ZASALAMEL
"This is your end. I shall put you out of your misery."
***
*** BACKGROUND ***
Zasalamel is from the Soul Calibur series, making his first appearance in Soul Calibur 3. In this game, Zasalamel was the main character, being more heavily featured then even Nightmare or Siegfried. Zasalamel was the main antagonist, everyone encountering him at least twice and then fighting him as the final boss after he consumed Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
Zasalamel is immortal, but considers this a curse rather then a benefit. All he seeks to do is to find something powerful enough to finish him off for good to find eternal rest. Zasalamel is perfectly fine with killing others to reach this goal, considering them lucky to be able to die.
Ah. . .Zasalamel's weapon of choice. He's had this death blade so long that he's even named the thing, referring to it as "Kafziel". It comes from the name Cassiel, an Angel of Death of Jewish lore appointed to take the lives of kings. In any case, the part Zasalamel kills the foe with is obviously the blade at the end of the long weapon. Why am I stating the obvious? Because while Zasalamel's blade is very long and disjointed, only the head of it actually does damage to anything. Hitting with the long rod that allows Zasalamel to reach out so far with the blade does nothing. This means that while Zasalamel can hit foes a ridiculous range away from him without projectiles, it also means that he's pretty screwed against foes who are right up against him in his face. Zasalamel will always want to keep his foe a good distance away from him, particularly against speedy characters such as Sonic or Pikachu. For Zasalamel's scythe attacks, the blade head is always the hitbox, and it is always disjointed.
*** STATS ***
Size: 8/10
Zasalamel is just as tall as Ganondorf. While his idle stance makes him seem a bit wider due to his blade head sticking out behind him, hitting the blade head won't count as hitting Zasalamel.
Weight: 8/10
Zasalamel is without a doubt one of the heavier characters due to his muscles and size, and that massive weapon weighs him down as well.
Walking Speed: 5/10
The walk is rather casual, but Zasalamel still isn't one to waste time.
Running Speed: 6.5/10
Pretty good for someone of Zasalamel's size.
Traction: 5/10
While Zasalamel is too mysterious to trip all that often, his size and his awkward weapon cause him to still manage to trip himself up sometimes.
Power: 6/10
Despite his large stature and massive weapon, Zasalamel isn't that amazingly powerful. While many of his attacks do average/above average knockback like a typical heavyweight, Zasalamel doesn't have the high knockback attacks that usually accompany these numerous above average/above average knockback attacks. KOing is a problem for Zasalamel.
Attack Speed: 6/10
To make up for Zasalamel's awkward trouble with KOs, he's above average in speed. This isn't anything amazing as Zasalamel still has the ocassional slightly laggy attack, but Zasalamel still has plenty of options for attacks that come out very quickly. Still, Zasalamel isn't an amazing damage racker, nor a good KOer. What DOES he have then?
Range: 9/10
Ah, so HERE is Zasalamel's big advantage. Zasalamel's blade reaches out to insane proportions, and he even has a projectile with infinite range like Falco's laser.
Priority: 9.5/10
With a long weapon comes disjointedness. This is the nature of the priority of nearly all of Zasalamel's attacks.
First Jump: 3/10
Zasalamel's height prevents him from gaining much ground.
Second Jump: 3/10
Despite using magic for this jump, it still doesn't take him very far at all.
Falling Speed: 7/10
Pretty bad. Typical heavyweight falling speed coupled with bad jumps and bad aerials gives Zasalamel a mediocre aerial game.
Recovery: 3.5/10
His recovery is a tether, coupled with bad jumps and fast falling speed. Horrible. The only thing he has going for him is the inability to be edgeguarded due to the nature of his tether.
Crouch: 4/10
Zasalamel doesn't get too much lower from his large height, making it rather useless, like Ganondorf's.
Crawl: No.
Hover: No.
Wall jump: No.
Wall cling: No.
Glide: No.
*** BASIC ACTIONS/ANIMATIONS***
Standard Pose:
Same as Soul Calibur. Zasalamel stands up right, his head facing the side, it being somewhat obscured from the camera by his hood. Zasalamel holds his blade diagonally with the handle end at the front and his blade behind him.
Idle Pose:
Zasalamel twirls his scythe about, bored.
Walking:
Zasalamel uses his scythe like a walking stick as he slowly comes forward.
Running:
Zasalamel picks up the pace a decent bit and rarely impales the handle end of hish scythe into the ground as a walking stick.
Dashing:
Zasalamel sprints, no longer using his scythe as a walking stick.
Crouching:
Basically the same as Ganondorf's, but Zasalamel holds his scythe at his side.
First Jump:
Zasalamel crouches down slightly before springing up.
Second Jump:
Zasalamel's body glows blue as he spins around briefly and rises up.
Shield:
Zasalamel holds his scythe in front of him in a defensive position as the standard bubble shield forms.
Sidestep:
Zasalamel literally sidesteps. Crazy, right?
Roll:
Zasalamel sidesteps into the background and takes a few paces while in the background, then comes out back onto the playing field. This is a simple means of dodging attacks in Soul Calibur.
