-Alchemist who uses transformative potions to fend off the effects of aging, hoping to invent a perfect preventative against its negative effects.
-This obsessive search led to self-isolation for long periods, as well as monstrous transformations she has since learned to control.
-She is searching for the artifact in the hopes of discovering the answer she is looking for.
-Brusque, Wrathful, Demanding, Methodical, acts with Decorum out of old habit rather than concern for those around her. Her abrasive personality and disturbing skill set (and mistaken reports of monsters wherever she goes) often leads to conflict with disproportionate response. She still has a soft spot for people underneath her blunt and bossy exterior, holding herself to nonlethal methods of both combat and 'deterrence', but won't allow anything to get between her and what she wants. Can be surprisingly immature.
-Snake theming, able to manifest snake-like physiology up to and including her legs fusing into a snake-like tail from her waist down. I'm thinking she has loose clothing, a hoodie, and accessories that have a scale-like pattern/are in a contrasting tertiary coloration to fit this theme. Two long bangs that frame her face and narrow to points to give the impression of a fanged mouth with her hood up?
-Former coworker of the mad wizard whose experiments were eventually responsible for the Life Energy incident, she had parted ways with him long before he descended into madness. Roxanne feels no pity for him, nor regret for not being there to prevent anything (it was his own fault and responsibility, after all), but it only further cemented her isolationist personality, and she was disgusted by what she learned of his actions. Even she has standards, it seems.
-Appearing in the hypothetical fighting game spin-off, she seeks the artifact not to use it, but to become its guardian- both preventing it from falling into the wrong hands and receive the immortality that comes with the burden to ensure she can see her research to its end. However, her anti-social nature and indifference to others means she fails to communicate her goal or plan, thus causing conflict as others seeking it resort to violence in turn.
-Spent much of her recent time researching in a lab isolated in the desert; it appears her magic works well with sand as a medium, though she's purposefully trained herself to make use of saliva, dead skin, and hair to a similarly effective degree.


Stats:

Air Speed: 1.271 (8th, Wario)
Fall Speed: 1.92 [Max], 3.072 [Fast] (5th, Mii Brawler)
Gravity: 0.169 (3rd, Mii Brawler)
Jump Height: 21.35 [Short Hop], 39 [Full Hop], 42 [Air Jump] (Bayonetta)
Run Speed: 2.365 [Initial Dash] (3rd, Little Mac); 2.09 (16th, Metaknight)
Traction: 0.128 (12th, Wii Fit Trainer)
Weight: 108 (8th, Samus, Heavyweight)
Special: Crawl

Roxanne is an oddball heavyweight. Her body has enough mass to accommodate her transmutations, and paired with her high gravity and fall speed, she's difficult to KO off the top, but struggles to recover or escape juggles despite her agile air speed and solid recovery options.

Her hurtbox is interesting; she stands idle at Peach's height and width. However, when dashing, crawling, or performing certain attacks, her lower half shapeshifts into a snake's! This reduces her height slightly, but dramatically increases her width along the ground, wider than Donkey Kong! Between that and her vulnerability to juggles, she must avoid overextending.


Mechanic:

Above Roxanne's stocks is a three-segment snake-shaped gauge. Each non-special, non-smash input she performs fills 1 segment at its first frame of end lag, gauge vibrating and 'eyes' glowing. A grab, pummels, and/or throw count as one combined input for this.

With 1 segment, Roxanne's skin appears glossy. With 2, transparent film covers her body. When the gauge fills entirely, it empties- and the layer of alchemically treated skin leaps from Roxanne's body, molded to mimic her silhouette. Black smoke fills its deepest part, thinning to a faint blue tinge to the see-through shell at its edges. Red glows from the hollows of its eyes.

This "Shedskin" is an AI-controlled ally to Roxanne. It shares her statistics, is destroyed in 1 hit at the end of hitlag/knockback (turning to sand), and can utilize the three inputs Roxanne used to fill her gauge (duplicate inputs weighing their AI toward that input in exchange for versatility). These inputs are identical to Roxanne's, including any options like how she angled them, with the exception of a 0.8x damage and knockback multiplier.

Further, Roxanne's Specials have transformative effects on herself and her Shedskins. Tapping the input has no effect on existing Shedskins, but alters the next one created with a corresponding "Special Quality", represented by a symbol appearing in the snake gauge's 'mouth'.. Only the last Special used this way applies. If the Special is held, a different effect is applied to Roxanne's Shedskins in play in addition to the input's normal effects, but doesn't count toward the next Shedskin's Special Quality.

Roxanne can have two Shedskins in play at once; creating a third causes the oldest to crumble into nothing.



Neutral Special:

With an uncharacteristically forceful shout, Roxanne thrusts her hands forwards, palms-out. A cloud of sand and grit erupts from her body, impurities transmuted to a grainy cloud. Struck opponents flinch and are shoved back a short set distance, left frame neutral with Roxanne.

Roxanne's gauge is emptied in the process, and the cloud's size and damage increases the fuller it was. If empty, the cloud deals 4% and extends 1 Unit from Roxanne in each direction. Each segment adds 2.5% damage and increases the radius by 1 Training Stage Unit (hereon "Unit"). This is her emergency combo escape option, with short start up and middling end lag that's just barely punishable on whiff. The cloud lingers briefly, with each segment adding some frames to make it safer. At 2 segments, it stretches past the end lag for guaranteed protection, giving Roxanne the initiative.

Tapped, this input preserves your existing Shedskins, and resets which inputs you're giving the next. Holding the input instead causes existing Shedskins to explode into clouds identical to the 2-segment variant of Roxanne's Neutral Special- if a Shedskin is  hindering more than helping, you can get one last use from it and eliminate a nuisance. This sounds niche, but Roxanne's smashes create resources you might not want your Shedskins to blow at a bad time.

The held variant can be used to start combos on foes cornered between Roxanne and a Shedskin, bouncing them off of the second cloud so they're still reeling when Roxanne's lag ends. A Shedskin that chased foes off stage becomes a wall to block their recovery- trading a disposable minion for a KO!


[Special Quality:] Represented by a sand dune in the UI. Roxanne's next Shedskin explodes upon despawning, creating 2-segment sand cloud equivalent. Poking the Shedskin with a Jab means being shoved back and left exposed; a stronger input that knocks it away is required to avoid the stun. The commitment requried to eliminate this Shedskin is ripe for exploiting!


Side Special:

Sweat beads on Roxanne's brow as she raises her scepter, glyphs forming in the air around its gem. She shifts her weight onto her front leg, knee bent and body lowered, and the glyphs ignite. The sweat covering Roxanne's body combusts, a wave of runes flowing from her hands to her toes, and she rockets forward parallel to the ground, legs shifting into a serpentine tail for her flight's duration.

Roxanne's body is surrounded by a 2 Unit wide 1.5 Unit tall hitbox, as she crosses 4 Units at Sonic's Run Speed. Contact deals 12% and moderate low-angle fast-scaling knockback; reliably spacing foes away early and KOing late. Players can angle the input to adjust her flight path up or down by 2 Units, Roxanne coasting along solid terrain that blocks her from rising or falling any further. Moving the control stick during start up allows changing or even reversing Roxanne's charge.

