Cody
Preferred ultras: U1 for general use/confirmability, U2/UCW for matchups with heavy fireballs (like Poison) or long distance punishes (like T.hawk/Honda)
Entry level difficulty: [1/10]
Advanced difficulty: [7/10]
Strengths:
+Amazing frame advantage. Almost all normals can be linked on reaction.
+High damage, high dizzy
+Best frame traps in game, able to continuously pressure with long normal strings and then react to hits with high damage conversions
Weaknesses:
-Technical. While executionally fundamental, utilizing zonk and frame traps requires a good sense of the game's mechanics.
-Highly reliant on frame traps for mixups/damage
-Reliant on anti air normals, weak to divekicks
-Reversals are slow and require big meter investment to make safe


Anti airs (in approximate order of utility):
b+MP - quick startup and removes cody's upper body hurtbox while also hitting potential crossups. Short range but Cody's most reliable anti air. Sometimes relies on opponent attack to connect, in these situations use far HK.
far HK - High damage, removes upper body hurtbox, but slower to start up and doesn't hit as high above him as b+MP. Better at range than b+MP.
HK ruffian kick - doesn't remove upper body hurtbox (so it tends to trade or lose if done late) but highly rewarding when it connects, can trade or FADC into juggles, or juggle outright when extremely deep. Longest active period, best for anti airing certain mixups (e.g. T.hawk jump-in vs jump dive) 
cr. HP (knife) - Cody's best AA normal. High damage, no upper body hurtbox, long active period.
EX Criminal Upper - Fully invincible, can trade into combos if activated early from close. High damage and reliable but requires meter.
MK super - Must be activated slightly early and useless if they have a way to alter their jump arc, but invincible and somewhat rewarding.
cr. MK - Not a true anti air, just low profiles their jump in and hits as trip guard. You can also whiff it for a surprise throw. It can connect late if they try to hit you with an air normal, and you can combo out of it.
jump back HK - comes out quickly for a hard air normal, with a good hitbox. Great against divekicks, good against jumps in general, but requires them to jump from relatively close and must be done very quickly.
neutral jump MK - A pre-emptive anti air. Better range, better speed, and smaller hurtbox than n.jump HP, but no knockdown and less damage
neutral jump HP - A pre-emptive anti air. More damage than n.jump MK plus a knockdown, but worse range, speed, and a bigger hurtbox.
far HP - Comes out slightly faster than far HK and does slightly more damage, but less range and trades much more frequently with a much smaller active period. Good for divekicks.
cl. HK - You'll usually get these when trying to get far HK but it's a decent anti air in its own right, albeit slow and prone to trading.
EX Zonk/Lv 3 Zonk - If you're holding EX Zonk, it's one of his most reliable options, though it does tend to go under if you activate too close or too early. Lots of full-body invincibility, can FADC into juggles. Technically it can trade into HK ruffian/EX ruffian/U1, but only if released early from afar.
Bad Stone - You can't bad stone on reaction to a jump but lots of people hold up forward on reaction to bad stone's startup and if you hold the rocks you can anti air with them and even juggle out of it (MK ruffian, light super, or U1)

Anti focus:
MK ruffian - Comes out quick, punishes forward dash, backdash, and breaks armor. Difficult to counter hit.
Chaining normals - Cody's light normals come out abnormally far, and cr. LP cr. LK is usually enough to hit any opponent out of armor while taking zero risks.
EX criminal upper - impossible to counter hit and beats release and forward dash, but wastes meter against backdash and red focus.
EX Zonk - Invincible, comes out quickly. You can even cancel into it for more damage and reliability. Need a zonk held before the focus however.
f+HP - Not great on reaction to focus but if you happen to hit a focusing opponent with it, you get counter hit frame advantage on the second hit and it's easy to link out of it.
st. MP (knife) - One of Cody's best armor breaks.

Anti fireball:
Zonk Knuckle - easy to react, can use even on cancels into fireballs unless it's a true blockstring. Can FADC into big damage from lv3 zonk/EX zonk
EX ruffian kick - must be executed pre-emptively from close, very reliable at midscreen or further.
cr. mk - Goes under fireballs, and can punish them from close or just avoid them from afar with low commitment
U2 - High damage. Need to be quite close to get wrench hits, very unsafe if they miss
LK Super - Punishes fireballs on reaction from quite far away, high cost
Light rocks into MK ruffian - If cody is already throwing rocks and the opponent throws a fireball, Cody generally recovers fast enough to punish their recovery.