Air Dodge:
Zasalamel puts his scythe in front of him vertically in a defensive position as he leans into the background.
Asleep:
Zasalamel impales the handle end of his scythe into the ground in front of him and leans forward on it, standing as he sleeps.
Dizzy:
Zasalamel's golden eye glows as he holds it in pain, staggering about.
***
*** MOVESET ***
*** SPECIALS ***
Neutral Special - Immortal Eye
Zasalamel's golden eye glows. It is said to contain his very soul. . .This has average start up lag with no ending lag. Once the actual move fires up, a burst of light occurs RIGHT IN FRONT of Zasalamel. This gives the move horrible range, a mere small character distance in front of Zasalamel. While this will go over short characters normally, you can angle the move downwards like Bowser's fire breath to hit them with it.
If you actually hit with the move, then the foe will be slowed down for 3 seconds like with the timer item. This obviously allows you to either set some stuff up with your other moves or get in an easy hit or two. However; if Zasalamel is hit during the starting lag of the attack, HE will be the victim of the attack, the spell backfiring due to Zasalmel not finishing his channeling.
This is an important defensive mechanism for Zasalamel, as it's one of the only move that can actually hit people directly in front of him. Still, once they're up there, the starting lag of this attack will prevent you from getting them out. You have to predict when they're going to come up to you and start up move early. If it goes off too early, it's not nearly as big of a deal, as there's no ending lag for the attack. This won't connect all that often, but it will give foes a harder time as they try to approach you.
Side Special - Loose Cog
Zasalamel opens a portal to his clock tower for above average starting lag, then out of it a gigantic cog the size of Bowser rolls out, the portal closing as soon as the cog comes out for brief ending lag. The gigantic cog is disjointed. Initially it rolls forward rather slowly and somewhat weak, Ganondorf's running speed with 10% damage and average knockback, but the longer it rolls the faster and stronger it becomes. After it's traveled the distance of half Final Destination, it will of doubled in power and speed. This can't really be used up close due to the starting lag and it not being worth said lag at close range anyway, but it's great at a distance. This encourages Zasalamel to keep the foe as far away as possible all the more.
Should the cog bump into a wall or a foe, it will burst into a bunch more smaller cogs. Most of these cogs will go into the background, but two cogs will actually stay on the battlefield as throwing items. Both cogs are the size of the larger and smaller wheels of Wario's broken bike, having the same properties as said wheels. At low percents you won't want to really use this, as you're essentially giving your foe free projectiles to send back at you. While this is too slow to really camp with, it out prioitizes all other projectiles, keeping enemies from forcing you to approach (Which would be a horrible idea, Zass has no reason to ever approach.).
Up Special - Mortal Fall
Zasalamel holds his scythe up above his head, only holding the very end of the long stick to make it reach up as high as possible. This makes the scythe reach up around double Zasalamel's height, providing for an excellent vertical tether recovery. . .But it only goes straight up, so that presents a problem. Couple this with average starting lag and this move is quite awkward to use for recovery.
If Zasalamel hits anyone with his blade head as he extends it upwards, including edge hoggers, he'll impale them on the blade and go straight down with them, generally for a suicide KO. This is worse then most suicide kills though, as Zasalamel doesn't lower his blade upon impaling someone on it, meaning that Zass will always die first, screwing him over if both players had only one stock left. Should Zasalamel land on the ground with the foe, he'll lower his scythe down and the game will act as if you grabbed the foe with your standard grab.
On the ground, Zasalamel will extend his scythe up in the same fashion, but will pull his scythe down instantly the moment he impales anyone on it and it will also count as a grab. This grounded version of the up B is much more practical then the aerial version, as it's disjointed and counts as a grab, making it excellent anti air. Zasalamel is far from an amazing aerial combatant, so rather then going up to fight aerial enemies, simply pull those mortals down to your level.
Down Special - Kafziel's Will
Zasalamel holds his scythe, Kafziel, out in front of him, then lets it go for it to levitate in place. Zasalamel extends out his arm and wiggles his fingers about as it glows blue, doing some sort of magic to control the scythe. There is average lag to begin controlling the scythe. You now play as Kafziel, able to do all of Zasalamel's moves that only involve his scythe while playing as it, besides your grab. Kafziel only has one jump and Zasalamel's walking speed.
To resume playing as Zasalamel, walk back into him while playing as the scythe. If Zasalamel is hit while channeling to control his weapon, the scythe will vanish and appear back in his hand. If the scythe takes 20 damage or falls off a ledge, it will shatter and Zasalamel won't get a new scythe for 20 seconds, leaving him unable to use his attacks involving his scythe (The vast majority of them).
The best way to make use of this move is gimping, as it's the only time when your foe will be unable to hit Zasalamel. Send your scythe out to gimp the foe while you stay on the stage in safety! If the scythe falls off the bottom of the screen, you'll still get a new one (Albeit with a good deal more ending lag), so you don't have to worry about it coming back to the stage. Still, Zasalamel's aerials aren't exactly prime gimping material, so Zasalamel is far from the best gimper, he can simply do it safely.
