Bayonetta inSuper Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Bayonetta
Other playable appearance	inUltimate
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Infernal Climax
Tier	S (1)

Bayonetta (ベヨネッタ,Bayonetta) is a character and newcomer inSuper Smash Bros. 4, and is the seventh and finaldownloadable character. She was announced alongsideCorrin during theSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U - Final Video Presentation on December 15th, 2015 and both were released on February 3rd, 2016. She is the sixth third-party character to be introduced inSSB4, following fellowSEGA characterSonic,Capcom'sMega Man andRyu,Bandai Namco'sPac-Man andSquare Enix'sCloud. According toMasahiro Sakurai, Bayonetta was added to the game as the winner of theSmash Bros. Fighter Ballot, being the highest-voted character in Europe, and among the top 5 in North America, making her the overall #1 pick worldwide among negotiable and realizable characters. It was later revealed on October 5th, 2021 in "Battling with Sora" thatDisney'sSora was the actual winner, but it has been implied that Sora's inclusion at the time was impractical for unspecified reasons. Her default appearance is based on her redesign forBayonetta 2, but with slightly modified proportions, most notably in her height. Bayonetta's English voice actress, Hellena Taylor, and her Japanese voice actress, Atsuko Tanaka, both reprise their roles inSuper Smash Bros. 4.

Bayonetta ranks 1st out of 54 on the tier list, placing her at the top of the S tier. Bayonetta's top placing is primarily due to her unrivaled combo game; almost all of her attacks can reliably combo into one another, leading to powerful 50/50 mixups at high percentages, and she even haszero-to-death potential. Furthermore, a majority of her best KO attacks can be easily comboed into, and she can also start combos by usingWitch Time orBat Within on opponents who make mistakes, giving her a safe approach; further bolstering her approach is a number of decent zoning options, such asBullet Climax and her uniqueBullet Arts. Bayonetta also boasts a long, safe recovery with bothAfter Burner Kick andWitch Twist granting significant distance, directional flexibility, and enormous hitboxes, which is further supplemented with her ability towall jump andwall cling. She herself is capable of edge-guarding many characters with her quick aerials, including several which can becomesex kicks if held and a number of powerful grounded options as well, such as a large and powerfulmeteor smash in her down smash.

Although Bayonetta is widely considered to be the best character inSmash 4, she still has her weaknesses. Bayonetta's primary flaw is her poor frame data on the ground, with most of her grounded attacks coming out on frame 7 or later, as well as frequently having high ending lag, especially on her smash attacks. Some of her specials gain more landing lag the more she uses them in the air, making her landings relatively exploitable if her combos whiff. Because of their high lag, her attacks are unsafe on shield while also dealing minimal shield damage. Furthermore, despite her long recovery, Bayonetta is still considered a lightweight, and when considering her largehurtbox, she is easier to hit and KO than most other characters. Finally, players must exercise caution with her Witch Time, due to its poor effectiveness on multi-hitting moves, and its lowering efficiency if used too often. Her flaws are outshined by her overwhelming strengths, however, and thus, Bayonetta still remains at 1st place on the tier list.

Bayonetta has achieved excellent tournament results and representation, even after she received significant nerfs in update 1.1.6. Early results came from players such as9B andPink Fresh, the latter winning2GGT: KTAR Saga. Many other Bayonetta players appeared as the metagame progressed, includingCaptainZack,Lima,Mistake, andSalem, the latter of whom challengedZeRo for best player in the world in the second half of 2017, while many other players eventually picked up Bayonetta as a secondary or co-main, most notablyTweek. By the end of competitiveSmash 4, it was common to see several Bayonetta players in the top 8 at majors, and as such, many players agreed she was overpowered, though no widespread ban was ever implemented. Though Bayonetta's dominance mainly took place in the game's final two years, she effectively definedSmash 4's legacy and is widely considered to be one of the most powerful and dominant characters across the entireSmash series.

Attributes[edit]

Bayonetta, much like in her home series, is a combo-heavy fighter, having many multi-hitting attacks designed to link into each other. She is notably larger than most humanoid characters; her attacks have excellent range and large hitboxes. Her corresponding large hurtbox and her surprisingly lightweight, though, render her fragile. Her movement stats are mediocre: moderately highair acceleration,jump height,fall speed, andgravity, but slowwalking speed, averagedashing speed, and below averageair speed. Despite this, her mobility andrecovery are among the best in the game in practice thanks to her movement-based aerial special moves.

Bayonetta's greatest and most defining strength is her infamouspunishment game. Up tilt, down tilt, up throw, forward aerial's first hit andHeel Slide serve as good combo starters; they all launch opponents into the air, where from there she can mix and match her attacks including, but not limited to, her aerial attacks (most notably multiple forward aerials),Witch Twist andAfter Burner Kick (which lets her perform the move again if it lands on an opponent), which can result in massive damage and canwall of pain or evenzero-death opponents. This also gives her a goodedge-guarding game, especially with a powerful back aerial, a neutral and up aerial that can frame-trap recovering opponents, and ameteor smash in down aerial that is incredibly powerful even at low percentages and surprisingly recoverable for astall-then-fall.