Reversals/Invincibility:
EX Zonk - fully hit, fireball, and throw invulnerable. Very fast recovery. Can FADC to high damage. Requires charge. Small punish window. Fully safe on FADC (3 bars)
EX Criminal upper - Fully hit and fireball invincible, but throwable. Fully safe on FADC (3 bars). Can FADC  on hit to cr. LP (1f) or cr. LK (2f).
Zonk - Upper body/fireball invulnerability but vulnerable to lows and throws. Lv2/3 zonk throw invincible but still low vulnerable. Ideal for going through fireballs and pokes. Safe on FADC (2 bars)
Super - Very expensive and very risky, but invincible for a while. LK version good for fireball punishing
U1/U2 - Risky, cannot make safe. Resort to these in last-ditch scenarios where meter use is impossible/unwise.
f+HK - not a reversal but low invulnerable for most of its animation.


Punishes:
Block Rekka - cr. LK xx MK Ruffian (150 damage)
Block light rapid daggers - cr. LK xx HP Criminal Upper (180 damage)
Block HP blanka ball - LK ruffian (120 damage)
Block HP blanka ball - Dash forward cr. MP xx MK ruffian (190 damage)
Block HP blanka ball - EX ruffian, U1 (508 damage, 1 bar)
Block Honda HP Headbutt - MK ruffian (130 damage)
Block Thawk dive - MK ruffian (130 damage)
Block Thawk dive - f+HK, MK ruffian (240 damage)
Block rolento EX roll - cr. LK xx MK ruffian (150 damage, requires stand block)
Blocked Rekka - cr. LK xx HK ruffian xx HK super (400 damage)
Block light rapid daggers - cr. LK xx HP Criminal Upper xx RFC, Ultra 1 (378 damage, 3 bars)
Block LP blanka ball - LK ruffian (stand block helps for consistency, EX ruffian works reliably even crouching)
Eat LP blanka ball - U2 (up to 466 damage, works on stand block but very inconsistent, works consistently on block for other versions)
Block Honda HP Headbutt - U2 (up to 466 damage)
Block Honda EX Headbutt - cr. LK xx MK Ruffian (150 damage)
Block THawk EX dive - LK ruffian (120 damage)
Block THawk EX dive - U2 (up to 466 damage)

Punishing Combos:
(focus backdash) f+HK, MK ruffian (259 damage)
(focus forward dash) f+MP, st. MP, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (317 damage)
(level 3 focus forward dash) EX bad stone, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (402 damage, requires lv 3 focus)
cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (260 damage)
f+MP, cr. MP xx HP criminal upper (248 damage, 2f link)
st. HP, cr. MP xx HP criminal upper (288 damage, 2f link)
st. MP, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (298 damage, 1f link)
f+MP, st. MP, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (322 damage, 1f link, 1f link)
n.j HP, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (348 damage) - Ideal following a long combo into dizzy
n.j HP, U1 (498 damage) - Ideal following a short combo into dizzy
EX bad stone, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (348 damage, 1 bar)
LP bad stone, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (278 damage)
cr. HP xx HK ruffian FADC f+HK, EX criminal upper (372 damage, 3 bars)
cr. HP xx HK ruffian FADC U1 (530 damage, 2 bars)
cr. HP xx lv 3 zonk FADC U1 (578 damage, 2 bars)
j. HP, cr. HP, lv 3 zonk FADC U1 (622 damage, 2 bars)
f+MP, st. MP, U2 (466 damage, 1f link, 1f link)
cr. HP xx LP criminal upper xx Super (450 damage, 4 bars)
cr. HP xx HK ruffian xx HK super (480 damage, 4 bars)
KNIFE:
cr. HP, cr. LK xx HP criminal upper (268 damage, 5f link)
cl. MK xx LP criminal upper, cr. HP (326 damage)
cr. HP, cr. LK xx HK ruffian FADC U1 (502 damage, 2 bars)
cr. HP, U2 (498 damage)
j. HP, cr. HP, cr. HP, U2 (616 damage) - Character specific. One cr. HP makes it universal.