*** STANDARDS ***
Standard Attack - Handle Jab
Zasalamel simply swings the handle end of his weapon horizontally like his most attack in Soul Calibur. This has pathetic range and below average priority, but has nearly no lag whatsoever. This does mediocre knockback and a mere 5% damage. This jab exists solely as a defensive measure for Zasalamel, as it is one of his few methods of defending himself against a foe that gets into his face. Still, this will go right over short charcters like Pikachu due to Zasalamel's height, so you'll still want to keep foes at a distance if at all possible.
Dashing Attack - Immortal Flight
Zasalamel leaps into the air just barely above the ground as he runs, spinning in mid air twice while holding his scythe. Zasalamel's body and scythe is an average priority hitbox for this attack, doing 14% and above average upward knockback, like Ganon's dash attack. This has very little starting lag, but slight (Below average) ending lag. This attack also has a somewhat lengthy duration, an entire second. Zasalamel travels the distance of a Battlefield platform in this attack. This is very predictable and easily punishable, but is a decent potential KO move at higher percents out of Zasalamel's limited options. It can't be as carelessly uses as Ganon's dash, though. While this can hit foes as close to Zass as he desires, foes can easily get right up in the close range Zass is bad with if Zass whiffs this attack.
*** TILTS ***
Forward Tilt - Reeling in Death
This is a two part ftilt like Snake's. For the first hit, Zasalamel stabs his scythe down at the ground in front of him. The blade strikes down the distance of an entire Battlefield platform away from him. Being hit by this part of the attack does 10% and knocks the foe to the ground. This has average start up lag, but the range makes it fairly easy to throw out into a fight. This has brief ending lag if you choose to not use the next part of the combo, thankfully.
If you press A after finishing the first hit, Zasalamel will sweep his scythe back towards himself, bringing anybody he hit with the first part of the move right up against him with another 7% damage. This can hit foes up against Zasalamel due to the blade being a hitbox the whole time as he sweeps it up against him. This leaves the foe right in front of Zasalamel's face. . .Exactly where most of your moves can't hit them. You'll never want to use this part of the move against speedy characters, but against slow characters you could use this to combo by hitting them with a jab, it being faster then those of most slow characters.
Up Tilt - Rising Slash
Zasalamel leaps up, then slashes his scythe downwards in front of him. Zasalamel isn't holding the end of the handle of his scythe in this attack, so the blade head only reaches out half a Battlefield platform. Being hit by the blade head does 11% with average knockback. This has little start up or ending lag, but if you don't hit anyone with it Zasalamel's blade will be stuck in the ground at the end, increasing the ending lag to above average. You can use DI when Zasalamel briefly jumps up to go forwards or backwards, allowing you to both retreat and attack at the same time to create more of the distance between you and your foe you badly need.
Down Tilt - Classic Trap
Zasalamel holds the end of the handle of his scythe, then fully scoots the scythe out to make the head go out as far as possible. As long as you hold A, Zasalamel holds this pose. If a foe walks over the scythe head (Which reaches out the distance of a Battlefield platform from Zasalamel) while Zasalamel has it laying on the ground like this, Zasalamel will instantly let go of the end of the scythe's handle for the handle to spring up and smack the foe in the face, like when a character steps on the end of one of those gardening tools in a cartoon. Zasalamel's seen it all, he's more then famaliar with this. This does no knockback, merely making the foe fall backwards onto the ground after being hit, but does an excellent 18% damage. This has below average starting lag to get into the position, but to get out of it there is above average lag. This is best used for punishing your foes and should only be used when you know it's gonna hit, as it's very easy to punish.
*** SITUATIONALS ***
Ledge Attack - Sentenced to the Abyss
Zasalamel climbs up from the ledge quickly then does a sweeping slash towards the edge. This has slight starting lag and lasts a bit long for a ledge attack, half a second, but causes the foe to be given set knockback to be knocked off stage like Ganon's ledge attack along with 8%. The scythe sweep reaches out half a Battlefield platform away from Zasalamel.
Ledge Attack Over 100% - Timeless Struggle
Zasalamel slowly struggles up onto the ledge, but as he does so he rapidly stabs down the end of his scythe's handle down onto the ground in front of him. Three hits are done as Zasalamel climbs up, each doing mediocre knockback and 6%, the stabs down having tiny range right next to the edge and bad priority. This lasts three quarters of a second, making the duration a bit too uncomfortably long.
Rising Attack (Either Side) - Doubled Sided Weapon
Zasalamel gets up to his feet and does a quick slash in front of him, the blade of the scythe reaching out half a Battlefield platform in front of him and doing 8% with below average knockback. Zasalamel next butts the end of the handle of the scythe behind him, doing 6% and mediocre knockback but making the whole handle a hitbox, reaching out the same distance as the first part of the attack. This attack is quick and covers both side of Zasalamel, but if you're right in front of Zasalamel when he gets up you can easily punish this. This has no starting or ending lag but has a duration of half a second.