She skids to a stop, flames on her skin extinguishing with a hiss, tail reverting to legs. This move has modest start up and moderate end lag- not great for escaping trouble, but an effective response to campers, and a combo finisher once the opponent's too far for her other attacks. It can be used once in the air before landing, aiding recovery.

Any terrain Roxanne's fiery aura touches is scorched, small embers briefly dotting the ground after end lag. A foe touching the flames extinguishes the trail, but not before it flares up in response to stimuli, becoming a 1 Unit tall hitbox that does 6% and slow-scaling modest radial knockback- an ideal combo starter on foes who dodged! Shields take minimal damage, push, and stun, and the height prevents shield-poking, making it the best response to Roxanne's charge.

Holding the input has Roxanne's Shedskins mimic the input 1-for-1 as she performs it herself- direction of the charge included, cancelling whatever they're doing. Their damage reduction is a boon, knocking foes a shorter distance away- at low percents, this leaves the Shedskin dangerously close, and Roxanne potentially not far behind. If alone, this is potentially unsafe for the Shedskin on hit. With friends nearby, opponents must retreat or risk retaliation for destroying the Shedskin, to say nothing of a Shedskin with Neutral Special's Special Quality. Even on whiff, Roxanne and a pair of Shedskins can coat the stage in flame to threaten landings or cover their retreat in a way that forces a predictable air approach.


[Special Quality]: Represented by a flame. The shadowy smoke within the Shedskin is replaced by a burning nimbus; it leaves a short-lived trail of flame on whatever ground it touches, just as the Side Special does. If this flame hits the foe, this Quality is suppressed for that Shedskin for 2 seconds. Good for limiting defensive responses to the aggressive Shedskin, and clearing a path for Roxanne to follow behind.


Down Special:

Holding her scepter upright ahead of her, Roxanne stomps her back foot, bracing herself. The eyes of her scepter flash, and scale-like stones cover her body! If struck, the rock cracks and shatters away, revealed to be a wafer-thin shell formed of conjured dust and oils, reinforced by magic. Projectiles are simply blocked, freeing Roxanne. A melee blow has its hitbox disabled, and the attacker suffers greatly extended hitlag- while Roxanne is released from her spell with minimal ending lag!

It's not a perfect defense; while fast to come out, Roxanne is immobilized until struck, 2 seconds pass, or she presses B. If forced to escape herself, she suffers lengthy end lag as she fights free from inside. Grab hitboxes are unaffected, prying her from her shell without fanfare. If used in the air, Roxanne enters fast fall shortly after the start up lag. There's no hitbox to this pseudo-counter, and she only negates one attack. It negates all hits from a single multi-hit melee move, but back to back inputs (such as a fast projectile followed by a quick poke) will bypass the defense and strike her before she can retaliate.

If held, the spell is applied to Shedskins as well. Shedskins freeze in place, even mid-attack. When hit or after 2 seconds, they break free from the rock with similar end lag to Roxanne... and immediately resume whatever they were doing before being petrified, including resuming their attack. Roxanne can save her Shedskin from a faster move (which they then counter) or set up an easy combo by freezing them mid-strike and knocking a foe into them as they break free. Petrified Shedskins still despawn if Roxanne goes over her limit of 2.


[Special Quality]: Represented by a round stone. The Shedskin gains a layer of loose, scale-like rocks. The first time they would be destroyed by an attack, they flinch instead, rocks crumbling. Needing two hits to destroy the Shedskin sounds underwhelming, but surviving a hit means living to cause trouble twice as long.


Up Special:

Holding her scepter to her chest, Roxanne closes her eyes in concentration, dozens of tiny runes flaring up around her. She flickers in and out of sight, and reappears a short distance away with a screen of burning runes that fade into nothingness.

This functions like Zelda's Up Special, among others; Roxanne teleports either straight up or in a direction she picks via control stick during the start-up. Roxanne's version is fairly fast compared to its contemporaries, but normally is limited in range- a mere 3 Units. The burning runes protect her upon reappearing, a short-ranged hitbox that deals 8% and weak radial knockback. She normally suffers middling start and end lag, but does not enter freefall, though she can use it only once per air trip.

If she hit a foe no more than 1 second before she teleports, another option presents itself. A rune appears in front of that enemy, and if no direction is held when she teleports, it's followed shortly by Roxanne herself! This version has no range limit and shorter ending lag, allowing improbable comboes under certain circumstances. Roxanne can pursue foes her hard-hitting attacks would normally leave out of range, and turn a gimp into a sure recovery (or a sure recovery into a stock trade).

There's a strict 5 second cooldown between uses (her scepter flashing once it's elapsed), and the normal once per air trip limit still applies; Side Special is a neat recovery option, but it can only do so much. If Roxanne hit multiple opponents in the 1 second window, the last foe hit is used for the teleportation destination.

Holding the input teleports Roxanne's Shedskins to her side at her destination, vanishing and appearing with the same animation and timing. One appears in front of her, the second (if applicable) behind her. This cancels whatever they're doing; handy for rescuing them from off stage or a punishment. Regardless of variant used, Shedskins have the longer ending lag of the default version.


[Special Quality]: Represented by a circle of runes. Runes fill the Shedskin, fading in and out of existence and rising like bubbles in water. The Shedskin gains the conditional version of Up Special, which it abuses judiciously (and suicidally).


To avoid repetition, some uses of Roxanne's Specials in relation to Shedskins are noted here: Neutral Special can detonate Shedskins about to be destroyed. Side Special can cancel their attack and rush them to safety, bowling through opponents on the way. Down Special blocks an attack and lets the Shedskin counter. Up Special recalls Shedskins from afar, protecting them, or pulling them to Roxanne's side to extend combos/act as meatshields.

This mixes well with Special Qualities; give a Shedskin aggressive approaching options or moves that involve Roxanne's tail the Side Special quality to immolate the stage, then teleport them back to you so they charge again, repeatedly blanketing swaths of land in flame. Up Special teleport keeps Shedskins with the Neutral Special Quality nearby, forcing roundabout approaches to avoid being stunned within punishment range. Detonate Shedskins as foes navigate the flames left in their wake, Down Special as a Shedskin teleports to stuff the foe's attempt at punishing the predictable pursuit with a makeshift counter, Side Special to launch a Shedskin at a foe in its blindspot- the list goes on!



Smashes:

Forward Smash:

Stabbing the base of her scepter into the ground, Roxanne waves both hands and mutters as runes spread out from the scepter's jewel. Thrusting both hands forward, she wills the accumulated magic to shoot into the ground, and as she pries her scepter free, a perfect cube of stone bricks with a layer of purple magic holding it together phases up through the floor. She thrusts her scepter forward, and the cube takes off like a rocket, hovering across the ground.

This 1x1 Unit cube starts moving at Captain Falcon's Run Speed, but steadily slows to a stop, halting 6 Units away if unobstructed. Solid terrain stops it, and hitting a foe or destructible terrain causes it to explode into its component bricks, a 2x2 Unit hitbox. Opponents take 18~25.2% damage and solid radial knockback, a reliable KO option that's especially dangerous to foes recovering low. Shields take extra damage, enough that two uncharged cubes will destroy a full health shield, and shield stun allows easy follow-up. The long starting lag prevents Roxanne from hitting raw without Shedskins' support or the foe recovering from afar, but short end lag allows her to chase after it very quickly.