Confirm combos:
cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. LK xx HP criminal upper (166 damage, chains then 4f link)
cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. MP xx HP criminal upper (200 damage, chain then 2f link)
cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. MP xx LK ruffian (172 damage, hard knockdown, chain then 2f link)
f+MP, cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. LK xx HP criminal upper (206 damage, 3f link, chain, then 4f link)
cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. LK xx HK ruffian FADC U1 (361 damage, 2 bars, chains then 4f link, standing only)
cr. LP, cr. LP, cr. LK xx HK ruffian xx HK super (336 damage, 4 bars, chain then 4f link, standing only)
cr. LP, cl. MP, cr. HP xx HP criminal upper (282 damage, 1f link, 1f link)
j. MK, cr. LP, st. MP, U2 (428 damage, 1f link, 1f link)
EX criminal upper FADC, cr. LK xx MK ruffian (184 damage, 2f link) - This is bread and butter conversion from reversal EX criminal upper FADC.
KNIFE:
st. MP, cr. LK xx HP criminal upper (228 damage, 2f link)
cr. LP, cr. LP, st. LP, cr. LK xx HP criminal upper (222 damage, 4f link)
st. LP, st. MK xx LP criminal upper, cr. HP (326 damage, 1f link)
st. LP, st. MP, cr. LK xx HP criminal upper (248 damage, 1f link, 2f link)
j. MK, cr. HP, cr. LK xx MK ruffian (297 damage, 5f link)
j. HP, cr. HP, U2 (573 damage, 1f link) - This works equally as a punish and confirm combo, as it is safe and already damage optimized.


Important Juggles
f+HK, f+MP
f+HK, Medium Ruffian kick
f+HK, EX Criminal Upper
f+HK, EX ruffian kick, EX criminal upper
(anti air) HK ruffian kick, MK ruffian kick (show trade)
(anti air) HK ruffian kick (trade), dash, f+HK, EX criminal upper - you can always input the dash, no harm if it doesn't trade.
(anti air) HK ruffian kick, EX ruffian kick, EX criminal upper
HK ruffian kick FADC f+MP
HK ruffian kick FADC n.j HP
HK ruffian kick FADC MK ruffian kick
HK ruffian kick FADC f+HK, EX criminal upper
HK ruffian kick FADC zonk release 
EX Zonk FADC f+MP
EX Zonk FADC n.j HP
EX Zonk FADC MK ruffian kick
EX Zonk FADC f+HK, EX criminal upper
EX Zonk FADC Zonk release
EX zonk, st. HP (knife)
LP criminal upper, st. HP (knife)
bad spray FADC MK ruffian


Corner:
LP criminal upper, EX criminal upper - does a bit more damage than hard criminal upper but not usually worth the bar in combos.
EX zonk, EX Criminal upper
lv 3 zonk, EX criminal upper
lv 3 zonk, cr. HP (knife)
(knife) st. LP, st. MP, cr. LK xx LP criminal upper, cr. HP - this is just a demonstration of having corner only knife juggles due to the range of pushback on combos.

Ultra setups
(1)
(any punish scenario/focus crumple)
Anti air HK ruffian kick, U1 (478 damage) - works even on trade, works more reliably if FADC'd
Anti air EX criminal upper (trade), U1 (438 damage) - also works if FADC'd
st. HP xx HK ruffian kick FADC U1 (531 damage, 2 bars) - Cody's bread and butter U1 combo. Many variations.
j.HK, s.HP xx lv 3 zonk FADC U1 (2 bars, 592 damage) - Only s.MP, s.HP, cr.HP cancels will combo into Zonk
EX zonk FADC U1 (468 damage, 3 bars) - Cody's only safe invincible reversal, with max damage conversion
EX rocks, U1 (498 damage, 1 bar)
f+MP, cr. LK xx LP criminal upper xx EX RFC, U1 (390 damage, 3 bars) - red focus combos are useful because they turn small opportunities into big connects easily
Bad spray FADC U1 (2 bars, 438 damage)
Knife throw, U1 (448 damage) 
(knife) j. HP, cr. HP, cr. HP xx RFC, U1 (582 damage, 3 bars) - This is an optimized knife punish. The first cr. HP is safe and you can do the rest on reaction so it can be used as a hit confirm and as a punish. This works after a jump in on every character and without the jump in vs most characters.
(2)
(any punish scenario/focus crumple)
EX rocks, U2 (498 damage, 1 bar)
f+MP, st. MP, U2 (466 damage) - Cody can buffer U2 after every close medium punch. The link is easy if you plink and even easier if you get a counter hit from a frame trap. st. MP links from jump ins, crouch jab, and f+MP.
cr. LP, cr. LK xx LP criminal upper xx EX RFC, U2 (351 damage, 3 bars) - red focus combos are useful because they turn small opportunities into big connects easily
Knife j. HP, cr. HP, u2 (576 damage)

Counter hit combos/Meaty attacks
CH f+MP, u2 (3f link)
st. HP, cr. HP - counter hit or meaty only
cr. HP xx EX stones - safe but can be interrupted. Massive damage frame trap.
cr. MK (anti air), cr. LK xx HP criminal upper - The cr. MK hits deep because the first portion of the attack whiffs and then the opponent lands into it. Cody's low profile means he's safe to do this vs most jump-ins.

