hit scale down really badly, though it's better than using this move on its own as it's very easy to punish on block. It is Mariah's best combo ender as it always causes hard knockdown. Also, note that after using this super all Special attacks currently on the field become inactive.

## Combos

You can start many of the following combos from **j.A**, **j.B**, **j.C**, **4B**, **236+A/B/C** or even **623+A/B/C'**s cable hits.

Raw **6B** and **3C** don't scale damage in super confirms. Any version of the **S** attack does not scale damage either.

### **Basic Combos**

(j.B/j.C) 5A>5A - Double standing jab. Useful as a poke and for frame advantage. +4 on hit, +11-13 if crouch canceled.
(j.B/j.C) 5A>5A, 2B - +1 on hit. Useful against opponents that can duck under 5C. Doesn't confirm into anything.
(j.B/j.C) 5A>5A CrC 5B - -1 on hit. Useful against opponents that can duck under 5C. Doesn't confirm into anything.
(j.B/j.C) 5A>5A CrC 5C - -1 on hit. Confirms into 214+aa at point-blank range.

(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A>2A - Auto-combo, three low attacks. Third 2A becomes a sweep with good frame advantage on block (+7). Results in a hard knockdown and launches opponents in S.On. **Your main BnB for the entire game!**
(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A CrC 2B - Release '2' briefly to link with 2B. +1 on hit. Useful against characters that can duck under 5C. Can't confirm into anything.
(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A, 5B - -1 on hit. Can't confirm into anything. Useful in situations where 5C whiffs.
(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A, 5C - -1 on hit. Confirms into 214aa super at point-blank. Many characters can duck under it but it does solid damage.
(j.B/j.C) 2A, 5A, 2A, 5C - -1 on hit. Pushes you too far to be able to confirm into anything.

(j.B/j.C) 5A/2A, 3C - Link into launcher. +5 on block. Guaranteed to confirm into 214+aa.
Can combo into the other super and some specials, but it's character specific. Worth noting is that it works against crouching opponents, so it can be used in situation where 5C whiffs.

(j.B/j.C) 5A/2A/d.5A/d.2A/5B/2B/5C/3C xx 214+aa - All normals that combo into 214+aa out of a jump-in.
6B/d.5B/d.2B/d.5C xx 214aa - Normal confirms into 214+aa that can't be done from a jump-in.

2A, 5B xx 214+aa - Poor man's confirm against crouching opponents that can't be hit by 5C. Requires you to be very close.
(j.B/j.C) 5A/2A, 3C xx 214+aa - Link into launcher for a super confirm. Also works against crouching opponents.
(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A, 5C xx 214+aa - Primary super confirm off a low or a jump-in. Second 2A might put you out of range against certain characters or of you done your jump-in too close to the ground. Sometimes it's better to only use one 2A.

(j.B/j.C) 5A/2A/d.5A/d.2A xx 236+aa - Confirms into 236+aa. The 3C launch into 236aa does not work against characters in S.On.

j.B/j.C xx j.236+aa - Confirming jumping normals into air version of 236aa. Not recommended when used as an air-to-air as opponents tend to easily tech out of it. Delay the super slightly for it to connect with the opponent.

2C/d.2C xx 214+aa - Only works against characters in Stand On. Sweeps launch instead of knocking down, allowing you to confirm into super.

### **Advanced Combos**

(j.B/j.C) 5A>5A, 2C - 1f link. Sweep ender from standing jabs. +4 on block. Launches opponents in S.On.

d.5A/d.2A, 2A... - 1f link into 2A. Can be used to start combos at close range.
2A, d.2A, 2A, d.2A... - Potential jab infinite. Can drop due to IPS. Features a 1f link. Not recommended.

(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A, d.5C xx 214+aa - Afraid of dropping your combo due to range problems? Fear not, this 2f link into dashing C will solve all your potential range issues with the exception of characters that can duck under it. It's actually pretty useful to learn.
(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A, d.5B xx 214+aa - Similar to the combo above, except less damage and it's 1f link now! Hurray. At least it hits crouching characters!

(j.B/j.C) 2A>2A, d.2B - Probably the easiest from the dashing links but unfortunately does not confirm into the supers UNLESS you use only one 2A.

j.5S, 2A... - Landing an outlet as low as possible allows you to link after it hits with 2A. Very tight.

j.C (land) j.C xx j.236+aa - IOH confirm with j.236aa. Pretty tight, works best against tall characters. You might want to delay j.236aa just slightly.

### **214+aa Super Loop**

The 214+aa Super can be looped together an infinite number of times. While the timing is pretty strict and changes based on your current level, it's not the hardest thing to do. The reason why that happens is because the opponent isn't knocked down instantly by the last hit, instead, they're suspended midair for a brief moment.