Tripped Attack - Shadow Rise
Zasalamel gets an annoyed expression, disgusted with how undignified he has become by tripping, giving very slight starting lag. Zasalamel then casts a quick spell, his hand glowing blue, which causes shadowy particles to appear under him and propel him up, him levitating in the air briefly. The shadow particles hits below Zasalamel and very slightly to either side of him, doing 8 multiple hits of 1% and flinching. This also has slight ending lag as Zasalamel falls to the ground, but it's not bad, and the duration of the attack is very short.
*** SMASHES ***
Forward Smash - Spinning Blade
Zasalamel turns his scythe horizontally, then starts spinning it about directly in front of him. Every third time he uses this move, Zasalamel says "Are you ready to die?!" like when he uses this move in Soul Calibur. This does 24-31 hits based off the charge, all doing 1% and flinching, the final hit doing average/above average knockback. The entire scythe spinning in front of Zass is disjointed in this attack.
This has very little starting or ending lag, but the duration of the move is a lengthy 2 seconds, meaning the foe can easily punish this by jumping over you to get behind you then smacking you, having more then enough time to do so. Still, the fact this comes out very fast and it actually hits right in front of you leaves this as one of your very limited defensive measure against people right up in your face. Still, this is rather easy to DI out of, so they could possibly only be hit by the first few hits then go behind you to punish. This is best used defensively or against walls.
In addition, this can also reflect projectiles. This is good if you're being massively camped against a foe, but a quick foe who can also camp can take advantage of the move's long duration to come up and punish you from behind.
Up Smash - Immortal Rise
Zasalamel lets go of his scythe, then extends out his arm and does motions with his fingers while said arm glows blue. This is the charging animation. As Zasalamel channels this magic, the scythe levitates up into the air as you charge the smash attack, able to go up to triple Zasalamel's height if you fully charge the attack. Upon releasing the charge, the scythe does a single slash that does 19% and above average knockback. the entire scythe being a disjointed hitbox. This is a good means of anti air, and while the actual scythe slash happens as soon as you release the charge, the scythe has to fall back down into Zasalamel's hand after it does the slash, meaning there's more ending lag the higher you make it go. Be careful when sending the scythe up high to chase people, as they could simply air dodge through it and come down to punish you with ease.
Down Smash - Raise Dead
A pile of bones and old clothes appear in front of Zasalamel as he turns to face the screen. Zasalamel extends out his arm and wiggles his fingers about as his arm glows blue to cast some sort of magic as he charges, various random parts of the mess of bones and clothes glowing blue as well as Zasalamel enchants them. Upon releasing the charge, the bones rise up to form a revenant and the clothes go up around the revenant. This has average start up lag. The revenant is average human size. This move does not instantly attack an enemy and works more like Snake's dsmash.
Once summoned, the revenant will stand in place, waiting for a target to come to it. Should anyone pass by the revanant, it will rather quickly do two slashes in succession with it's two blades. The first does flinching and 6% while the second does average knockback and 10%. These slashes have very bad ending lag. The Revenant will last for 20 seconds or until it's destroyed, shattering into a pile of bones. Most of the bones will fly into the background, but the skull remains as a weak throwing item like the wheels of Wario's bike. The Revenant has anywhere inbetween 15-35 stamina depending on the charge. Should Zasalamel try to form another Revenant while he already has one in play, the old one will instantly vanish.
If you leave your revenant to attack foes on your own, it's nearly useless, as people can destroy it or just as easily ignore it. How do you make use of your undead minion, then? By staying right up close to it. Have the revenant stay right in front of you to guard your vulnerable position while your scythe head reaches off far beyond it with your regulars attacks. This leaves you with no vulnerable points in your front, although it prevents you from leaving the revenant. Thankfully your attacks go through your revenant though, unlike Dedede and his minions, so you can make your foe come to you with your side B if your foe goes too far away without leaving your revenant's side.
*** AERIALS ***
Neutral Aerial - Meditate
Zasalamel turns to face the screen as his entire body glows blue. Zasalamel closes his normal eye and puts up his arms in a meditation pose, then meditates in midair for as long as you hold A (Maximum of 3 seconds). If you stay in the air for the full 3 seconds, Zasalamel's meditation will turn into a soul charge and the glowing aura around him will turn to green. Zasalamel goes into helpless after performing this attack, but has very little actual starting/ending lag.
If you do pull off the soul charge, the next attack you perform will do 2% more damage and more importantly have the ability to ignore shields, going right through them. This is only the very next attack though, and if you're hit the effect is lost.
If you have a revenant summoned, you can move it about with the control stick (It has Mario's running speed) while in this meditation pose. This allows you to multitask and is an easier way to set a revenant up in a new location then summoning a new one. The revenant must be standing still before it will do it's slashes at anyone who comes by.
Forward Aerial - Kafziel's Flight
Zasalamel holds the very end of the handle of his scythe with both hands and puts it over his shoulder as if it were a baseball bat for above average starting lag, then flings his scythe forwards. This will not be interrupted if Zasalamel lands on the ground while performing it. The scythe falls at Wario's floaty falling speed while going forward at Mario's running speed. Contact with the disjointed scythe does 14% and above average knockback. After traveling the distance of half Battlefield, the scythe will stop spinning and will start simply falling down to the ground like a rock.
