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Ebitan

Ebitan is a generic zombie from the House of the Dead series. Resembling a rotting human corpse covered in green slime, Ebitans tend to lurk in dank watery areas like sewers or the Curien Mansion’s courtyard pool. Like all zombies in the original House of the Dead, Ebitan is a creation of Dr. Curien, which also means there are a bunch of him running around for you to shoot.

Unique to most unique zombie types in the series, Ebitan shows up in all four numbered installments, though he skips two of the spin-off games. This makes him basically the most prolific “character” in the franchise, only really rivaled by Agent G. Most zombies in the original House of the Dead play off of specific zombies in popular culture, with Ebitan most likely taking after the Tarman from Return of the Living Dead, a zombie that the HotD wiki calls “one of the most famous zombies ever”, and the inventor of zombies eating brains.
It is currently unknown if Ebitan needs brains, let alone more of them.

Stats
Weight – 90
Walk Speed – 0.76
Run Speed – 1.18
Air Speed – 0.88
Fall Speed – 1.8
Ebitan is, as you would expect from a shambling corpse driven on instinct alone, not very fast. His stats pretty much speak for themselves, he’s slow on the ground and the air, and the only thing he’s fast at is plummeting to the ground. He’s also fairly light, since there isn’t much meat on him. All this makes him a pretty easy target.

For his model, Ebitan is slightly shorter than most of the average human characters, and he would match them in size if he stood up… but he’s a zombie, so he slouches forward, making him a bit shorter and slightly wider. For his jumps, Ebitan can reach 3 Blocks on his first jump, and then a very pitiful 2.5 Blocks on his second, making it the worst in the game.

So yeah, Ebitan is exactly what you would expect from a zombie.

Specials
Neutral Special – Putrefaction
Ebitan rears his head back, and then spews out a stream of green slime and rot. This functions like an unstorable version of F.L.U.D.D., charging the same way and having the same water-esque effects when fired, only now puke green, and with different ranges. Basically, with no charge Ebitan will spew out a bit of dribbling slime with a very short range (1 Block), while at full charge he will fire out a full stream of bile at a much farther distance (5 Blocks).

This has the same pushing effect that FLUDD has as well but being that this is rotting bile and not pure water, it also has a hitbox on it as well. The stream deals multiple hits of 2% for as long as the opponent is trapped in it but deals no knockback outside of flinching. The amount of times the attack hits depends on when the opponent is struck by it, obviously, but the flinching means they’ll at least take a few hits before getting out. A full charge can get 30% damage at maximum hits. The pushing is enough to make this safe on hit from any charge. Also, being corrosive bile, the thing deals heavy shield damage and can chew through them quickly, like any good zombie should be able to. Ebitan can also aim the attack up and down, much like FLUDD.

The starting and ending lag on the attack is mostly just mediocre, much sower than FLUDD, even though charging takes the same amount of time. Lastly, hitting with the slime at all will result in the opponent getting a poison status effect similar to Eiga’s for the next 5 seconds, meaning you can get even for damage off of it. This is a good projectile to throw out in order to pressure opponents, as it covers a lot of range and can deal a lot of damage. Its mediocre speed and the unstorable charge are major downsides, however.

Down Special – Murky Horror/Unstable Specimen
On input, Ebitan goes limp for a moment as some of his slime slides off of him and onto the ground, creating a puddle of green sludge on the ground. This takes up roughly 1.5 Blocks of space and doesn’t seem to do much beyond that. The puddle will remain on the stage indefinitely and will act as a passive hitbox to opponents who stand on it, causing them to take 1% damage every half-second they stand on it. This isn’t a very good damage dealing trap or anything, and the starting lag for this attack is pretty bad (Though endlag is actually pretty decent), so why use it?

For one, Ebitan has a few interactions with the puddle. Using Putrefaction while standing on the puddle will cause Ebitan to absorb it and fire a fully charged bile stream without having to charge it. I don’t think I really need to state why this is useful. Also, if you aim a fully charged Putrefaction at the puddle, this will, uh, “upgrade” it, the extreme rot turning it brown and making it bubble. This upgrade boosts the damage to 2% every half-second, but only lasts for 40 seconds before the puddle returns to normal. This is something we’ll get back to in a moment.

If Ebitan crouches while standing on a puddle, all but the top of his head will be submerged, giving him a crouch that matches Kirby’s in height. While resting in the puddle, Ebitan will slowly regain health, at 0.5% every 0.45 seconds. If Ebitan double taps the stick down while standing on a puddle placed on a thin platform, he’ll pop in and then reappear below the platform, hanging upside down from its bottom. He’ll then perform a quick grab, faster than his actual grab, and if it hits, he’ll drag the opponent up and return to the top of the platform, entering his normal grab. The opponent can’t start trying to escape until Ebitan fully enters his normal grab.