Bullet Arts is a special mechanic unique to Bayonetta. For most of her attacks and specials, holding the button extends the animation, holding the final pose, and firing her guns. She fires up to ten bullets (with some exceptions), depending on how long the button is held. The shots have long range (about half the length of Final Destination), and deal nohitstun unless connecting at point blank range. The shots generally follow the direction of the attack, but not always; for example, down tilt's Bullet Arts extension fires both in front and behind. The bullets are not counted as projectiles, but instead are disjointedhitboxes attached to Bayonetta; they cannot be reflected or absorbed. The Bullet Arts extensions of her aerials are particularly notable: they have almost no end lag, and she can freely move back and forth while she fires. This makes them very difficult to challenge when used inneutral. In addition, the Bullet Arts extension of neutral air and up air gives them a second launching hitbox, giving more possibilities for combo routes. Bullet Arts complements her neutral special,Bullet Climax, which is a more traditional projectile attack that is useful for edge-guarding and KOing offstage opponents at higher percentages.

Her down special,Witch Time, is an extremely powerful high-risk/high-reward tool. It is a counterattack; when triggered, instead of striking back directly, it slows down targets to 1/8 of their speed for a brief time. This leaves them wide open to Bayonetta's powerful combo game, or simply a chargedsmash attack (although her smash attack damage multiplier is reduced to 1.2x on slowed opponents).

Bayonetta's other unique mechanic is Bat Within, which, when triggered, negates all knockback and reduces the damage of any attack that hits her. It triggers during the startup of her dodges, and in the cooldown of her down special (just after the true counterattack window). It also teleports her a short distance if the player is holding a direction, often letting her reposition favorably. In effect, Bat Within gives Bayonetta a frame 1air dodge andsidestep, and a frame 3roll; it often lets her escape situations that are impossible for other characters.

Regarding the strength of her moveset, Bayonetta also has some notably potent and/or useful attacks that can help her close out stocks, even more so with the help of her Witch Time, which serves as the glue on her surplus punishment game. All of her smash attacks are powerful and useful, with forward smash having the biggest hitbox out of them, up smash being the fastest and strongest, and down smash being a meteor smash that serves as an extremely useful edgeguarding move. Her up aerial is her main aerial to KO out of her combos, as they often take the opponent to the upper blast line, where she can finish the combo off with an up aerial to net a relatively early KO. Back aerial, while having rather slow startup, is her most powerful and damaging aerial, has incredibly long range, and can be used to finish an opponent in a similar vein to her up aerial, through the use of a combo that carries the opponent to the lateral blast lines. Down aerial's notably high base knockback often KOs opponents at very low percentages if they are below or at the stage's height. Her forward throw is strong, though due to it launching opponents at a slightly high angle and being commonly used, it can often fail to KO, and thus it is one of her last resort KOing options. Witch Twist is also infamous for causing very early KOs due to the hits' high base knockback.

Another of Bayonetta's strengths lies in her recovery, arguably the best and most flexible in the game; After Burner Kick gives her fair horizontal distance, although it can only be used once unless she hits an opponent with it. While Witch Twist comes up vertically short, she can reuse it after a midair jump. Her wall jump/cling also helps her recovery and can often leave the opponent in an unfavorable position. Lastly, Witch Twist has a special quirk where she can midair jump and immediately use the move up to three frames after, which restores her midair jump and lets her jump up to four times, allowing for recovery mix-ups. Her punishment game and recovery complement each other well, as the immense range of her special attacks allows her to easilyedge-guard break opponents, and edgeguard or KO them in return. Thus, likeSheik, Bayonetta is among the hardest characters to successfully edgeguard, with very few characters, such asPalutena, having options that can keep her away from the stage. Lastly, due to the aforementioned points above in her immense range, lingering hitboxes, excellent recovery, and fast escape/reversal options in After Burner Kick, Witch Twist, and Witch Time, Bayonetta has the best disadvantage state in the game, as she can immediately turn the tides on her opponent if they're careless.

Even with her set of strengths, Bayonetta still has some weaknesses. Her tall frame and light weight make her rather easy to combo and KO (though it is worth mentioning she technically has a frame 1 air dodge, making her harder to combo by characters without fast enough attacks or whose combo ability isn't perfectly linear). Her frame data is also quite polarized: while her aerial attacks have very low ending lag, many of her grounded attacks have notable start-up and ending lag, especially her smash attacks, making them unsafe on shield, and leaves her vulnerable to opponents that have better frame data than her while grounded, likePikachu orLittle Mac, which is further compounded by her attacks dealing minimal shield damage. Her smash attacks alsodo not terminate on hit, rendering them unable to hit any character with an active hitbox, while being unable to trade with most attacks if they make contact with her although this problem can easily be solved by hitting the opponent with a weak attack during Witch Time and then using her smash attacks. Her position after performing After Burner Kick and/or Witch Twist can be exploitable, as the more of these moves she uses in the air, the longerlanding lag she will receive at the end, leaving Bayonetta punishable if they are whiffed and if she is forced to land on the ground (though she can avoid this by landing with an aerial attack to knock the opponent away, using Bullet Climax or Witch Time to cancel her landing lag, or retreating to a ledge).

Despite Bullet Arts granting her a relatively good neutral game, her approach is poor and linear, as her few options in dash attack, dash grab, and Heel Slide are predictable. Despite her abundance of KOing options, if she can't end her opponent's stock early with her combos, she is reliant on Witch Time to land her smash attacks, spacing to land her back and up aerials, or on forward throw to KO the opponent if her level ofrage is high enough. When it comes to escaping her combos, Bayonetta has a 2× SDI multiplier on Witch Twist and both versions of After Burner Kick, causing her combos to fail if the player doesn't read their opponent's DI and SDI, and lessening her zero-death combos' efficacy. Her rolls, sidestep, and air dodge all have noticeable ending lag (though her rolls end three frames earlier thanSamus's), and the former two also have among the slowest start-ups out of all the characters in terms of invincibility (though Bat Within somewhat compensates for this). Witch Twist doesn't travel much vertical distance on its own, making her recovery short-ranged if she doesn't use her midair jump or has used it too late. Finally, she lacks custom specials, like the other DLC characters, though due to the huge utility her special moveset already has, it is less of a weakness to her.