After it falls to the ground, you can touch it to pick it up again, you unable to use any of your scythe based attacks until you do. If it falls off the edge though, you'll have to wait 20 seconds before a new will respawn in your hands, leaving you insanely vulneable. However; you can use your down special to control your scythe after you've thrown it, and if the scythe falls off the bottom of the screen while you're controlling it it respawns back in your hands instantly.
This is far too laggy to be used in most situations, but can potentially be used for gimping. Still, if you don't hit your mark with this attack, you're going to be punished either way. If you don't use down B, your arsenal is insanely limited for 20 seconds, and if you do use your down B then you run the risk of the foe getting back to the stage before your scythe respawns and punishing you with a big attack. Only use this when you know it will hit.
Back Aerial - Handle Barrier
Zasalamel holds the end of the handle of his scythe with both hands, then sticks it out directly horizontally behind him. The blade of the scythe is facing the background, meaning only the long handle of the move actually effects gameplay. This has nearly non existant starting or ending lag, but Zasalamel holds the scythe out in this position for an entire second, making it punishable none the less. The only hitbox on the move is when Zasalamel first jabs out the scythe, the opposite end of the handle being a weak low priority hitbox doing 8% and below average knockback.
What is the point of this horrendous move? While Zasalamel is holding his scythe out behind him, it's actually solid. It can't be jumped through and is treated like a platform. This means you can hold it out above someone to prevent them from going up to gimp them, or you could use it as a platform to help an ally to recover in a team battle. Due to how long this lasts this is very impractical to use yourself and should only be used when controlling Kafziel with your down special, as Zasalamel will oftentimes fall too far down during the second duration of this attack recover if he tries to gimp anyone personally.
Down Aerial - X Marks the Spot
Zasalamel slashes his scythe downwards diagonally with above average starting lag, then does the same motion but from an opposit diagonal angle. The second scythe slash follows the first up literally instantly, so the overall hitbox is essentially a disjointed X the size of Bowser below Zasalamel. Two slash marks in the shape of an X will appear where Zasalamel slashes for more dramatic effect. This is too laggy to use properly for the most part, and it doesn't even spike foes, simply doing 16% and above average knockback. This is among the laggiest aerials out there, and when coupled with Zasalamel's falling speed overall can rarely be used.
However, unlike most laggy aerials of this variety, this doesn't have horrible landing lag. Zasalamel will continue this move as if nothing happened if he lands on the ground before it finishes, but instead slashes an X into the ground. The hitbox is still present, but the range is only very small to either side of Zasalamel along with having it's priority massively lowered. However; the X that Zasalamel slashes into the grounded will stay. . .What use is it? Check out the uair.
Up Aerial - Curse of Reincarnation
Zasalamel lets go of his scythe for a brief moment, it glowing blue and levitating alongside him, then gets on his back in midair and quickly claps like Wario's uair, a shadow ball appearing between Zasalamel's palms for the hitbox. This has below average starting and ending lag for Zasalamel to put down and pick back up his scythe, but otherwise has the very similiar properties to Wario's uair, the most notable exception being lowered knockback (Damage stays the same, though). The shadow ball is rather small, keeping the range of this move small like Wario's uair. This is probably Zasalamel's best aerial, but Zasalamel's falling speed and the fact that there is both beginning lag and ending lag for the move prevents this from giving Zasalamel a remotely effective air game.
Anyway, if you have drawn an X in the ground with Zasalamel's dair, then the move is a good deal more complicated. Should you use the uair with an X created, then when you use the uair it will glow, and anyone within the radius of Bowser in it for a brief moment will get hit by the attack. This causes the X to vanish, it only being able to be used once.
Anybody hit by this attack will be cursed with Zasalamel's endless reincarnation. The next time they get KOd. . .They won't lose a stock! Muahahahahahahahah! How sinister! . . .Wait, what? You go through all this trouble to have to KILL THEM AGAIN?!?
Well, that's obviously not all it does. When the foe respawns on the platform, they'll of reincarnated as a younger version of themselves. This doesn't visually effect many characters, simply making Mario and Snake lose facial hair, for example. The actual effect on the battle is making the foe 30% lighter. This is best used on characters who are already horribly light. The characters Zasalamel hates most. This also serves as a good solution to Zasalamel's general problem of having a hard time KOing. This effect will last for the next 3 stocks on the enemy before they'll go back to their normal state. In a 3 stock match this would only be worth using on the very first stock, so try to use it as soon as you can if you intend on using it.
*** THROWS ***
Grab - Death's Embrace
Zasalamel reaches out with his scythe slowly, then pulls it up against himself swiftly, but lightly. The blade reaches out two thirds the distance of a Battlefield platform out, and anybody who gets swept in by it as Zasalamel pulls it back against himself will be grabbed. Once the foe is up against Zass, he holds them with one arm. This is rather laggy for a grab, but not as bad as the likes of Samus or Link.
Pummel - Head Lock
Zasalamel moves his arm holding the foe up around the victim's neck and squeezes hard. This does 4% but is very laggy for a pummel. Not horrendous, but it's still slower then even Bowser's.