This loop was considered a bug and does not work in the more recent revision of the game, as well as the console ports.

## General Strategy

### **Summary**

Mariah has many disadvantages while fighting characters with Active Stand. Try to keep your distance and bait enemies into your Magnets or grabs. Be careful to not be punished while performing any moves by long-range attacks and tandems. Enemies will most likely try to go for a grab once you have enough Level Ups. Use this opportunity to strike them down with your fast normals.

While opponent blocks Electric Burn, try to bait them into using a Guard Cancel. If they mistime it Electric Burn will still damage them, leaving them wide open for a punish or even a reset. If they block it in midair, you get a free **5C** and possibly more afterward.

Always use your Stand, even at the maximum level. It doesn't do much damage but can stop your opponents from doing a rushdown if placed properly. It makes a great shield against opponent's jump-ins and single projectile attacks. Just note that canceling into any S attack out of your normals can be easily interrupted and punished by majority of the cast. Try to go for longer strings to push them out of their attack's range.
If you don't feel safe by using your projectile attacks from the ground, remember you can still use Collection in the air. Timed properly you will manage to jump over opponent's projectiles or other moves. If opponent rolls through your projectiles, feel free to grab them. Just watch out as Collection is generally very slow and can be even punished as you land back on the ground if you used it midair.

Use your **5C** a lot, especially against enemies with larger hitboxes. It is very fast and easily catches any attempts at jumping, however, do not abuse it as it can be sometimes easily read and punished. Its anti-air capabilities, while good may not be good enough against certain opponents with better move priority, so use it wisely.

Where **5C** won't work, **5B** and **2B** become your best friends as long distance pokes. While **5B** is fast, **2B** covers a decent range. It will help you in a lot of situations, especially against opponents with shorter hitboxes that can easily duck under **5C**. Watch out for its long recovery while fighting opponents with fast rolls.

Mariah has a lot of good pokes. Her **2A** and its dashing version comes out really fast and can easily check opponents. If you feel like being more aggressive, **2A**, **2B**, and **5C** are your best friends. Remember to cancel your Normals into special moves when you feel you're at a safe distance away from the opponent. Mariah can set a lot of frame traps using her Magnets and Enrapture.

Magnets work well as a thing you can cancel into. If your opponent mistimes their attack after a blocked string, you'll most likely get a level up with a possibility to continue your rushdown. Remember that you can place Magnets in different places. **5S**, **6S** or **2S** are best after a successful attack. **4S** makes a good anti-air trap.

Alternatively, you can **214+A/B/C** after a successful or blocked hit. While it can't combo it might force the opponent to block or jump, which again allows you to keep your rushdown in a lot of situations.

Alternate between your Specials. Always try to use Electric Burn whenever you have the opportunity. If the opponent leaps forward at you after attempting to cut the cable midair, strike em with **5C** or punish with Super depending on the range.

Winning neutral as Mariah can be really tough without proper knowledge of her moveset and what her specials are capable to do, but once you learn to use her moves properly, opponents might have a hard time trying to reach you without taking any damage.

### **Okizeme/Resets**

Once Mariah trips her opponent down, quickly cancel the last hit of your **2A>2A>2A** auto-combo into Electric Burn. Try to throw the knife so that the opponent won't be able to cut it down with their moves. Once that's done, you can do several things with your opponent.

**2A** is your primary low attack that doesn't cause a hard knockdown, and so it's the easiest thing to do in this situation. Remember to not mash it so you won't do Mariah's auto-combo by accident. Short Hop **j.B** or **j.C** is great if you need an overhead. You can also use **6B** though it requires a slightly more precise timing. You can attempt to jump over the opponent with **j.B** and hit them from the other side too. Try to alternate between Lows and Highs or bait opponents into using Guard Cancel. Alternatively, try to chip down their health if you want to keep a safe distance with **236+A/B/C** projectiles or **236+AA** super. **2S** while slow, can be used from some distance. Unfortunately, it's easy to predict and most likely will be blocked.

Once Electric Burn manages to damage your opponent, you have multiple finishers you can do:
Primarily, use your **2A>2A>2A** auto-combo as it will ground your opponent, then repeat the whole process again. You can also finish it with **214+AA**Super for more damage as it will also allow you to continue the process of resetting your opponent. Alternatively, when Electric Burn manages to gain some longer duration, just feed your opponent some Magnets to quickly increase your level to maximum. With proper timing, you can use **214+A/B/C** to wrap your enemies right after cable's last hit (though the timing is very precise or the move might just miss, read it as go through the opponent entirely if done at the wrong moment).