Overall, Bayonetta's strengths noticeably outweigh her weaknesses. She can dish out large amounts of punishing damage in her combos once she reads the opponent and exploits their vulnerabilities, but must also be careful not to let her opponent take advantage of her own weaknesses, though, due to the high range and priority her attacks have. Doing so is a difficult task to begin with. Perhaps the only characters that she has problems against are those who can camp well against her, or have much a much better neutral game than she does, such asRosalina & Luma orDiddy Kong for the former point andSheik for the latter one, but outside of that, she can easily dominate and punish characters who cannot properly capitalize on her weaknesses. She has arguably the highest tournament representation among the entire roster, with top smashers includingSalem,Tweek,Mistake,CaptainZack,Lima,Abadango,Chag,tyroy, and many more using her with consistently strong results in regional and national tournaments. However, while Bayonetta was quickly considered the best character in the game upon release, opinions varied on how dominating she was in tournaments; while some regions went as far as to ban her from tournaments due to her overpowering potential, others claimed that Bayonetta's supposed potential did not yield the overwhelming success other characters had previously attained, such as Sheik and Diddy Kong. Update1.1.6 ultimately nerfed a variety of Bayonetta's attributes; while not significantly crippled, her tournament results and perception both fell in response. Despite these nerfs, she is still an incredibly powerful character, and her excellent tournament results have led to her being widely seen as the best character in the game and one of the most competitively viable characters in the entire roster when her high learning curve is fully mastered.

Update history[edit]

Most likely as a result of her dominance in the competitive scene, Bayonetta was noticeably nerfed in game updates. She was at first slightly nerfed in update1.1.5: her up smash and forward smash are both slightly weaker, her down aerial has more ending lag, herHeel Slide has more ending lag, herWitch Twist deals less damage, and her infamousWitch Time has more ending lag, shorter duration, decays more with each use, and has a slower regeneration rate after usage. However, these changes did not reduce her effectiveness as she was still widely perceived as the best character in the game due to her immense strengths, while the effectiveness of other top-tier characters, notablySheik andZero Suit Samus, was toned down in the same patch, further exacerbating her dominance.

However, update1.1.6 significantly nerfed Bayonetta by directly worsening her combo game, with the effectiveness of her combo starters being weakened and her combos becoming easier to escape. Her down tilt and forward aerial both have slightly more ending lag, while the former has less range and the latter has less knockback on the third hit, both versions ofAfter Burner Kick andWitch Twist have doubledSDI multipliers that make it easier to escape her combos, upward ABK has increased knockback scaling that renders it worse for comboing at high percents, downward ABK's vertical launch angle is now a more horizontal launch angle that only combos into upward ABK at high percents (turned from a low percent combo into a high percent combo) and Witch Twist has altered knockback values that limit its combo ability at higher percentages.

Despite these nerfs, however, Bayonetta has been compared toDiddy Kong in that while she initially seemed to be far less powerful after her nerfs, her greatest strengths have remained intact, and she is still considered to be the best character in the game.

1.1.5

• Bayonetta's shielding animation has been changed so her legs are not spaced as far apart, which could cause thin grabs (e.g. most tethers) to miss.
• Forward smash deals less knockback (25 base/105 scaling → 26/102), hindering its KO potential.
• Up smash has less knockback scaling (92 → 90), slightly hindering its KO potential.
• Down aerial has more ending lag (FAF 43 → 48), making it considerably riskier to use off stage.
• Heel Slide's second hit has more startup (frame 53 → 54) and ending lag (FAF 68 → 73).
• Heel Slide's second hit has a longer duration (frames 53-57 → 54-59).
• Witch Twist deals less damage (4% (hit 1 grounded)/3% (hit 1 aerial)/0.3% (loop hits)/8.5%/7.5% (total grounded/aerial) → 3%/2%/0.2%/7%/6%).
• Witch Time has more ending lag (FAF 45 → 50).
• Witch Time's slowdown duration scales less as the opponent's percent increase (0.2 → 0.1), reducing its slowdown time at higher percents.
• Witch Time's minimum slowdown time is shorter (30 frames → 20).
• Witch Time decays more with each use (50 frames → 75 frames).
• Witch Time regenerates slower (0.08 frames per frame → 0.06 frames per frame).

Technical changelist

Comparison of Bayonetta's shielding animation between 1.1.4 and 1.1.5. The original version could have grabsmiss between her separated legs.