Forward Throw - Blade Wheel
Zasalamel impales the foe on his scythe for 5%, then rapidly starts spinning around with the foe stuck on the scythe. After going very fast to form a wheel like graphic, the foe gets flung off the scythe forward with excellet knockback for a throw and another 6% damage. This is very long for a throw and leaves Zasalamel dizzy at the end due to having spun around so fast, but is the best KO option Zasalamel has. NEVER use this in a FFA, and in 1v1 only use this at high percents when you can recover from the dizzy state before your foe can punish you.
Back Throw - Kingu the Sly Lord
Zasalamel throws the victim to the ground for 5% damage, then impales his scythe blade into them for another 5%, saying "May you sleeep. . .". He then swings his scythe around to the opposite side he was facing, swinging it over his head before he does so. Once he releases the foe, they go flying off the scythe with good knockback for a throw and a final 4% damage. If you press A while Zasalamel is swinging the scythe to get it behind him, the foe will go flying off the scythe early in that direction. This is safer to use then the fthrow and you can throw the foe in any direction you please, but the actual knockback is less then the fthrow's. Whenever Zasalamel releases the foe, he finishes his sentence by shouting out "for eternity!". This lasts longer then most throws, be careful when using it in a FFA.
Up Throw - Carcass Hoist
Zasalamel impales the foe on his scythe head for 5%, then hoists his scythe up into the air. He then does a flinging motion with the scythe, sending them flying off the scythe for another 5% and below average (Even for a throw) upward knockback and above average hitstun. This throw can't compete with Zasalamel's others on it's own, but the thing is this throw can be used to chain grab. Use your up special to follow up the above average hitstun on the move to grab them right back out of throw and throw them up again. This works at around 0-40% and greatly helps Zasalamel in racking damage.
Down Throw - Marduk the Tempest
Zasalamel throws the foe to the ground for 4%, hops up on their back for another 4%. He reaches his hand down to lift the victim's head up, then puts his scythe down in front of the victim's face and smacks their head down into it. Zasalamel holds the foe's head down in the scythe, them taking 5 hits of 1% per second while in it, having to button mash to get out. This is very easy to escape, slightly easier then getting out of a grab. At early percents they'll get out nearly instantly, but at higher percents when it's harder to escape this can potentially rack up to 20% (After which it will end automatically). This isn't useful for damage racking at most times, but once they already have 60% or so, it's good for getting that last bit of damage you need to easily KO them. This lasts far too long to use in a FFA.
*** FINAL SMASH - HELLISH ABYSS ***
Zasalamel's blade turns into Irkalla, the blade used by him when he's in the form of Abyss. Zasalamel then curls up and starts spinning around like the first part of Ganondorf's up taunt, but much faster, and Irkalla levitates around him. A flash occurs over him, then he transforms and says "You who would stand against me. . .Prepare to die.". Abyss is still vulnerable in this transformation final smash, and it lasts 15 seconds. All of Abyss' scythe attacks have fire on them and go through shields with 2% more damage as if he used soul charge with his nair, and more importantly he has a new broken set of specials.
Neutral Special - Timestopper
Abyss' immortal golden eye glows. It is said to contain his very soul. . . Anyway, once Abyss' eye glows and you hold down B, the game starts "rewinding", everything happening in reverse as to what it did before. You can rewind up to 5 seconds depending on how long you hold B. However, you can't use this to simply rewind to avoid being hit, as the rewind will be interrupted if you get hit and you'll just take the damage and knockback from from the same attack again, in addition to what you already have. EVERYTHING rewinds. If you rewind a foe's recovery, they'll gain back their second jump and up B and simply recover again. This means you have to predict when you're going to be open, then rewind. You can't effectively rewind something after it's already happened, you have to rewind it to prevent it from happening in the first place.
This thankfully has nearly no start up lag, giving you plenty of lee way in rewinding just before the foe is about to hit you or get up too close. You can also prevent punishments that are right around the corner. Mash B like a madman when you know you're about to be hit in hopes of rewinding before the foe actually punishes you, as once you've been hit you can't prevent it.
There's no limit to how much you can rewind, and it will also rewind the final smash timer along with it, meaning this final smash has the potential to last much longer then it already does. To keep it from lasting forever though, the maximum you can hold the timer out for is 30 seconds, double the length of the final smash by default.
Side Special - Shadow Ball
Abyss starts charging up a shadow ball in his hand, bending over. He'll charge for as long as you hold B, and it only takes half as long to charge as Mewtwo's neutral special, yet is 1.5X larger and more powerful at max charge, as well as breaking through shields. It travels at the speed of Captain Falcon's running speed at max charge and never vanishes no matter how far it goes. The foe will HAVE to come up close to you or they'll be decimated by your long range options.
Up Special - The Past is the Present
Abyss vanishes in a patch of flames, then reappears where he was 5 seconds ago. Aside from the location of where he appears, this works just like Zelda' up special, there being flames to burn the foe for the same damage/knockback where he appears. In addition, the same flames will also appear when Abyss starts the teleporting. This greatly buffs up Abyss' recovery.