That's not her only Oki though! If for whatever reason you don't want to use Electric Burn, use **2S** to put a Magnet on the ground then use any jumping attack during a short hop. Big chances are both attacks combined will become nearly unblockable! You may also attempt to use **6B** instead of the jumping attacks although that depends on who you're fighting as some enemies have faster/slower recovery times and it might end up being too slow or you'll just mistime it.

On characters with longer recovery times, you can place the outlet on the ground, roll behind them and perform 6B or 2C for safe oki from a different side.

### **Enrapture (214 + A/B/C) Setups**

Once you manage to land this move on your opponent, you may ask yourself 'alright, how do I do most damage now?' well, there are several options you can do:
In case Enrapture managed to land while you weren't performing any Special moves like Electric Burn, in case you're close enough, use **5S** to put a Magnet right behind them (**6S** appears too low), then quickly slash them with **5C** if possible. Once opponent hits the Magnet, finish the combo with **214+AA** super. All of this requires precise timing. That is one of the most optimal things to do, though you have other, simpler options too. You can simply inject an **S** Magnet into them, works well enough if you're desperate to raise your magnetism level quick.
In case you were further away from the wire when it connected. **5C** will be enough to reach your target from afar, and in most situations you can instantly combo it into **214+AA** super, though **214+AA** super alone might be a better idea considering the wrap itself does not count as a combo, meaning the damage from super won't scale down. **236+AA** super on its own is capable of doing more damage than the **214+AA** super on max level, however, do not smack the opponent with the first hit of that super or they will fly away which may reduce the damage or instantly knock them down when used in a combo.

Finally, you can use Electric Burn. If it connects quickly enough opponent will stay on the ground, meaning you can add some Magnets into the mix and finally trip em over with your auto-combo. A good combination is to use Electric Burn first, then to put a Magnet behind the opponent, run into them so that they get pushed to the Magnet and finish your combo. Using **236+A/B/C** projectiles might not cause the opponent to be launched like they usually do which can also lead to some combos. Note that Enrapture will launch enemies no matter what, so you can put a Magnet behind em, wait when they are launched and the Magnet will prevent them from slamming into the wall.
Sadly, it is impossible to get two Electric Burns in a single combo THIS WAY (or rather, it is extremely hard to time properly), therefore use other methods in case you wrapped opponent from it. Remember that you can use Enrapture in a combo twice though (Enrapture > Electric Burn > Enrapture again > Finisher).

However, that would be too simple now, wouldn't it?
It is possible to use Electric Burn and Enrapture to actually continue using Electric Burn multiple times in a combo. By timing a **4B** knife properly during Electric Burn, it is possible to make the hitstun slightly longer, increasing the delay between two Electric burns which results in being able to throw out another one earlier. The timing can be still very rough, but it becomes slightly easier this way.

## Matchup Strategy

#### Abdul

You can use 5S to block his 236+A/B/C projectile. Most of your normals are effective in this matchup, so just don't let him get close to you. Watch out for his wake-up supers as Abdul has the fastest recovery time in the game. 5C is ineffective against him when he's using Stand Off, and his sweep attack can very dangerous.

#### Alessi

Lay outlets on the floor with 2S to prevent some of Sethan's attacks. Watch out for Alessi's air attacks. He can duck under your 5C, so focus on using other normals. Watch out for his sweep as it will intercept a lot of your attacks.

#### Black Polnareff

Black Polnareff won't be able to do anything against you as long as you don't let him get close.

#### Chaka

Chaka is very fast and his supers are deadly against zoners. Keep a long distance between him and yourself and try to not abuse 236+A/B/C. Magnets are very effective and can stop several of his attacks. He can duck under 5C with his stand off so watch out.

#### Devo

You can lay outlets right on top of the doll to disable its special attacks, making Devo very limited for a brief moment. Punish his normals and don't let him use his doll to quickly grab you. Watch out for hard knockdowns. 623+A/B/C can be extremely useful to block or punish his doll's attacks. Watch out as he can duck under your 5C and his rolls are fairly quick.

#### DIO

Focus on punishing DIO's attacks instead of tossing risky projectile attacks as he can easily teleport close to you and counter with anything he wants or just toss knives at you for high damage.

#### Hol Horse

There's no time for projectiles here. Rush him down and punish all of his rolls. Don't let him leave the corner and keep going for hard knockdowns and resets. j.236+A/B/C can be useful to provide some defense while approaching Hol, but be careful not to be punished with Hanged Man. He has no way of disabling 623+A/B/C aside from attempting to Guard Cancel it. Keep him in stun and watch out for 5C and 2C.