If the cube does not hit a foe, it remains in play as a construct where it stops, lacking a hitbox until acted on; any 1 hit from a foe will detonate it under the same rules as Shedskins: after knockback and whatever hitstun the attack would inflict is resolved. Roxanne and her Shedskins can also hit the cube around, with similar results. It is treated as having Roxanne's weight and current damage for calculating the knockback it takes, making it harder for foes to 'disarm' early on, but much easier for Roxanne to manipulate as a deadly projectile later in the stock. It regains its normal hitbox once it's back in motion.

Roxanne's well-equipped to capitalize with her high knockback inputs and movement options; Neutral Special's set radial knockback can reliably nudge it at any point, Side and Up Special position Roxanne, or suddenly launch her into it, and the former's lingering flames can create a 'stop' point where it will be bounced lightly up and detonate early to catch foes jumping over it. Shedskins can even let Roxanne manipulate it from afar- though here is where their aggressive nature can backfire, as they may try to use it before Roxanne can enact her plan. "Can" is the operative word; Roxanne can make lemonade by shooting this with a Shedskin in position afar who will strike it back at the foe best they can if opponents dodge it the first time.


Down Smash:

Roxanne spreads her arms wide, turning to the camera as magic gathers on the ground to either side of herself. On release, she steps back and slams her hands together- stone facsimiles of her hands erupting from the ground to do the same. These hands are 1.5 Units tall and 0.5 Units wide, starting 2 Units away from Roxanne to either side before meeting in the middle and crumbling. Each hand deals 22~30.8% damage and moderate low-angle knockback in the direction it is moving; thus foes in front of Roxanne are swatted behind her and vice-versa. The hand crumbles on contact, and foes hit by one cannot be hit by the other.

If both hands hit the foe (in the 1 Unit-wide space in the center of the affected area), it's a sweetspot; foes take 25~35% damage, and are effectively buried with lengthy duration- hands wrapped around them as they perform their struggling animation for being grabbed. Any hit will free them from this state, and they cannot be grabbed or re-buried with a regrab timer-like effect that starts when 'buried' but only counts down after being freed.

If Roxanne is too close to a ledge, only one hand forms; in cases with small platforms lacking room for either, one appears against the closer of the two ledges. This hand sweeps the full length of Down Smash's range, falling apart at the opposite edge. It has the same hitbox, but lacks the sweetspot, and the same FAF, though the active frames/time it takes to hit the opposite side is longer. The hand can 2-frame in this version (going past the ledge), but timing is very difficult. Down Smash has less start lag but more end lag than Forward Smash, evening out to slightly long but feasible to use on a read and not especially vulnerable.

Roxanne has brief i-frames when she steps back to let the hands sweep past her. Down Smash can thus be a makeshift counter if opponents get too aggressive. The sweetspot is especially desirable; damage aside, Roxanne gets a free hit on foes, and late in the stock can kill confirm easily- provided a Shedskin doesn't free the foe with a poke beforehand, though hitlag can be enough to give Roxanne wiggle room. Immobilizing the foe early and letting a Shedskin poke them out instead of them breaking free early can set up additional combos, including leading into grab thanks to the timer running out earlier as a result.

The ledge/platform version is worth noting as well; Roxanne can catch dodges in front of herself with the hand, smacking foes away for a late KO or early spacer. Hitting early with the hand on its own side can even start combos, like front hand into BAir to get foes off-stage early, or back hand on foes crossing up into FAir or Side Special, or if feeling particularly spicy, a DAir spike with a second good read in a row. Up Special's teleport allows this to extend past early percents, though prevents her slower options like DAir due to the time it takes.


Up Smash:

With a sharp 'ha!', Roxanne thrusts her scepter at the ground with both hands, a cone of magic spraying haphazardly from it into the earth before her. She swings the scepter upward with visible strain, as if physically ripping out the large Spire of stone that appears from the floor. She steps back to keep her balance and flicks her scepter to break the threads of magic still connecting it to the Spire. Notably, the jewel in the headpiece seems to have shrunk slightly, and when Roxanne wipes her brow with the hand holding the scepter, it returns to its previous size.

The Spire is 1.5 Units wide at its base, and narrows to a point 2 Units above and slightly behind Roxanne. Runes surround it as it rises to widen the hitbox by 1 Unit in diameter to provide coverage, and sink into the Spire with a dull glow as it lingers after to keep it standing after the attack ends (patterns more complex with added charge). On hit, it does 17~23.8% and moderate knockback angled up and behind Roxanne. The Spire's tip is a sweetspot doing 20~28% and stronger knockback that can KO early from a high vantage point.

The Spire remains in place until struck, a combatant touches it, or Roxanne creates another- at which point it begins to topple over in the direction opposite of the stimuli in question (or the direction it leans if Roxanne makes another). This is a surprisingly weak 12~16.8% hitbox doing meager downward knockback on its falling side. It takes a moment to start falling, a large and loud 'crack' appearing in its side on contact, after which it drops with some speed to the ground (or 1 Unit below if it would fall off stage somehow). If the ground supporting it vanishes, the Spire despawns.

More importantly, the Spire is a wall until so affected. It doesn't block rolls, but stops movement, projectiles, and knockback. Even without utilizing the hitbox, Roxanne can use it as a 'stopper' for the knockback of her attacks, allowing her to combo out of inputs that normally push foes too far away. Shedskins can drop the Spire to provide themselves a delayed hitbox or combo move when they lack one themselves, and opponents engaging Roxanne can find themselves suddenly cornered as it starts to fall toward them. Roxanne can use the delay to approach after a fast poke sets the Spire to fall, using the hitbox as cover for herself and her Shedskins. Spires also provide an element of control over Shedskins; Roxanne has several inputs that involve movement variation, which Shedskins will normally follow to the letter- a Spire will block this movement.

Up Smash sits on the opposite end of the spectrum from Forward Smash in terms of lag; the move is almost fast to come out, countering aerial approaches with a read, but the complex end lag animation leaves Roxanne vulnerable if she misses. The angle and height of the pillar can shark platforms going up and falling down, poking shields on the lower battlefield platforms with the right spacing. It can 50/50 with a short-hopped Up Aerial or by waiting for foes to enter Up Tilt-range if Roxanne's feeling daring, and can similarly risk letting ground foes close in instead of using her Jab to 50/50 as an alternative to the safer Forward Tilt. She can even use Up Smash as a combo finisher, though the hitbox being so close to her makes it situational.



Standards:

Jab:

Roxanne swings her scepter up, holding it out stretched as she slides her palm from her grip to its headpiece. Mana gathers in her palm and is sucked into the headpiece, before abruptly surging out in the form of a serpent slithering through the air at high speed! The initial swing upward is a jab hitbox doing 2% and passable upward knockback that scales slightly fast (never becoming a KO move or failing to chain into hit 2, but allowing Roxanne leeway to start an aerial combo).