Down Special - Existence is Over
Abyss shouts out “It’s over!” as he leans back and does some sort of psychic like magic on you. This causes you to flinch no matter where you are (Assuming you're within half the length of Battlefield of Abyss) and take rapid hits, and this eats up shields alive. You take 50 hits over two seconds, each for 1% damage and flinching. To dodge the whole thing, you must shield until your shield’s about to break, then do a roll/sidestep, as if you just roll/sidestep then you won’t dodge the whole duration of the attack, and the only part that really matters is the final hit that kills you. Your character lets out a hurt noise for each and every one of the 50 hits, so this sounds very brutal, just like in Soul Calibur. This thankfully has predictable start up lag and punishable ending lag, but still. . .A chance to do 50%? Good lord.
Up Taunt - Hellish Soul
Abyss faces the camera and holds his scythe in front of himself, saying "Let the power of hellfire...sink into your soul.".
Side Taunt - Definition of Fear
Abyss extends out his hand not holding his scythe and says "Allow me to teach you the meaning of true fear.".
Down Taunt - Fragile Existence
Abyss chuckles, then says "This is absurd. I shall break you like a twig.".
*** OVERALL PLAYSTYLE***
The most basic idea of using Zasalamel is to fight at a range. While it is very automatic to constantly run up to a foe with nearly every character, Zasalamel requires a good deal more thought to use then that. Why so? Because Zasalamel has no reason whatsoever to ever approach the enemy. The further the distance between him and his enemy, the better.
So what do you do if you're not approaching? You want to try to predict your enemy's approaches and foil them with your long range moves. Zasalamel's amazing range allows him to hit foes before they get anywhere near close enough to hit him. This is by far Zasalamel's largest advantage.
Alright, now you've knocked the foe off the stage. What now? While you could try to gimp them, you have far better options. Setting up a skeleton to defend you should be your highest priority, and you'll want to skip by it for as long as you can. With your skeleton by your side you'll want to stay in that positon for the majority of the time, as it will cover up your most vulneable close range area from one side. Setting up a dtilt with a skeleton covering the distance between the scythe head and you is a fine defensive strategy. If you still have more time, setting up an X on the ground with your dair is also favorable if your foe is a light one and you're on the first stock. Another option would be to use your nair to charge up for an unblockable attack and to reposition your skeleton.
Alright, you're more then content when your foe is knocked off the stage. Everything you could possibly want set up is ready. Now you have time to gimp the foe! Zasalamel has no reason to ever go out personally to gimp his enemies when he can simply have his scythe do it with his down special, so go ahead and send it out, possibly with an fair if you're feeling daring, although the most practicle way to gimp would most probably be to use have the scythe use your bair.
Another key factor of Zasalamel is that he wants to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground for the most part, and generally will only use the more crazy properties of his aerials, particularly the dair/uair combo. When up in the air close against a foe, Zasalamel has essentially no options besides his uair, so you'll want to avoid that. Instead of going up in the air to combat an aerial foe, simply grab them out of the air with your up special or hit them with a nice usmash. The only time Zasalamel should actually be trying to hit foes up close with aerials should be when he's having his scythe do it.
Zasalamel is a decent damage racker, particularly with his excellent throw game. You'll want to try to grab a foe early on to chain grab them with uthrow to up special to get an easy 40%, and even after that Zasalamel's other throws are still fine damage racking options, most notably his dthrow. However; Zasalamel does have a problem with KOing. While Zasalamel has plenty of moves with average/above average knockback, they don't go over the line that really makes them kill moves. Not a single one. Against slower, heavier foes your best bet would probably be attempting to gimping them at earlier percentages, but against quick light ones who could easily get around your gimping game you'll want to hit them with a uair to make them lighter on your first stock. This will allow you to KO them as early as a standard power character due to their newfound lightweight status.
***
*** EXTRAS ***
*** Extra Animations ***
Up Taunt - Last man on earth
Zasalamel holds his scythe above his head with both hands and says "There is no need for two of us on this earth!".
Side Taunt - Soul Requiem
Zasalamel beckons the foe to come to him with one hand, saying "Come, I shall hold a requiem for your soul.".
Down Taunt - Frail Mortals
Zasalamel folds his arms as his scythe levitates next to him, laughing "Ha ha ha... so frail.".
Entrance - Eager for Death
Zasalamel comes in from a portal like Ganondorf, but far more formally and casually then Ganondorf. He mumbles under his breath "Let's finish this quickly.", it barely being audible.
Win Pose 1 - Wasted Time
Zasalamel impales the end of his scythe handle into the ground, turning to face away from the camera, and says "This was a complete waste of time.".
Win Pose 2 - Mortal Limitations
Zasalamel turns to face the losers and does a sweeping motion with his arm to get their attention, saying "Do you now understand your limitations?".
Win Pose 3 - Immortal Superiority
Zasalamel's scythe levitates next to him as Zasalamel has his arms folded. Zasalamel says "What is it? Did you actually believe that we were equal?" then starts laughing.
Loss Pose - Seeking Death
Zasalamel looks horribly uninterested, rolling his normal eye and clapping as his scythe levitates next to him. Zasalamel ocasionally stops clapping to drum his fingers on his scythe next to him impatiently.