#### Hol & Boingo

Same as above, except instead of having to worry about Hanged Man, you should worry about Hol's S bullet.

#### Iggy

Don't let him grab you. Iggy can just walk under the 5S and 6S versions of the outlet with his Stand Off. 5C will obviously not work too when he's without his stand, although it makes for a great anti-air against Iggy.

#### Joseph

Watch out for his Stand On attacks, 236+A/B/C in particular as it can reach you from almost the entire screen when you're not careful with your projectile moves. Custom combo can easily punish any attempts at using projectiles, so don't toss them without knocking him down first.

#### Jotaro

When Jotaro attempts to rush you down, 5C will save you from a lot of his attacks, however, try to not risk an anti-air because Jotaro's air attacks have much better speed. He is very susceptible to Mariah's outlets while performing a lot of his attacks which will halt his movement greatly. Remember to keep enough space for your projectile attacks so that you don't get quickly countered with tandem or super attack.

#### Kakyoin

The problem here is that Kakyoin wins in range versus Mariah, in order to get onto him you need to block literally everything he throws at you and attempt the hard knockdown. That's pretty much the plan for anyone with many zoning abilities. As for more close range oriented chars you want to stay back and keep tossing shit at em until they commit to a mistake, the only problem here being active stand users able to just ignore all the chip with Stand On and quickly pull off a super any time to pretty much punish everything you throw. To prevent that, you should always have an outlet active on the field. It's your shield against all the bs that might come in your way.

#### Khan

Toss everything you can at him and don't let him get close to you. Only his 236+AA super is particularly dangerous as it has a lot of invincibility frames.

#### Mariah

First to cover the entire screen in projectiles wins.

#### Midler

6S outlet will block her harpoon attack. Using 236+A/B/C in this matchup can be very dangerous as Midler can punish it with her 623AA Dinner Time super for massive damage. Try to carefully approach her.

#### New Kakyoin

Pretty much the same deal as regular Kakyoin, except he does less damage so you may have slightly better odds.

#### Petshop

~~Give up.~~ Your auto-combo does not work in this matchup as the last hit (2C) whiffs against standing Petshop. Your only hope is to find an opening so that you can either score a level up or smack him with 5C (which also whiffs if he's crouching). Petshop can cut Electric Burn very easily, but attempting it is the only way to gain anything in this matchup.

#### Polnareff

Polnareff's long pokes are very dangerous, and his Shooting Star special won't give you a moment of rest. Do not do anything risky and try to adapt to his strategy so that you start trapping his special attacks with your Magnets, then once you reach a desired level of magnetism, start using 623+A/B/C and begin your counterattack. 4S can block Shooting Star, while placing an outlet in the front will stop Ray Dart.

#### Shadow DIO

Shadow DIO's grabs can be very deadly in this matchup. It is important that you know how to evade his projectile attacks and keep spacing. 623+A/B/C is a great move in this matchup as Shadow DIO cannot easily cut the wire, and he cannot use his Book Counter against it either, so he'll most likely take some damage from it every time it's out. If Shadow DIO attempts his laser attack, you can just input 66 and run towards him as the beam will miss. Turns out Mariah's running actually lowers her hurtbox minimally.

#### Rubber Soul

Don't let him grab you. There's nothing that prevents Rubber Soul from rushing you down other than your outlets. Always have them out during the fight against him. Watch out for his 236+AA super. He will most likely try to interrupt anything you do with 6S, but it will whiff if you're crouching. Punish it quickly with 5C. Sometimes you can punish it even when it hit you.

#### Vanilla Ice

Vanilla's fast rolls and jabs are guaranteed to beat you quickly. He cannot be hit by 5C while ducking without his stand and he can beat your 5B/2B with a roll. There's not much else you can do besides keeping spacing and chipping at his health slowly.

#### Young Joseph

Once he manages to set Clacker Boomerangs on the field it's gonna be an uphill battle from now on. Either try to grab him to get rid of them or make clever use of your electric burn.

## Trivia

* As mentioned before, Mariah and Midler are the only two female characters in the game.
* When losing by Time-out, Mariah performs a very comedic facial expression which is a reference to the manga.
* Due to her moveset being what is it, Mariah is capable of cutting Power Lines in very obscure places, like Deserts or Hotel Rooms, which makes little to no sense.
* Her **214+AA** Super Loop works only in the 990913 revision of Heritage For The Future. It is patched in all other versions of the game as it was a programming oversight.

## References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh1OUmyqS6o - BnBs, featuring some okizeme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWHDVgtzhBU - Electric Burn/Enrapture combos and other not necessarily useful stuff