Jab 1 is fast to come out (though far from the fastest Jab 1), and has modest end lag that leaves her neutral with foes. It has sufficient horizontal push to space foes back and prevent infinites in combination with the upward knockback angle. Jab 2 comes out quickly as well (enough to be unreactable despite needing to perform Jab 1 first), producing a thin, 1 Unit long projectile that flies 3 Units forward at Fox's Dash Speed.

Contact with the snake does repeated hits of 1% and set dragging knockback that keeps the foe at their current elevation and deposits them at the end of the snake's range (to a max total of 6 hits). There's a slight exaggeration to the hitlag of the projectile that slows it and the foe's movement down a bit. Jab 2 has moderate ending lag, preventing it from starting combos without outside help (Shedskins, Spires, etc), the use of Up Special, or somehow landing Jab 2 at point blank (I.E. without Jab 1/with Jab 1 and a Spire).

Both jabs have abysmal shield stun and push, letting foes drop shield and punish due to the mediocre reach of the former and longer end lag of the latter. This does however let Roxanne bait shield by conditioning foes to expect Jab 1, using her grab instead. Jab 1 is as always a quick interrupt or combo starter, and Jab 2 is fantastic for precisely positioning foes and dragging them into danger (through a Pillar to drop it on them or into a cube to detonate it). It can drag cubes forward, letting them detonate at the snake's end point.

For mechanic-related purposes, Roxanne's Jab combo counts as one input, regardless of if she uses Jab 2. She can thus do a quick Jab 1 to give her next Shedskin the combo and get herself closer to spawning it without too much commitment. Giving a Shedskin the snake projectile is incredibly useful for setting up a combo for Roxanne/the other Shedskin (or viceversa), but it also has the less obvious use of giving them a way to attack without having to get close- keeping them out of trouble.

Combined with Special Qualities, they can be surprisingly obnoxious- Neutral Special means they have to be destroyed with care after foes brave the projectiles, Side Special leaves a trail of flame as they fall back to continue camping that foes need to navigate, Down Special lets them take a hit, and Up Special lets them suddenly appear in the opponent's face, switching from camping to their usual aggressive rushdown.


Forward Tilt:

Roxanne raises her scepter to her lips, tilting her head back as she inhales, then blows across the glimmering jewel. The air ignites, fire spraying from the headpiece in a line that sweeps upward as Roxanne leans further into the motion. She straightens and places a hand to her chest, taking a breath as the remaining sparks fizzle out.

The flames reach 2 Units ahead of Roxanne at their furthest point, and 1 Unit above her head at their highest. Opponents take 9% and moderate knockback. It won't KO until late, but can launch foes off stage just fine. Roxanne suffers short end lag, but the start up and active frames are both kinda sluggish.

Roxanne can snipe shot-hop approaches on a read (the end of the attack being barely too slow to land raw) and punish most defensive options up close. FTilt 50/50s with both Jab (close up) and Dash Attack, slow enough to catch dodges and hitting shields hard enough to be safe in the former case, being slower than the latter and keeping Roxanne at a safe distance. A successful hit can set up early combos (or late ones with Up Special), and Forward Tilt into Side Special is a particularly mean way to push foes down field in a hurry.

Though it's poor for poking due to its late FAF, Forward Tilt's range and effectiveness against defensive plays are both wonderful additions to a Shedskin's tool set. Hit foes into the ongoing attack, force a response with Dash Attack or Jab, jump into the air to intercept an aerial escape route, it's just nice to have going on while you're in melee. Just mind how long your Shedskin is stuck in the input- itself a possible silver lining, combined with held Down Special, or circumvented by held Up Special.

Roxanne's Shedskins will happily topple Spires with the tail end of the attack, giving Roxanne time to forcibly cancel their attack with a Special, or maneuver herself where she can exploit it. Or she can do the same, starting the topple closer to FAF. In relation to Special Qualities, Forward Tilt demonstrates how all four work nicely with the model of 'poor start lag, decent end lag' that some of Roxanne's inputs fall under; Neutral Special forces foes to play footsies to poke them out of the move without being hit, Side Special can create obnoxious trails of fire that cover blindspots (especially countering crossups), Down Special means the foe has to hit the Shedskin twice to destroy it/prevents flinching, so they may end up trading a hit with a disposable minion, and Up Special allows easy follow-up regardless of knockback angle or strength to keep the pressure up.


Down Tilt:

From a squatting position, Roxanne braces her hands behind herself so she can sweep her legs forward, which shift into her tail in a blur to extend her reach dramatically. Curling her tail, she suddenly swings it back to hit behind herself, then pulls it inward as it reverts back to her normal legs. This attack is fast to come out and end, and has long reach to either side of Roxanne, but the animation is long, and the hitbox is low to the ground.

Lack of vertical coverage aside, Roxanne can hit opponents in front of her quicker than with her Forward Tilt, and even counter dodge rolls made to get behind her with the delayed second sweep. Either hit does 8% and modest knockback away from Roxanne, a late hit with the first sweep or any hit with the second allowing Roxanne to start a ground combo. The speed difference allows 50/50-ing with Forward Tilt, and is fast enough to catch foes that try to hop over thanks to the height closer to Roxanne- though this prevents shield poking except at the end of her reach.

She can use this odd hitbox shape to cover the gap between herself and a Cube without touching it, push over Spires from afar, or whack a Cube closer to her but too far for Jab 1 quickly. The lingering nature of the attack and her tail's length allows foes to poke her from afar on a miss, but enables her to 2-frame at ledge- provided she's careful not to let enough dangle past it that it's hit by a foe's recovery move.

Roxanne's kit gives her plenty of ways to threaten landings and aerial opponents, so giving her Shedskins wide land coverage works wonderfully. That vulnerable extra width from her tail is unfortunate, but it's very easy to follow up on the low knockback hits of the move, or threaten the air while her Shedskin covers the ground. Even if a foe pokes her Shedskin successfully, more bait for Roxanne to punish is always appreciated. Shedskins with the Side or Up Special benefits make for especially good recipients of this move- the long tail lash leaves flames across the ground, and Up Special lets them teleport after the victim to perform their own combo!


Up Tilt:

Roxanne turns to the side, head still facing forward as she lowers her scepter behind herself. Purple energy drips from its headpiece to the floor. Roxanne's two-handed grip tightens, and she swings the scepter up, over, and down in one smooth motion- rock and dust solidifying around the jewel and trailing its path all the way to the point it's held aloft in front of Roxanne, where it crumbles away to leave the jewel exposed once more.

Up Tilt is a reversal on Down Tilt; lacking horizontal ground range but having great vertical coverage, hitting behind Roxanne first and in front of her last, missing low crouches ahead of Roxanne a quick animation and modest lag, and so on. Hitting at any point in the animation inflicts 11% damage. The high-angle knockback is similar to Down Tilt's in strength, making it a good aerial combo starter to Down Tilt's ground combo enabling, and it goes without saying that it's a 50/50 with both of Down Tilt's hitboxes due to the flipped timing. It's a hair slow to use in melee, but can stuff an aerial approach on a read and start a juggle with the right spacing.