Footsies:
(max range of normals demonstration)
cr. LP x4, cr. LK - Cody has light normal presence from very far away and can combo even at max range
cr. LP, f+MP - Cody can maintain close proximity and get counter hits easily with his stomach blow. You can combo out of it easily on reaction
st. MK - a good counterpoke, especially against lows, and a decent poke in its own right
st. HK - a good counterpoke against tall characters, especially grapplers, to halt their approach
cr. LP or cr. HP or cr. LK xx MK ruffian - good counterpokes, which combo into MK ruffian even at max range
crossup
cr. MK under a fireball (hitting)
cr. MK under a special move - Cr. MK is low profile and carries very little risk. 
cr. HK - fast, not terribly unsafe. Can combo from cl. MP and whiff punishes some attacks
f+HK - goes over lows and whiffs relatively quickly, as well as being airborne for most of its animation. You can whiff this over a low then throw someone.
st. MP (knife) - This normal has high priority and goes very far, as well as being decently rewarding on hit. If you get a close connect, you can link a cr. LK on reaction quite easily. 
st. MP/st. HP (knife) - These also pick up some neat far punishes.
cr. LP (knife) - This is a 3f normal that you can convert on reaction, unlike his other 3f normal (cr. LK)
cr. MP (knife) - This is a very good low counterpoke
cr. HP (knife) - From close, this normal is very frame advantage and you can combo out of it easily on reaction
f+HP - This normal is +3 on standing hit, and can be combo'd into cr. LP (knife) or cr. LK on reaction. On crouching hit you can't combo from it.
j.LP - This normal is an instant overhead
MK/EX ruffian are good at catching escape moves such as backdash or teleport.
spaced LP rocks, LK ruffian - hitting LK ruffian from afar can make it safe. It's very easy to do this from max range rocks. Rocks do the same damage for all versions but the short range versions have better frame advantage so always use the minimum range rocks that will still hit
criminal upper, EX zonk  - start charging zonk as soon as you do any criminal upper. Punishing criminal upper (especially light) is often quite difficult and zonk can blow through attempted punishes. Be aware you might be digging yourself even deeper if they don't attempt to punish and if you don't FADC.


Mixups:
forward throw in corner, f+HK crossup vs fake crossup

f+HK (whiff) throw, vs F+HK (whiff) EX zonk FADC

crossup j. MK, throw vs Crossup j. MK, EX zonk - EX zonk gives the opponent a lot of time to commit to normals or throw but will still reliably beat them.

cr. LP cr.LP walk throw vs cr. LP cr. LP cr. HP xx ex rocks frame trap 

backthrow safe jump punish reversal, catch backdash, then j. HK vs empty jump lv 3 zonk

ambiguous crossups

st. MK xx LP criminal upper, st. LP f+HP vs st. MK xx LP CU, st. LP dash throw vs walk in EX Zonk FADC

cr. LP throw vs cr. LP st. HP reaction confirm vs cr. LP cr. LK xx criminal upper FADC - This is a normal to normal frame trap vs walk in throw. The low option merely forces the opponent to crouch tech which opens them up to counter hits and shortens their teching window.


Notes:

Cody has a fast, low forward dash.

Cody's cr. LK goes abnormally far for a 3f attack and can pick up some insane punishes.

Cody's cr. MK low profiles lots of special moves, and since it's safe on most of the cast it can be very difficult for characters to deal with.

cody st. MK and st. HK are karas. HK goes farther so you should always use it.

Back throw, hold up/forward is a 5f safe jump. Cody can option select f+HK/MK ruffian/U1 to catch backdashes while still maintaining pressure if they don't. (f+HK f+HK EX upper)

Beware reversals 4f and faster. Also, Cody won't get punished if the opponent does delayed wakeup but he will lose the safe jump. Remember that empty jumping has less recovery and can punish the attempted anti-safe jumps.

If you back throw a cornered opponent, you can easily escape the corner by corpse hopping using f+HK.

Cody's f+HP is +3 on a standing opponent so you can link cr. LK or cr. LP (knife) on reaction. On a crouching opponent you can't combo out of it.

If Cody's f+MP trades with a light normal (common in frame traps and pressure) Cody can generally combo the trade on reaction with cr. LK.

Criminal upper is +4 on FADC so you can extend combos with it, although it scales a lot and is difficult or expensive to get meaningful damage out of it. It does allow you to keep pressure going on block, though.