1.1.6

• Forward aerial's first two hits deal less damage (3.8%/2.8% → 3%/2.2%), while the third hit has lower knockback scaling (82 → 68). In addition, aframe speed multiplier of 1.2x has been added to frame 29. This makes the move autocancel on frame 35 and be interruptible on frame 40.
• UpwardAfter Burner Kick has higher knockback scaling (40/30/100 → 50/38/112), which makes it more difficult to combo at high percentages.
• Downward After Burner Kick deals less damage (8% → 6.5%), has a different launch angle (80° → 60°), less range (6.5 → 4.5) and a higher SDI multiplier (1x → 2x). This makes the move much worse at comboing, even if the opponent applies no DI.
• Down tilt has less range (3.5 → 2.8) and slightly more ending lag (FAF: 26 → 27).
• Down aerial's landing hit has lower knockback scaling (140 → 135).
• Witch Twist has a higher SDI multiplier (1x → 2x), allowing opponents to escape her combos and KO confirms. The upper part of the middle hit also deals less knockback (160 fixed/100 scaling → 140/97) and all have less range (Y offset: 24 → 21, radius: 8 → 7).
  • Due to Witch Twist's autolink angle knockback, the change in SDI multiplier allows opponents to be KO'd easily at early percent near close to the upper blast line.
• Last hit of first Witch Twist deals less knockback (50 base/105 scaling → 55/80), allowing for more follow-ups at higher percentages.
• Last hits of first and second Witch Twist has a smaller hitbox (radius: 9 → 8.5) and lower vertical positioning (Y offset: 20 → 19). The last hit of second Witch Twist has increased base knockback (30 → 50).

Moveset[edit]

• Bayonetta receives various amounts of landing lag depending on the amount of aerials and special moves she performs in midair before landing. For more info, seeBayonetta Recovery Frames.
• Bayonetta canwall jump andwall cling.

For a gallery of Bayonetta's hitboxes, seehere.

Bullet Arts[edit]

Bat Within[edit]

Stats[edit]

Announcer call[edit]

• English/Japanese/Chinese

• French

• German

• Italian

• Spanish

On-screen appearance[edit]

• Emerges from her Bat Within form while surrounded by the Umbra Witches' symbol, then proceeds to wield her guns.

Taunts[edit]

• Up taunt: Twirls around, moves both arms around her in a graceful manner, then strikes a pose with both arms over her head, saying, "If you need to learn how to talk to a lady, ask your mum." (レディの扱い方、ママに教えて貰いなさい,If you can't handle a lady, ask your mum.) The ending is slightly different depending on the direction Bayonetta faces. It is based on her long taunt fromBayonetta 2.
• Side taunt: Gracefully spins around, then points both guns directly in front of herself, saying, "New 'do, dead you." (動くと死ぬわよ,You move, you die.) The quote comes from her short taunt while wieldingSalamandra inBayonetta 2.
• Down taunt: Strikes a number of poses while flourishing her guns before looking away and then looking forward, while her glasses briefly emit a light purple glint upon concluding. Based on the dances she performs prior to fighting the firstJoy she encounters inBayonetta.
  • Due to the length of Bayonetta's taunts, they are interruptible much earlier than they would suggest, with the first actionable frame of each occurring about halfway through their animations.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses[edit]

• Waves one of her guns in an inviting motion.
• Holds her left gun in front of herself, and her right gun upward beside her head. This idle pose only occurs once she ends any ground attack, and reverts to her standard idle animation after a few seconds.

Crowd cheer[edit]

Victory poses[edit]

• Faces her back to the screen while holding her guns up beside her face, then performs a pirouette before concluding with a pose that involves her aiming her guns in front of herself, saying, "That all you got?" (全力を見せてよ,Show me your full power.) or "You're making it easy." (楽勝ね,An easy win.)
• Performs theBreak Dance while either saying "Dreadful." (退屈だわ,How tedious.) or "Don't make me beg." while her glasses briefly emit a light purple glint upon concluding. The quote comes from her short taunt while wieldingTakemikazuchi inBayonetta 2.
• Strikes a number of poses while flourishing her guns before concluding by looking away and then looking forward while saying "Miss me, baby?" (私はここよ,I'm right here.) while her glasses briefly emit a whitish purple glint upon concluding. This is a shortened version of her down taunt.

Incompetitive play[edit]

Most historically significant players[edit]

See also:Category:Bayonetta players (SSB4)