Cubes are hit up into the air at a steep angle, making for a mean response to people approaching you with a cube in the way; jumping over and rolling past are both covered this way. Up Tilt on its own isn't a particularly great move for Shedskins by contrast; it does enough damage and has enough of an angle to its knockback that foes won't be juggled for long, and is beaten by simply running up and attacking. It exists to complement other moves. Opponents who try to circumvent most of Roxanne's inputs and set-up can be countered by Up Tilt, as the above example shows. Even without moves that directly complement it, a Shedskin spamming the input while Roxanne uses her more aggressive forward-hitting attacks can be a headache to deal with!


Dash Attack:

Roxanne's body transforms again, Roxanne lowering herself closer to the ground as she continues charging forward. Her scepter is held close to the ground, magic sparking between it and the surface to create a swirling vortex of sand and stone that travels ahead of Roxanne as she slides forward.

She travels until she reaches the ledge, a few moments after hitting a foe, or after the button is released. Roxanne suddenly rights herself, sliding to a stop on her (newly reformed) knee and swinging her scepter up. The vortex stretches upward and vanishes into thin air, thinning away to nothing. The attack totals about 14% damage on hit and modest high-angle knockback that starts combos for most the stock and scales to KO foes at late percents. Roxanne drags her opponent about 2 Units forward before the attack launches them, possibly pushing them into danger.

Roxanne's low profile and continued movement (just a bit slower than her run speed) allows her to duck under some projectiles, the hitbox ahead of her powering through other attacks on approach. The low height of the hitbox gives Roxanne poor aerial coverage until release, so short-hopped aerials can counter it barring a hard read from Roxanne, but this risks Roxanne's anti-air options or her own Forward Aerial. The continued movement makes retaliating a little tricky without giving up ground, which risks Roxanne (or more rarely, the Shedskin) just waiting a moment before initiating.

Dash Attack can 50/50 with Roxanne's Dashing Grab, which is both slower and actually stops her in place (catching spot dodges). Dodge rolls will confound both, but Up Tilt and Down Tilt can cover that weakness, as can stopping short and performing Forward Tilt. Dash Attack can start combos and drag foes along into position, but it does have a bit of start up, and there's a delay before the final hit- not enough to let foes escape, but enough that if Roxanne misses, she'll be occupied with dismissing her magic spells long enough to be punished harshly.

Shedskins are at risk with this high-commitment move, but the aspects of lowering their hurtboxes beneath many projectiles and staying in motion as they attack, combined with the variable distance they can start and end the attack relative to the opponent, can make them frustratingly unpredictable to deal with. Roxanne can usually benefit from her Shedskin starting its Dash Attack regardless of how it carries it out, since even a failure resulting in its destruction forces foes to respond and gives Roxanne a decoy to run in behind (or ahead of, traveling a bit faster with her own Run Speed).

Those with the Neutral Special benefit are especially troublesome, able to survive a hit and continue charging forward unabated. With Side Special's benefit, they can create a lengthy trail of fire behind them, forcing foes to respond aggressively or abandon the platform entirely to avoid damage. Using the held variant of Down Special can 'pause' the Shedskin's attack, letting Roxanne create a delayed charging hitbox she can play off of easily, and held Side and Up Specials can abort the charge, former attacking in the process to counter a poke and latter being a safe bet.

This is also the first move that specifically benefits from being Roxanne's last input to spawn a Shedskin. While she can combo from the move as mentioned above, the end lag is long enough that she's limited in her options for it. A Shedskin with Up Tilt or a proper Aerial can spawn immediately during end lag, free to chase foes up with a higher commitment move! Provided Roxanne had one in her last three inputs; sometimes the benefit is just having a Shedskin there to cover her on whiff.

Cubes are dragged forward and shot upward by the attack, effectively replacing the hitbox with a much deadlier one, and Spires are toppled and charged through (foes smacked into the Spire and released under it in time to be crushed underneath). At high percentages where it isn't enough to KO but is too much to combo normally, Roxanne can abuse her Up Special to chain into an aerial and finish the job with a star KO- though this is risky, given she'll be teleporting right next to the foe. Better to let a Shedskin with the quality take the risk.



Aerials:

Neutral Aerial:

Roxanne points her scepter downward, a pair of small flames leaping from the sides of her scepter's jewel. Raising her scepter, she directs the two flames to split apart and spiral upwards around her, meeting again with the jewel and being subsumed into it with a small flash. Roxanne holds her scepter aloft for just a moment before returning to her neutral pose, with no effort visible during the entire motion.

Touching the flames deals 6% and modest knockback that scales slowly. The knockback is 'sort of' radial, as there's an upward adjustment applied; a hit below Roxanne keeps them relatively the same altitude and shoves them back horizontally, while hitting above herself has an extra upward push that is angled only slightly to the side. She can thus chain NAir into itself on lower foes once, and possibly lead into an UAir from there, if she's nearly on top of the foe. It starts/extends comboes in general due to varied knockback angles/low lag, and is a safe option out of Up Special's pursuing teleport.

This is a well-rounded bread and butter move that combos into some things early and spaces defensively late but lacks a lot of pragmatic use; its all around coverage gives Roxanne a nice fall-back option without expending her gauge on Neutral Special, and can be used to give Shedskins a reliable air move for when opponents are taking to the sky to avoid them and Roxanne's ground-focused set up. Lack of a stand out specialized benefit is the trade-off, more of an option for when Roxanne is dealing with a scenario where other aerials are too slow or lack the needed coverage. It's one of Roxanne's best ways to topple a Spire for a combo (approaching from the air and being positioned above the foe right after the hit/dodge), and can launch Cubes in a myriad of directions.

That said, the reach is a tad lacking, and the flames don't cover her upper half early or her lower half late. It's not a major issue for Roxanne herself, but can be a problem for Shedskins with their inherently limited move pool. Neutral Aerial's notable for being Roxanne's most 'spammable' move (Jab 1 hindered by the laggy Jab 2), thanks to both low start and end lag, and a brief animation.

That's intentional. Roxanne will never be able to spam three inputs faster than foes can perform one, thus her Shedskins will never be able to do the fighting for her- even before accounting for how utterly predictable their behavior becomes with only one input available to them. Every move Roxanne has possesses one or more of long starting lag, long ending lag, and exploitable blindspots. Her 50/50s, Specials, and set-up options all work to compensate for this weakness, and her set's sheer versatility makes it hard to predict her attacks. But Shedskins will always have three inputs at most, all of which the foe will know ahead of time, and maybe an extra one-shot trick up from her Specials. Neutral Aerial is a good 'always have something to use' tool for her Shedskin, but it won't accomplish anything alone.

Neutral Aerial does capitalize nicely off of Special Qualities, though! It's a fast move to use in the air when foes jump over Side Special flames, and is a safe move out of the Up Special teleport for comboing into something more reliable or spacing foes away from the recklessly aggressive Shedskin. Down Special makes it a little hairy to poke through the attack. Neutral Special is perhaps the only one that fails to impress, as it's slightly redundant with making foes poke from a distance, but it does cover Neutral Aerial's blind spot issue to an extent.


Forward Aerial:

Roxanne flips forward, legs fusing together to form her tail and scythe through the air in front of her with exaggerated force, returning to her normal legs as she finishes the flip by righting herself. Roxanne's tail is a lingering, long-reaching hitbox that does 8% and modest semi-spike knockback that scales slowly. It covers a generous area above and below her, though the reach is much shorter near the top and bottom of the hitbox due to her tail being only partially formed at those points.