The first hit of criminal upper does more damage the lower the version. This is important for red focus combos. Remember, the first hit needs to connect for the FADC to be possible, so don't just always use light.

Using regular zonk in footsies is difficult because of the lack of total invincibility and the fact that it's unsafe on block. However, it can be used as a quick reaction answer to some special moves, completely shutting down some character's pressure.

Cody's EX Zonk interacts favorably with other reversals. The two will usually not connect at all yet cody will almost always recover fast enough to punish.

When charging EX Zonk in footsies or as a reversal, and when you have no U1 to land, charge all three punches instead of just two. When releasing zonk, release LP and MP. That way, after the FADC, you'll be able to tech a throw on block or juggle into zonk on hit.

EX zonk and EX criminal upper are both very weak to neutral jumps. If the opponent predicts your reversal he can punish you hard. Neither can be made safe on whiff, naturally.

Cody's medium ruffian works well in empty cancels, and he has good counter pokes. If you whiff cr. LK for example into MK ruffian, it will only show as a cr. LK on whiff. However, if it hits a poke, the MK ruffian comes out automatically. An easy proximity based option select.

You can do some strings to space out HK ruffians such that they hit meaty. This is highly character specific but can lead to high damage combos or even meterless ultras

Cody Bad Stone is progressively more plusframes the lower the version. Try to use the minimum version for the range you're at.

Cody can buffer super during every rock throw. If he sees the opponent throw a fireball, he can cancel his rocks into super on reaction due to the late cancel window.

He can also buffer U2 during far LP rocks. If it connects he can U2 on reaction. 

Cody can fake rock or knife throw with d+HP+HK. This is important as the startup of rock throw is so long the opponent can theoretically jump in punish it on reaction. If they attempt this as cody fakes, he is not only safe but punishes their jump in return.

It also baits out a lot of fireball punishes.

When Cody drops his knife (such as via focus, throw, or taunt), it will always travel towards the center of the stage.

Knife normals do chip damage.

You can can cancel the knife pickup animation into blocking, normals, special moves, and super, but not ultra nor throw (though he can still tech throws)

You can cancel into knife pickup, like a special move cancel. You can then cancel out of knife pickup to form combos.

Ruffian kicks have long active periods and the same blockstun regardless of how late they connect. When well spaced, LK kick can be made safe

Cody HK ruffian only works on standing opponents. You can use close or crouching HP to force stand, but you can't easily confirm into them.

Cody's super will randomly drop hits on some characters depending on version.

Hard ruffian (grounded connect) into hard super seems to work on every character.

Crack kick U1 (works on adon, abel, balrog, cammy, chun-li, cody, viper, dee jay, dhalsim, dudley, honda, fei long, gen, gouken, guile, hakan, juri, rose, sagat, sakura, seth, t.hawk, vega, yang, yun, zangief). Works on everyone with airborne connect (e.g. catching backdash).

Cody corner max range HK ruffian, U1 (check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTIWb0uN3Vk )

U2 juggles after F+HK, LP criminal upper, EX zonk, or level 3 zonk for a little over 100 damage (full ultra, and before factoring health and combo scaling). This is massively unsafe even on hit, but if you don't have the resources to juggle something else it's a way you can kill the opponent at the end of the round.

From point blank you can't jump out of ultra 2 after freeze. The dust makes quite a good chip out option after a blocked jump in, or even raw if they have no good reversals.

You can catch wakeup backdash with cr. LP, (f+MP), cr. LP Option select. If the first cr. LP connects, the f+MP never comes out and the second cr. LP combos. If they backdash, f+MP comes out, hits meaty, and Cody can link out of it.

You can also do a crack kick OS with cr. LP, f+LK+HK, cr. LP. If the jab connects, stand short chains from it. Otherwise, Cody does crack kick to catch the backdash.

Bonus: the Knife bug. If you throw the knife and U1 before it connects, then the knife kills, the full animation for U1 will play out regardless of range. 


Players to watch:
Sasaki/Dnm3rd
BJ Unchained
PIE Chin
Momochi
HarrisonSBA
Mark Tenchi
Gucci Durag

Credit:
PluckyPariah
Durran SD
Diego Carranza
DrDrawes
GroundedSF
aj31907
@Bernie_S
the Packz Cody blog


Bafael's youtube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtX2bD2XTL8LgykPcPY9GLg
Playlist for Bafael's other character tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist&list=PLo3Zl2nq6CkDnLK7r8VTuKrQHt0c79gi-
Bafael's twitter: http://twitter.com/Bafael1
Bafael's twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/bafael