•  9B - One of the greatest Japanese Bayonetta players of all time, and one of the first Bayonetta players to succeed at the highest level of competitive play, winning bothSumabato 9 andSumabato 16 as well as placing 4th atUmebura Japan Major 2017 and 5th atShots Fired 2. Due to his success, he is considered one of the greatest JapaneseSmash 4 players of all time, ranking among the region's top 10 for most of competitive play. At his peak, he was also ranked 17th on thePGR v1, and was eventually ranked 44th on theall-time ranking.
•  Abadango - The best Bayonetta player in Japan. He picked up the character in 2017 as a co-main alongsideMewtwo, but gradually used the character more in competitive play. He won several events with only Bayonetta or primarily Bayonetta, includingUmebura 27 andUmebura 33, and has placed top 8 at many other events, most notably being the runner-up atEVO Japan 2018 andSmash Sounds. As such, he was considered the best player in Japan in 2018 while playing both characters, and endedSmash 4 ranking 13th on theall-time ranking with Bayonetta listed as his primary character.
•  CaptainZack - One of the greatest American Bayonetta players of all time. He was widely considered the best in the first half of 2017 due to his performances at several of the largest events of thePGR v3 season, including placing 4th at bothGENESIS 4 and2GGC: Civil War, leading him to rank 7th that season. Though he eventually lost the title to Salem, he remained a strong contender for the title, ranking in the top 10 again on thePGR v5 and placing 2nd atEVO 2018 and 4th atCEO 2018. Due to his success, he was ranked 15th on theall-time ranking.
•  ikep - One of the best Bayonetta players in Japan, especially in 2016 where he was ranked in the country's top 10 and wonSumabato Tokaigi Qualifier over many of Japan's best players at that time, includingKameme,Shuton, and9B. Outside of that performance, he has also wonUmebura 26 and placed top 8 at several other large Japanese events between 2016 and 2017, such as 3rd atSumabato 11 and 4th atSumabato 17. Though he was never ranked on thePGR, he ranked in the top 100 globally onOrionRank in those 2 years, and was eventually ranked 71st on theall-time ranking.
•  JK - One of the best Bayonetta players in North America in 2017 who was best known for his 2nd-place finish atClutch City Clash 2, where he defeatedElegant,Trela, andJavi. Alongside several other noteworthy performances that year, including placing 7th at2GGC: GENESIS Saga and 9th atEVO 2017, and wins over several other ranked players, he was eventually ranked on bothPGR rankings that year and peaked at 37th on thePGR v4. His career was marred with several controversies, however, which ended his competitive career by 2018, and prevented his recognition on theall-time ranking.
•  Lima - One of the best Bayonetta players in North America in the game's later years, coming to prominence during thePGR v4 season after placing 7th at2GGC: MkLeo Saga and 9th atEVO 2017. He was especially considered one of the best American players in 2018 due to winningEVO 2018, the largest event of the year, and placing 5th atEGLX 2018,Get On My Level 2018, andMomoCon 2018. Though not ranked in the top 10 on thePGR due to the absence of a ranking for the second half of 2018, Lima was ranked 8th on theOrionRank 2018, and was ultimately ranked 20th on theall-time ranking.
•  Mistake - One of the best Bayonetta players in North America inSmash 4's later years, and was the best player in Canada in 2018, becoming the only Canadian player to dethroneAlly inSmash 4. He first came to prominence during thePGR v4 season, after finishing 4th at2GGC: SCR Saga and 5th atSuper Smash Con 2017. He became a top 10 player in the world in 2018, owing to runner-up finishes atGENESIS 5 andShine 2018, among several other top 8 finishes at majors. He was ranked 6th on thePGR v5 and 4th on theOrionRank 2018, and finishedSmash 4 ranking 25th on theall-time ranking. He is also considered the bestSmash 4 player in the post-Ultimate metagame, winning 3 of the first 4Smash 4 majors during this time.
•  Pink Fresh - One of the first successful Bayonetta players in the highest level of competitive play, due to winning2GGT: KTAR Saga, which stood as Bayonetta's best victory until Salem's rise in 2017, and placing 3rd atGlitch and 7th atPound 2016, making him one of the most successful Bayonetta players prior to the character's sudden rise in 2017. Due to his success, he was one of two Bayonetta players ranked on theinaugural PGR and eventually peaked at 24th on thePGR v2. He continued to place well after that season, such as placing 9th atRoyal Flush, and endedSmash 4 ranking 60th on theall-time ranking.
•  Salem - The greatest Bayonetta player of all time. He was first known for winningCollision XIV, where he became the first player to ever double-eliminateZeRo, and placing 2nd atKTAR XIX. He later became a contender for the best in the world during thePGR v4 season due to winningEVO 2017,DreamHack Atlanta 2017, and2GGC: Fire Emblem Saga; he was ultimately ranked 2nd that season. Outside of those victories, he has won 2 other majors —Smash 4 Boot Camp andShine 2018 — and has the most major wins out of any other solo-Bayonetta player. Due to this success, he was ranked 6th on thePGR 100; the highest ranking among any Bayonetta player.
•  Tweek - One of the greatest Bayonetta players of all time, picking up the character as a secondary to his other characters in mid-2017 before becoming one of his primary characters by the new year. He was considered the second-best player in the world when he played Bayonetta, ranking 2nd on thePGR v5 and winning several majors with Bayonetta, includingEGLX 2018,MomoCon 2018, and2GG: Hyrule Saga, making him the only other Bayonetta player to have multiple major victories duringSmash 4's prime. He was eventually ranked 7th on theall-time ranking, with Bayonetta as his primary character.
•  tyroy - One of the best Bayonetta players in the United States who was known for his prowess at Midwest events, including multiple top 8 performances atMidwest Mayhem events such as placing 2nd atMidwest Mayhem 2 and 5thMidwest Mayhem 9: Old vs New, and finishing close to top 8 at several Midwest majors, including placing 9th atSmash 'N' Splash 3,Frostbite 2018, andSmash 'N' Splash 4. He peaked at 39th on thePGR v5 and was eventually ranked 55th on theall-time ranking. He is also one of the bestSmash 4 players in the post-Ultimate metagame, being the runner-up atSuper Smash Con 2019 andSuper Smash Con 2022.
•  Zackray - A rising star in the final year of competitive play who was one of the best players in Japan during this time, co-maining Bayonetta alongsideCorrin. He used both characters at his breakout event, placing 2nd atUmebura Tokaigi Qualifier 2, and later used both characters, alongsideMarth, to winSumabato 27 andSumabato Smash 4 Final. Though unranked on the mainPGR rankings, he was ranked 26th on theOrionRank 2018 and was ultimately ranked 88th on theall-time ranking, ranking with both characters on both rankings.