The end lag as her legs return to normal is a bit on the long side, leaving the move punishable on whiff like most of her tail-based attacks between that and the long duration. The knockback's semi-spike angle enables Roxanne to use it like a weaker but better-reaching version of Mario's Forward Aerial, KOing later but functioning from over solid ground by the ledge. On the other hand, it's a terrible short-hop approach option in comparison to its contemporaries; its landing lag is noticeably bad, Roxanne landing on her side with a wince and an invuluntary kick as her legs seem to pull apart rather than smoothly de-fuse, and her high fall speed almost guarantees that she'll land before the end lag.

Hitting from a short-hop will return Roxanne to neutral at best, slamming foes onto the ground where they must tech or fall prone, or dropping them into a recovering low situation she can sort of act on. From a full-hop, she can shift into her ground game for easy follow-up as an air-to-ground combo option, becoming an air-to-air option at higher percents as foes are bounced off of the ground. With a platform, she can even hit foes such that they can't tech, and follow up against them from below with one of her traditionally anti-air options.

Given how many of Roxanne's tricks are avoided with a full hop, be it a Cube or Spire or a Shedskin with only ground-based moves, Roxanne appreciates the longer-lasting vertical hitbox Forward Aerial provides as a sort of 'wall'- especially when given to her Shedskins, who will happily use it to keep foes at bay as she attacks from the ground. Hitting the foe can knock them into whatever they were trying to evade in the first place, or just push them back as Roxanne lands safely and engages them on the ground again. Spawning a Cube from a platform and using Forward Aerial to volleyball spike it into a foe off-stage later is another, particularly cruel option.

Roxanne can 50/50 her Forward Aerial with her Side Special via timing (delay Side Special a bit) or reach (inch in to bait, fade back and Side Special to punish), letting her choose to rush in after the foe via Side Special or maintain distance with Forward Aerial and save Side Special for later in the same air trip/after landing. Finally, Forward Aerial -> Up Special Teleport -> Forward Aerial is a risky suicide KO option, Roxanne teleporting low to finish the job against a foe dropped low by the first hit. It's not quite fast enough to guarantee, but also just a hair to fast to react to- meaning it can psyche foes out into wasting a defensive option or precious time needed to recover, in some circumstances. At the very least, Roxanne can rest easy knowing she's very likely to trade stocks with it.

Shedskins that can teleport will absolutely abuse this option, for better or for ill, and some without will still aggressively pursue foes off stage- terrifying with Down or Neutral Special's respective benefits, the latter in particular creating a no win scenario for some foes. Like Dash Attack, Forward Aerial benefits from being the third move used to spawn a Shedskin due to it being able to act immediately after, and this goes for nearly all of Roxanne's high end lag moves. FAir and DAir in particular are great when this happens off stage- the Shedskin chasing the foe down to strike them again, finishing them off.


Down Aerial:

Roxanne bends her knees to build up power, then stomps downward- legs transforming into her tail again to whip down through the air with a crack, noticeably longer and narrower than normal. Her tail remains extended briefly before she pulls it back up and revert to her normal legs. The hitbox on this attack is narrow, being slightly less wide than Kirby at Roxanne's hips and thinning to a point, but is pretty long. Contact does 12% and moderate spiking knockback- not enough to properly kill super early, but enough to finish the job at any percent Roxanne can realistically send foes flying far.

The reach allows Roxanne to spike foes off stage somewhat safely despite her high fall speed, though the narrow hitbox requires precision and telegraphs her intention. Her tail remains extended during the lengthy end lag, leaving her vulnerable for a moment before it shifts back into her normal legs. The landing lag, by contrast, is noticeably shorter- Roxanne can cancel out of the lag from a short hop in the few situations she has both a platform beneath her and a foe lined up. This gives her a safe landing option against juggles and even can act as an anti-juggle tool thanks to the reach going through fall-through platforms!

Neither's particularly useful for a Shedskin, but it DOES lead to some interesting behaviors. Shedskins will hop above foes and attack from that angle as opposed to their usual frontal charge, leading to attacks from different angles as it goes for the Down Aerial and then transitions into some other attack with the appropriate movements; this can potentially teach Shedskins to 'crossup' foes while Roxanne is fighting them. The long lasting hitbox extension is also a downside... for the Shedskin itself.

For Roxanne, it's a one-shot (or two-shot with Down Special's Special Quality) wall that takes a hit for her, leaves vertical trails of flame behind across several platforms that can chain hits into each other (with Side Special's quality), or creates a very tall stunning explosion (with Neutral Special's held input or quality). Up Special doesn't teleport them high enough to get above opponents they launch, but they'll try regardless, and that's time foes waste smacking it out of existence or resources wasted rushing back to the stage around them.

In relation to Roxanne's kit, it doesn't lead into much; Roxanne can stage spike foes and use the landing lag to follow into Down Tilt or Up Tilt depending on percentage (both being fairly narrow windows). It can be used while crossing up to hit foes preparing for a hit from behind early, and Roxanne can even choose to take a hit for one of her Shedskins early on if she feels its own follow-up attack will be worth trading with the foe. A normal Up Special can also get her in position to use it and smack a Spire from up high, or spike a Cube off of the stage and get it higher into the air than most her other options (Dash Attack being an exception but having her drag it forward a bit first). It's mainly a defensive tool to get Roxanne back to neutral or a reckless kill option to finish a foe off/scare them with.


Back Aerial:

Roxanne draws her knees to her chest and forms her tail again, which is then swept through the air behind her with the sound of something sharp cutting through the air. When it stops behind her head, a metallic glint and a curled edge are visible briefly before her legs return. Roxanne's Back Aerial is quick on the draw and neither overstays its welcome, nor lingers for too long. The metal coloration- and thus the hitbox- only forms half-way through the swing, covering from below her to a short ways behind her up to her shoulders, making it useless against foes in front or those above her, but fantastic as an RAR approach option or on/against cross-ups.

Her tail does 11% and moderate low-angle knockback that scales slowly, always serving as more of a spacer than a KO option or combo tool- under normal circumstances. It can end a combo out of an early Side Special hit, or smack foes who dodged near its end point. Up Special's teleport of course allows her to combo off of the move, getting her in front of the foe to ping-pong them back the way they came with a Forward Aerial. Landing lag is not nearly as generous as Down Aerial, but Roxanne's quick recovery means she can actually use it as a short hop aerial, and fill some of the niches most fighters' Forward Aerial would fill at the cost of it not naturally flowing into other things too well. It's a useful trick to intercept foes jumping over an expected Dash Attack, too.

More importantly, it's a tool that her hyper-aggressive Shedskins can use to attack foes behind them, encouraging them to crossup or letting them deal with foes who just run past them. Should they hit in either circumstance, they'll send the foes flying toward Roxanne or another Shedskin that's been lagging behind, potentially setting up a short-lived game of tennis or batting them into a Cube/Spire/burning terrain. By writ of its hitbox and the straight-forward thinking of a Shedskin's AI, while it can potentially RAR with the move, it will most often try to get behind foes to use it- putting them between a two-pronged offensive with Roxanne on the other side.