Wiimote Noise
"This is your end. I shall put you out of your misery."
ALTERNATE COSTUMES AND COLORS
Default Alternate Colors:
-Default
-Blood red robes (Red team)
-Dark green robes (Green team)
-Dark blue robes (Blue team)
-Black robes
-Golden robes, white skin
Zasalamel's attire from his Soul Calibur 4 ending after still being cursed with reincarnation, living on into modern times.
Alternate Colors:
-Default
-Red suit and tie (Red team)
-Blue suit, vest, and tie (Blue team)
-Dark green suit, vest, and tie, light green shirt (Green team)
-Purple suit, green vest, blue shirt, red tie
-Orange suit and tie, white skin
*** KIRBY HAT ***
Kirby gains Zasalamel's white hood and his golden eye. Kirby can use Zasalamel's neutral special, Immortal Eye, in the exact same manner as Zasalamel. If you give Kirby a brown alt color and have him float in front of Zasalamel's head, Zasalamel will look very much like a bobble head figure.
*** SNAKE CODEC CONVERSATION ***
Push Select
Snake: So just who is this guy? He looks like he's come right out of medieval times from a tale of souls and swords. . .
Mei Ling: Well. . .From what I've been researching, that would be because he IS right out of medieval times from a tale of souls and swords. . .
Snake: What's that suppossed to mean?!?
Mei Ling: Zasalamel has lived for over 400 years through a reincarnation spell. He's seen the rise and fall of civilizations first hand. . .He's got to be incredibly experienced.
Snake: Interesting, but no mastery of a mere scythe can hope to match modern technology.
Mei Ling: It's not just the scythe, Snake. How do you think he gained the reincarnation in the first place? He's incredibly skilled in magic and has control over the flow of time. He'll go back in time ever so slightly to know what you'll do before you do.
Snake: We'll just see, won't we? I'm not exactly inexperienced myself. . .
-End Transmission-
*** ASSIST TROPHY - TIRA ***
Tira emerges from the assist trophy in a eerily happy mood, saying "I can't wait to see you in pieces!" as she plays with her blade as if it were a normal hula hoop. After playing around, Tira starts running after foes, having Captain Falcon's running speed and two average jumps. She can do a simple sliding kick dashing attack for 8% with below average knockback and a very quick slash from her blade that does 15% and average knockback. Tira is rather weak in this form, and unlike most assist trophies, is actully vulnerable, having 50 stamina. Tira won't get killed off on her own for a lengthy 60 seconds, so you'd be best off in finishing her yourself. However; after taking 25 damage, her bipolarity disorder kicks in, making her go from extremely happy to extremely pissed. Her attacks are even faster (Literally no lag AT ALL) in this state, and she gains the ability go grab foes (Working like a playable character's grab) by trapping them inside her blade weapon for you to finish them off.
*** STAGE - CLOCK TOWER ***
Zasalamel's stage. It is a stone clock tower stated to be located at the corner of a quiet temple outside the edge of an unnamed town. The stage is placed on the top tier, with the glass clock and the inside mechanism serving as background. It is said Zasalamel visits this place ever since it was constructed since it's the only place which reminds him of the passage of time, having lost his sense of time over the course of his countless lives. He also uses the stage in the Tales of Souls mode as setup to trap those searching Soul Edge, attempting to strike them first with a falling gear before deciding to fight the player.
In Smash Bros, the stage looks the same as it did in Soul Calibur 3 for the most part, you fighting on the same spinning top tier gear of the clock tower. The spinning would realistically push you into the background, but due to the 2D nature of Smash Bros. this has no effect. However, there are several rats going about on the playing field area of the old abandoned clock tower.
Every once in a while, one of the rats will briefly come out from the background to cross the stage, and they pass a player they will trip them. There are only 3 rats on the stage, and they can be attacked and killed in a single hith when they pass, the trip having tiny priority.
More rarely one of the giant cogs from Zasalamel's side special (No portal appears) will become unattached from the background and roll across the stage. The cog functions just like the one in his side special. This cannot be prevented, but you'll see it slowly coming loose before it falls down onto the stage for good warning.
Stage Music:
-Time Marches On (Soul Calibur 3 Clock Tower Theme)
-Bravely Folk Song (Soul Blade Cervantes Theme)
-No Regrets (Soul Calibur 3 Pirate Raid Theme)
-Eternal Struggle (Soul Calibur 2 Pirate Alcove Theme)
-Sail Over the Storm (Soul Calibur 3 Indian Port Theme)
-Ordinary Pain (Soul Calibur 2 Money Pit - Top Tier Theme)
-Blind Loyalty (Soul Calibur 3 Secret Money Pit Theme)
-Chasing Downstream (Soul Calibur Water Labyrinth Theme)
-Worth Dying For (Soul Calibur City of Water Theme)
-Born from Chaos (Soul Calibur Theme of Astaroth and Lizardman)
-Raise thy Sword (Soul Calibur 2 Ostrheinsburg Chapel Theme)
-Forsaken Sanctuary (Soul Calibur 3 Forsaken Sanctuary Theme)