Tier placement, history and tournament bans in various regions[edit]

See also:Character legality#Bayonetta

Bayonetta was, along withCorrin, one of the only two characters to miss out on the first4BRtier list, due to them being released two days after the tier list was released. Her initial perception on the community has been, however, positive since her release, albeit in a controversial way. Players pointed out her abundance of strengths, namely her extremely strong combo game withzero to death potential, her excellent recovery, a decent neutral game despite her average mobility, the strength of her moveset despite being a light character alongside guaranteed KO setups withWitch Time, and the ability to punish the opponent for trying to punish her due to the former move. Despite her strengths being slightly toned down in update1.1.5, the nerfs toSheik andZero Suit Samus in the same patch further bolstered the controversy surrounding her. Players stated that she was too good in competitive play and compared her toBrawl'sMeta Knight.

Bayonetta was eventually nerfed in update1.1.6 and her tournament results and perception among the community declined as a result. Even so, while her perception suddenly dropped in the eyes of many smashers, it gradually became positive again due to her players adopting a newer, more creative playstyle, similar toDiddy Kong after update1.0.8. While her results were initially not as amazing as before, her strong tournament representation and results culminated in her being placed at 11th place on the second4BR tier list. Bayonetta's representation and results would grow even more as time passed, in particular due toSalem,CaptainZack,Pink Fresh andsaj's strong results within their regions, with the former two also making it to top eight at two major tournaments. As a result of this, she moved up to 1st on the third tier list, another similarity to Diddy Kong with the previous tier list. This tier rise is the second largest between the second and third tier lists, with players stating that while the nerfs did make a difference in how simple it was to pick her up, they did not hold her back from being the best character in the game.

At first, opinions on Bayonetta's placement on the tier list were mixed, as some players were in favor of her taking the top spot, whereas others believed that her dominance was not as high as other characters like Diddy Kong and Sheik. However, following Salem's victories at supermajorsEVO 2017 andDreamHack Atlanta 2017, most players agreed that she was the best character in the game, which, combined with Bayonetta's more consistent results, allowed her to hold on to 1st place on the fourth and final tier list.

By the end of the game's main competitive lifespan, Bayonetta's 1st place status was unchallenged, as numerous top players includingMkLeo andTweek began using her. Most major tournaments in 2018 had at least two to three Bayonetta players in the top eight, and by the end of thePGR v5 season, there were five players ranked with Bayonetta in the top ten, the most out of all the characters in the game. Her extreme dominance in the metagame created a tremendous amount of hate from theSmash community, with a large portion of the community stating that they do not enjoy playing against the character because of her perceived brokenness.

Bayonetta has continued to excel post-Ultimate's release, with continued success at theSupernova series, with Mistake winning three events under the character (2022, 2023, and Fall Fest), and notably having a Bayonetta player present during every Grand finals set after 2019. Additionally,Chag wonKyojin Dojo, a notable superregional with Bayonetta. With this continued success, Bayonetta received her first widespread ban from a major series, being wholly banned atSupernova 2025.^[1]

Banned[edit]

• Raid Weekly in Chicago, Illinois has confirmed Bayonetta's ban

Banned (lifted after update 1.1.6)[edit]

• St. Louis, Missouri had confirmed Bayonetta's ban
• Tampa, Florida had confirmed Bayonetta's ban

Ban considered[edit]

• Spain had considered a ban on Bayonetta^{(dead link)}

Certain regions banned or considered banning Bayonetta from their tournaments, believing that, unlikeSheik before update 1.1.5, she was very simple to play as. Following the large number of nerfs she received in update 1.1.6, however, these regions lifted their bans.

In Solo Modes[edit]

All-Star Mode[edit]

In All-Star Mode, Bayonetta is fought in Stage 7 in the 3DS version or Stage 1 in the Wii U version if she has been downloaded alongsideWii Fit Trainer,Rosalina & Luma,Greninja,Dark Pit,Lucina,Robin,Shulk, andCorrin.

Congratulations Screens[edit]

Trophies[edit]

Bayonetta's default trophy is obtained by clearing Classic Mode as Bayonetta. Her alternate trophy is obtained by clearing All-Star Mode as Bayonetta in the 3DS version or booting up the game after downloading Bayonetta in the Wii U version. The Infernal Climax trophy is obtained only in the Wii U version by clearing All-Star Mode as Bayonetta. The Bayonetta (Original) trophy is also obtained after downloading Bayonetta.

3DS Classic Mode trophy

Wii U Classic Mode trophy

Bayonetta

Bayonetta is one of the last of the near-extinct Umbra Witches clan. She's a master of the Bullet Arts and can use her hair as a conduit to bring forth Infernal Demons. She brings all these skills and more to Smash, where she'll unleash additional damage if you hold the attack button. Damage and distract your foes with this move!

Bayonetta is one of the last of the long-extinct Umbra Witches clan. She's a master of the Bullet Arts, and can use her hair as a conduit to bring forth Infernal Demons. She brings all these skills and more to Smash, where if you hold down the attack button, she'll fire bullets at the enemy. They don't just do damage; they even work as a feint!

Bayonetta (01/2010)

:Bayonetta 2 (10/2014)

3DS All-Star Mode trophy

Wii U alternate trophy

Bayonetta (Alt.)

If you use Bayonetta's side special in midair, she'll do a diagonal kick upward that goes through platforms. If you press down just before doing the move, it'll turn into a downward attack! Plus, if you hit an enemy in midair, you can use the attack again before you hit the ground—great for combos and recoveries!

If you use Bayonetta's side special in midair, she'll do a diagonal kick upward that even goes through platforms. If you press down just before doing the move, it'll turn into a downward attack! Plus, if you're hit by an enemy, you can use the attack again before you hit the ground—great for combos and recoveries!