Her high fall speed again means Roxanne is not equipped to exploit the move off stage, but again her disposable Shedskins are much more frightening with it; the angle obviously allows this move to stage spike, smashing foes against the terrain below a ledge to their probable demise at higher percents at the cost of it being difficult for her or her Shedskin to survive the process. Neutral and Down Specials' qualities give it better odds of surviving the crossup attempt, and Up Special's allows it to pursue a combo as described above, but the uncharacteristic lack of reach for a tail attack (trading off for less of the usual risk) means it doesn't do much with Side Special's quality.

Back Aerial gives struck Cubes a consistent amount of horizontal distance with a touch of vertical lift to catch airborne foes without missing grounded opponents, always letting Roxanne detonate a Cube at mid-range regardless of her current damage percentage.


Up Aerial:

Roxanne thrusts her scepter into the air, motes of light being pulled up from her body into the headpiece to surround its jewel. The energy expands outward as quickly as it formed, not exploding so much as popping (a bubble? who in their right mind would try to weaponize *that*?), creating a short-lived sphere-shaped AoE 1 Unit wide. Contact with the bubble does 12% and modest upward knockback that scales slowly- perfect for juggles for anyone who doesn't have Roxanne's high fall speed.

Roxanne suffers litte lag on either end, but the hitbox is centered directly above her, and doesn't share the long reach of her other directional aerials. It's a fairly safe attack that can be used to shark and threaten landings, but not so much halt aerial approaches due to a complete lack of horizontal range relative to Roxanne. At low percents, Roxanne can short hop, Up Aerial, and full hop into another aerial to threaten the falling foe; opponents have the chance to react, but are faced with a 50/50 depending on whether Roxanne short-hop Up Aerials again or full-hops into Neutral, Forward, or Back Aerial (depending on air dodge/DI direction).

While it doesn't directly mesh with the Shedskin special qualities themselves, Shedskins LOVE this move- give it to a pair of them and landing against Roxanne becomes a tremendous headache! Paired with another aerial, it can work with Up Special's quality (or Up Special itself for Roxanne) to enable air combos and potentially ladder foes upward by alternating Neutral and Up Aerial at normal KO percents (especially with a high starting vantage point).

This is one of Roxanne's few 'directly upward' knockback angles, and it's too high to hit a Cube on level; unlike Dash Attack, though, Roxanne doesn't need to commit nearly as hard- thus it's more optimal for vertically launching Cubes on high platforms when it's needed. It's just another way that Up Aerial is migraine inducing for recovering foes, as they'll need to weigh whether to fast fall, drift to the side, or dodge while Roxanne is standing below a Cube waiting for them.



Grab Game:

Grab:

Roxanne drops low suddenly, legs sliding behind her and melding one last time. With her new vantage point and a grimace, Roxanne swings her tail forward to wrap it around her foe. Should she miss, Roxanne loses her posture as one arm slides out of place and she is forced to lean onto the other to catch herself. It takes her a hot moment to pull her tail back in and tuck her feet under herself on a miss, Roxanne shakily rising for punishable end lag.

Roxanne's grab has slightly long start up, but not as much as one would expect from her track record of slow tail-based moves. It's enough that she can't just throw it out in melee without thought, but she can land a surprise grab between its reach and how well it 50/50s with her Jab and Dash Attack. Notably, the grab hitbox starts behind Roxanne slightly, letting her catch some cross-ups or even tomahawk grab facing the wrong way (such as from an aborted RAR attempt or foes dashing beneath her short-hopped aerial)!

Roxanne's high traction and the reach ensures her grab is always available out of shield, no matter how hard opponents hit it. Shedskins can't make use of this trick for lack of a shield, but they can use their special qualities to great effect with it. Neutral and Down Special special qualities make it easier for her Shedskins to land the grab, while Side and Up Specials' make it more rewarding; Roxanne's 'combo throw' is situational due to how it works, only working as an extender, so Up Special allows her and her Shedskins to follow up off of any of them. Side Special's special quality for Shedskins adds to the damage as foes are hit by the flames set by Side Special in their grab.

To top it all off, Roxanne's pummel is fairly effective at racking damage; it's very slow, but each 'pummel' deals 4 hits of 1.5% damage as she constricts her tail, a quartet of crackling noises and light leathery creak accompanying each hit as she squeezes her foes into submission.

That leaves one last thing to note: Roxanne's Shedskins will never attack a foe in her coils, too much chance of friendly fire (and balance-wise it'd lead to ridiculous damage racking from a single grab and/or the single-minded Shedskins ruining her plays). If another foe is within 3 Units of Roxanne or the Shedskin itself, they will continue harassing whatever foe is nearest to them as normal. If not, however, the Shedskins will dash into position 2 Units to either side of Roxanne (1 will move in front of her) and... wait, eerily still (standing animation paused). When Roxanne inputs a throw, the Shedskins will immediately begin moving into position to where the foe will be when they recover, ready to attack!


Forward Throw:

Roxanne smirks, adjusting herself so the foe is stuck in her coil behind her as she slips to and fro as she pleases. Forward Throw functions similarly to Donkey Kong's own cargo throw; opponents take 4% as she secures them with a tight, single coil while unraveling the rest of her tail. This lets her move around at her modest walk speed and utilize a single ground jump of decent height while carrying the foe. Pressing A again lets her throw the foe in a chosen cardinal direction- Roxanne focuses, muscles on her arms suddenly bulging as she takes hold of her foe, and she hurls them underhanded in the chosen direction hard enough to nearly throw herself into it.

Opponents take 8% damage and moderate knockback in the chosen direction (weak spiking knockback if down). This scales well, becoming a KO throw at later percents (provided Roxanne slips on over to the ledge first), though even early on she'll see some use from it; the opponent is a weak hitbox as they fly, doing 3% and flinching on contact- just enough to detonate a cube or start a Spire's collapse with them left under it. Without set-up, though, it's a reset to neutral option at best- Roxanne suffers lengthy end lag to contrast the short start up of the throw, so slamming the foe against the ground or trying to spike off-stage can leave her in a precarious situation, though the latter is a suicide KO option at percents below the normal KO threshold.

At higher percents, the stage spike can bounce victims into the air, where Roxanne will have time to recover and begin threatening their landing. She need not worry about the end lag with Shedskins nearby, also- they will happily rush in and begin beating on the foe... or she can consider this option as her third attack right before spawning a Shedskin! Opponents are not bounced up far, and the Shedskin appears right there- free to use even one of Roxanne's laggier high-commitment attacks to to brutalize the foe, or start their own combo she's free to join in on.

Shedskins go the extra mile in their mimicry of Roxanne with Forward Throw; they will always follow her exact inputs on performing the throw, running forward, jumping, and aiming the throw. Thus even if Roxanne does not grab a foe close enough to the ledge to toss them down toward the abyss, she can program a Shedskin to run forward (and past the ledge) and then hurl the grabbed foe after falling a ways. Spires can be used strategically to halt the Shedskin's movement in one direction and provide a second hit to the throw.

If she lands a grab on a high damage opponent and then KOs them (or she's in a fight with multiple foes), the lower damage opponent may escape before the Shedskin can throw them- which itself can be a boon. Roxanne can guess when and where they'll be released (varied slightly by how much they struggle to escape), freeing her up to land a Smash raw, or set up any number of painful surprises where the foe will be!


Down Throw:

Roxanne grimaces and tightens her grip on the foe. She suddenly lunges forward, light glinting off her extended incisors, and buries her transmuted fangs into the victim. As quickly as she struck, she retreats, a small droplet of green trailing her as she closes her mouth the only sign her teeth had ever changed. She whips her tail to lightly flick the foe away.

Foes take 6% and set low-angle knockback, just far enough that Roxanne's faster inputs won't reach. Roxanne is given a short frame lead, though her tech chasing options are limited when she performs the throw herself (Shedskins are another matter). She can threaten opponents who tech toward her or stand in place with Side Special and mid-range attacks with a read, but not those who tech away. Up Special CAN let her chase those foes, but she can be punished if they anticipated it. Jab 1 and Jab 2 work well on foes who stand and who tech back respectively, but the first is too fast and second too slow if they tech inward.

The animation and end lag are brief- not great for when Roxanne wants to capitalize on a Shedskin's throw, but workable. Roxanne can make more use of the short end lag with either a Spire or Side Special quality Shedskin to limit foes' tech options, or a Cube to throw them into. She can use Down Special to counter a retaliatory hit from faster foes she can't outspeed normally, and Down Special's special quality helps Shedskins power through with their own attack- Neutral Special filling similar roles. Like Forward Throw, Down Throw on a Shedskin can give Roxanne a predictable window; foes attempting to tech according to the Shedskin's other inputs are serving themselves up for Roxanne.

Still, Roxanne isn't great at tech chases; her reach is a boon, but laggy start up means most of her options aren't guaranteed even with a read. The need for set up or a hard read to take full advantage of the throw itself is a harsh limitation, but there's one more aspect that bears mentioning. As the green droplet mentioned before implies, Roxanne's bite was venomous! Exactly 3 seconds after the bite, the victim flinches and takes 8% damage, a green tint covering their model and a tiny spray of green from the area they were bit conveying the cause. This has absolutely no shield stun or damage, and dodging or other I-frames will nullify the effects with proper timing, but a foe who is flinching from another hit or mid-attack won't get a say in the matter.

This makes Roxanne's Down Throw a bizarre combo starter or even combo extender, albeit one with enough delay that she still has to work to make the most of it. In particular, she needs to be careful at high percentages- the flinching hit could interrupt a would-be KO.  Combined with her Shedskins and her own pressure options to punish shields or hit foes out of dodge, even properly blocking/evading the venom hit doesn't deprive Roxanne of a reward. At minimum, landing the venom damage adds up to make this a viable damage throw.


Back Throw:

Roxanne presses her hands to the ground, straining as she lifts her bulky tail- foe and all- overhead. Hurling herself onto her back, she rolls, tail swinging around with immense force to launch the foe. The sheer momentum of Roxanne's movement carries over even as her tail divides back into legs, righting her and helping her to stand.

The opponent takes 8% and strong knockback, which steadily scales into a KO throw. Even early, this spaces foes far from Roxanne, depositing them off-stage or tossing them to her Jab 2-spamming Shedskins. Roxanne herself can benefit from a Shedskin being given Back Throw and puppeteered/covered from medium range, where foes will be flung over her for an easy juggle or Back Aerial. She can set a Cube or Spire to intercept them, or get to higher ground and use Down Smash to catch them mid-flight.

The low end lag makes this a prime combo starter despite the knockback, thanks to Up Special. The knockback does still cause issues, in that it means pursuing foes off-stage and- by nature- deprives Roxanne of her recovery. Shedskins with the effect can pursue foes for punishing hits at no risk to Roxanne, but this can result in the fight shifting back and forth faster than she can follow, freeing foes from her once they inevitably destroy the Shedskin.

It's best to let nature run its course if the Shedskin lacks Down Special's armor to soak a hit (Neutral Special's quality won't stun foes long enough if Roxanne has to cross the stage), setting up with a quick move to produce a Shedskin, a Cube and/or Spire, etc. Or Roxanne can use her held Specials to milk the Shedskin for all it's worth, or retrieve it for further use via Up Special.


Up Throw:

Roxanne's expression pulls taught and her face reddens, loud cracking sounds accompanying her squeezing the opponent tight. Closing her eyes to give one last crushing push, the foe is shot upward with a comical 'pop!' that strongly resembles a champaign cork. The squeeze inflicts 12% damage and moderate, slow-scaling upward knockback. Roxanne reverts back to her normal self the instant foes are shot free, looking irritated that she can't seem to get the bone-crushing results she wanted, but otherwise being free to act.

The animation takes some time, a risky prospect in FFAs or with lingering hitboxes around, but is another easy move to play off when her Shedskin is the one doing it. This is intentional, as a Shedskin landing a throw requires Roxanne successfully do so herself first, followed by the laggy grab being landed by an easily destroyed and highly predictable minion.

Using Up Throw herself leads into Roxanne's anti-air and juggle options, or a full-hop aerial if she's feeling daring. She's unlikely to KO off the top, even with a high platform and low blast zone, but she can threaten landings or exploit the time it takes for foes to return. Up Special can let her transition into her air game to redirect them with an extra hit. With a Shedskin doing the deed, Roxanne has many more options- run in and launch foes out of the throw, using their briefly stationary position for Forward Smash to land a KO, or getting above her Shedskin to immediately chain a heavy hit out of the throw and let her Shedskin attack again.

A well-placed Spire can redirect opponents' knockback, bouncing them horizontally into a Dash Attack follow-up or Jab 2 projectile. A high-up Cube is unlikely to be directly overhead, but can limit the foe's DI options or cost them an air dodge by being close enough. Roxanne's follow-up aerial can hit foes in any direction she pleases if she lands it (harder without a Shedskin handling the throw, but the reads aren't too risky).

With a higher platform, Roxanne can leave foes prone at certain percentages, then shark with her Up Aerial for a respectable one-two punch of damage that gives her added breathing room, also setting up her Shedskin with two highly synergetic inputs (the third is best devoted to a ground move that 50/50s with her grab to cover her bases, and later in stock she also has the chance to add a Special Quality!). Up Throw is the easiest way to get a Shedskin, an evergreen option, and a situational tool that can lead into any aspect of her game plan with minimal preparation.



(Fun detail with Shedskins: the better the player's grasp on Roxanne's conventional combo strings and mix-ups, the more effective her Shedskins become, given they always adopt the last three non-Special moves Roxanne used.)

(Has a decent number of 50/50s, and the typical heavyweight issue of doing singular big hits that are poor fits for combos due to frame data or having too much knockback. Shedskins circumvent this issue; they can hit foes toward Roxanne, or in a way that she can rush in and capitalize on with her own move to start a combo, and Roxanne can purposefully pick her moves to set up a Shedskin to perform the other half of her desired 50/50s- thus she can create a Morton's Fork scenario of opponents responding to one attack just to be hit by the other, or double down on a given attack to land an unexpected one-two hit when opponents attempt to respond to the expected paired input and take the Shedskin's weaker hit on the chin.)