If you use Bayonetta's side special in mid-air, she'll do a diagonal kick upwards that even goes through platforms. If you press down just before doing the move, it'll turn into a downwards attack! Plus, if you hit an enemy in mid-air, you can use the attack again before you hit the ground - great for combos and recoveries!

Bayonetta (01/2010)

:Bayonetta 2 (10/2014)

Infernal Climax trophy

Infernal Climax

Before her Final Smash, Bayonetta enters Witch Time, during which she can attack the enemy to fill her magic gauge. If it fills up, she summons the demon Gomorrah, who chomps down on the unfortunate foe! Keep pressing the button during Gomorrah's attack to increase damage. If it hits 100%, the enemy will be instantly KO'd!

Before her Final Smash, Bayonetta enters Witch Time, during which she attacks the enemy to fill her magic gauge. If it fills up, she summons the demon Gomorrah, who chomps down on the unfortunate foe! Keep pressing the button during Gomorrah's attack to increase damage. If it hits 100%, the enemy will be instantly KO'd!

3DS Bayonetta (Original) trophy

Wii U Bayonetta (Original) trophy

Bayonetta (Original)

This Umbra Witch awakens after hundreds of years without any memories of her past life. Usually Bayonetta spends her days pretending to be a nun to lure out angels, until a witch with the same powers as her starts to slowly bring her memories back. She ends up embroiled in a battle to save the world!

This Umbra Witch awakens after hundreds of years without any memories of her past life. She spends her days with shenanigans like dressing as a nun to lure out angels to fight, until a witch with the same powers as her starts to slowly bring her memories back. As her memories return, she ends up embroiled in a battle to save the world!

Bayonetta (01/2010)

Alternate costumes[edit]

Bayonetta's default costume is based on her appearance inBayonetta 2 and is equipped withLove is Blue. She has an alternate costume based on her appearance in the originalBayonetta, known as "A Witch With No Memories", and is equipped withScarborough Fair. Depending on the costume, various visual effects will be one of two colors, blue forBayonetta 2 and red forBayonetta, which directly correlates to the aesthetic theme of bothBayonetta games. Both costumes have their own distinct firing sound effects for each set of guns. Her Bat Within ability also uses two separate bat models for both costumes. One of Bayonetta's alternate color schemes for herBayonetta 2 costume is based on Jeanne, her childhood friend and friendly rival. While using Jeanne's color scheme, Bayonetta's smash attacks, as well as her Final Smash, will have the hair surrounding Madama Butterfly's limbs and Gomorrah colored white instead of black. Her appearance while doing Wicked Weaves and Infernal Climax is less revealing than in theBayonetta games, as she retains most of her clothing while performing them. In the Japanese version of the game, Bayonetta is voiced in Japanese by Atsuko Tanaka while wearing herBayonetta 2 costume and in English by Hellena Taylor while wearing herBayonetta costume, making her the only character who speaks a different language depending on the costume chosen. This references the fact thatBayonetta did not have Japanese voice acting in its initial release; Japanese dubbing was introduced for theWii U version after Hideki Kamiya was impressed with the Japanese voice acting done for the animated movie:Bayonetta: Bloody Fate.

Reveal trailer[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Bayonetta's splash art.

• 

  Bayonetta'samiibo.

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  Bayonetta's alternate amiibo.

• 

  Bayonetta's unlock notice inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U after downloading her from theNintendo eShop.

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  Official artwork of Bayonetta used on theofficial website.

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  Using her double jump, which displaysMadama Butterfly's wings.

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  AlongsideKirby after hecopied her.

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  OnUmbra Clock Tower.

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  Using Bullet Arts in the air.

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  Using her up smash onDonkey Kong.

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  Using Bat Within.

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  Her default and "A Witch With No Memories" costumes.

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  Her "A Witch With No Memories" costume inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Using herFinal Smash,Infernal Climax, onDuck Hunt.

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  AlongsideMario andLuigi, which references theopening scene inBayonetta 2.

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  InSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Her "A Witch With No Memories" costume inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  UsingBullet Climax while alongsideWii Fit Trainer.

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  Attacking inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Bayonetta taunting and displaying her default,Jeanne and "A Witch With No Memories" costumes.

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  On the Umbra Clock Tower.

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  Using her neutral attack onSamus.

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  Bayonetta displaying her Jeanne and "A Witch With No Memories" costumes.

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  AlongsideMii Fighters.

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  AlongsideCorrin and Mii Fighters.

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  Alongside Mii Fighters.

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  AlongsideLucas,Cloud, and Corrin.

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  UsingAfter Burner Kick on Corrin and while alongside Cloud andRoy.

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  Bayonetta alongside the other DLC characters.

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  Bayonetta alongside the other DLC characters onUmbra Clock Tower.

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  Bayonetta alongside the other DLC characters onSuzaku Castle.

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  UsingWitch Time against another Bayonetta, who activated it by using her neutral aerial's Bullet Arts.

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  Using Bullet Arts onFox, which are ignoring hisReflector due to the bullets beingindirect attacks.

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  Bayonettawall clinging.

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  Bayonetta floating on aladder.

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  Bayonetta's uniqueteetering pose.

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  Bayonetta'ssidestep pose.

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  Bayonetta's interrupted attack pose.

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  Bayonetta pluckinggrass.

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  Bayonetta blowing a kiss.

Trivia[edit]

• Bayonetta andCloud are the only characters to change weapons as part of theiralternate costumes. In Bayonetta's case, her "A Witch With No Memories" costume has her using Scarborough Fair, rather than Love Is Blue. They are also the only characters inSSB4 who pose differently in their artwork when wearing alternate costumes that change their outfits.
• Her pose in her artwork for her "A Witch With No Memories" costume is based on herartwork for her appearance inAnarchy Reigns.
• If a battle ends while Bayonetta is speaking through a taunt, it can still be heard, even over the announcer. This also happens withWii Fit Trainer.
• If she grabs aHammer orGolden Hammer with her forward aerial and stops the attack in midair without performing all three hits,the hammer's music will not play.

The Umbra Witches' symbol appears when Bayonetta jumps
and when she lands.

• Some of Bayonetta's animations outside of her attacks reference theBayonetta series:
  • When Bayonetta jumps, she leaves behind a blue Umbra Witch symbol, and emits a magenta Umbra Witch symbol when she lands. However, she does not emit the symbolduring her double jump.
  • Her on-screen appearance is a reference to when she entersPurgatorio, as she appears within the realm via the Umbra Witches' symbol. The animation of Bayonetta pulling out her guns is also based on the cutscene in chapter 1 ofBayonetta, where she pulls out Scarborough Fair in preparation for combat against theAffinity andApplaud angels.
  • Her crouch is a reference to theBreak Dance technique, where she strikes a similar pose at the end of the attack.
  • Her ability towall cling references the Witch Walk ability usable by Umbra Witches during a full moon.
  • When she plucksGrass, she will uproot the item with a kick and then grab it in midair, much like how she picks up angel and demon weapons from the ground in theBayonetta games. She also transitions through this animation slower than every other character inSSB4.
  • Hersidestep's animation is based on her Love is Blue weapon taunt fromBayonetta 2.
  • The pose Bayonetta assumes when having her attacks interrupted with another attack is based on herKafka weapon taunt fromBayonetta 2.
  • She has a special idle pose once she stops any grounded attack, which returns to her standard idle pose after a few seconds. This is based on her attack pose from theBayonetta series. Her arms down position is used when she is not attacking, while holding her arms up with her guns, and placing one foot on its toe, is the pose she takes after performing attack animations. Performing attack animations in theBayonetta games will have Bayonetta take her attack pose for a few seconds, before reverting to her idle pose.
  • After using anAssist Trophy or theSpecial Flag, Bayonetta will blow a kiss. This could be a reference to theInfernal Kiss ability, which enables her to break down divine barriers, or her target lock-on animation.
  • When damaged, roses appear around her body where starburst-shaped effects would normally appear. This references how, in theBayonetta series, those who are damaged and have blood drawn will have it turn into something different before being blown away. In Bayonetta's case, rose petals fly off of where she would normally bleed, which makes her andJoker inUltimate the only characters in theSuper Smash Bros. series to reference external bleeding.
• Bayonetta is the only newcomer inSSB4 to have one voice clip when being KO'd via blast lines.
• Bayonetta,Mr. Game & Watch, andWii Fit Trainer are the only three characters inSSB4 with unique sound effects forcharging theirsmash attacks.
• Bayonetta possesses unique technical data:
  • She is the first character in theSuper Smash Bros. series to have a smash attack that is a meteor smash that works on aerial targets, and is not part of an automatic combo that negates the downward knockback.
  • She is one of two characters that can affect opponents who haveinvincibility frames, such as those from theSuper Star item or from dismounting arevival platform, thanks toWitch Time. The other isLuigi inBrawl, withNegative Zone, but unlike Witch Time, Negative Zone can also dismount opponents from a revival platform.
  • Bayonetta andRyu are the only characters whose neutral attacks require multiple button presses to be fully performed. In Bayonetta's case, merely holding the attack button triggers her Bullet Arts.
• Although difficult to hear, Bayonetta's guns will emit their respective firing sound effects. Her default costume uses Love is Blue's firing sound effect fromBayonetta 2, whereas her "A Witch With No Memories" costume uses Scarborough Fair's firing sound effect fromBayonetta.
• Bayonetta, Ryu, Cloud,Corrin, andRoy's voice clips are in much lower quality than the rest of the cast inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
• In an interview withMasahiro Sakurai, he stated that including Bayonetta in the game was not an easy task. He had trouble coming up with a unique moveset for her in the game, so he instead opted to bring in her attacks directly fromBayonetta andBayonetta 2, which explains why she is a combo-based fighter instead of having the standard one or two-hit attacks most characters have. He also stated that he initially had trouble balancing Bayonetta's sexual nature to fit the game's age rating in Japan, as even the slightest sexual exposure would have boosted the game's family rating to a more mature one.^[2]
• Bayonetta is the only character to speak when performing a spot dodge, where she might say "Dreadful."

Notes[edit]

1.^ translates to "Open Cartwheel"

2.^ translates to "Iron Mountain Lean"

3.^ translates to "Applying Mountain Lean"; has the same pinyin reading but different characters

References[edit]

v • d • e Bayonetta universe
Fighter	Bayonetta (SSB4 ·SSBU)
Assist Trophy	Rodin
Stage	Umbra Clock Tower
Other	Madama Butterfly
Trophies andSpirits	Trophies ·Spirits
Music	SSB4 ·Ultimate

• Characters (SSB4)
• Bayonetta universe
• Bayonetta (SSB4)
• Downloadable content
• Third-party characters
• Trophies (SSB4-3DS)
• Trophies (SSB4-Wii U)
• Sega