If the attack is used in the air, Ebitan will enter the limp animation until he hits the ground, where the puddle will be created, still with no hitbox attached to it. No, you cannot use this out of a shorthop, as it requires more airtime than the shorthop allows, and will just cancel you out of the attack. This is the only way to cancel out of the attack, though, as Ebitan will just keep falling. Using it offstage is basically suicide with no reward (Not that there is any reward in suicide).

The most interesting part of this move is that it changes completely when used while a puddle is already on stage (Which also means Ebitan can only have one on stage at a time). With this second input, Ebitan will start to shake disconcertingly, before popping like a big, pus filled balloon! This acts as a fairly small range hitbox that hits in a circular area that covers 2 Blocks vertically and horizontally. On hit, the explosion will deal 15% damage with high knockback that can KO at 110%. It also inflicts the poison effect.

If you haven’t noticed, Ebitan just exploded. Why? Perhaps it was because of some unstable science-y things, or maybe he was shot from offscreen, it doesn’t matter. That Ebitan you were playing as is now dead, and in addition to the explosion, his limbs, head, and a strange curved knife (We’ll get to this soon enough) fly out of him. Ebitan’s body parts (Five in total, arms, legs, and head) are all throwing items that deal 4%, while the curved knife is a weapon item that acts like the Beam Sword, but permanently stuck at half the range of the actual Beam Sword blade, making it very short ranged, but still usable.

But yeah, how exactly are you supposed to play if your character has re-died? The answer is simple: A new Ebitan spawns from the puddle you placed! Yes, this is actually a recovery, with the main use being to use the explosion when knocked off-stage. The new Ebitan spawning has a grab hitbox that acts like the one while he’s hanging upside down, but without the delay to normal grab stance. The important part here is that the puddle will disappear when the Ebitan spawns, meaning that you’ll have to place another down. Also, the new Ebitan retains the same damage as the previous one, because it would be stupid not to.

The explosion gradually gets smaller the more you use it per-stock. It will eventually shrink down to covering a 2x2 grid of Blocks, functionally just covering Ebitan’s own model and hurtbox. There can also only be one of each of Ebitan’s body part items on stage at once (per Ebitan player), and if the throwing items are thrown off stage, they won’t be able to be spawned until the Ebitan after the next one you use is created and then blown up.

We’re still not done, since something special happens if a new Ebitan spawns while an upgraded puddle is on stage. If this happens, the Ebitan will now be a brownish color. This doesn’t improve any of his stats, but it does boost his defensive abilities, giving him 30% worth of armor that lets him move through any attack without being launched. Once the 30% is used up, he’ll return to the normal green color. With every use of this per-stock, it will lose 5% of the armor.

This is an incredibly good recovery for a character who REALLY needs it. This is all on top of the other things the attack can do. We aren’t even done with the puddle, actually, there’s a lot more for it to do coming up. The obvious downsides of using it is that it’s very slow and has no hitbox attached to it, making it very difficult to create in a reasonable amount of time.

Side Special – Chains of Death
Mimicking his tarrier older brother, Ebitan whips his hand forward as best he can, shooting out chain from his palm. The chain fires forward 6 Blocks and has some heavy start-up lag that makes it fairly telegraphed. The chain acts as a command grab, as it latches onto opponents and brings them closer… only it does so in a fairly interesting way. The opponent will get stuck to the chain, which will gradually be slurped back up into Ebitan’s body and thus pulls the opponent in close. Without any movement, this takes a full minute to complete, with the opponent simply being let go unceremoniously once the chain is pulled all the way in. Also, the chain deals 5% damage with very little knockback. When the chain attaches to the opponent, it will sort of slide through Ebitan’s body until it comes out of his chest rather than his hand.

If Ebitan uses the input while the chain is stuck to an opponent, he will pull on it, forcing the opponent into a knockback state that pulls them towards the rotting monster. This isn’t fixed knockback, as it scales with how much damage the opponent has. For example, if the opponent is at 200%, then Ebitan will be able to pull the opponent right to him from the maximum distance. This means it isn’t exactly great knockback, but it’s still there and is still very useful at getting opponents close due to Ebitan’s bad speed. Unfortunately, the pulling animation is ALSO very slow, and leaves him vulnerable the entire time. Though this might be obvious, the pull removes the amount of chain based on the distance the opponent is knocked forward, meaning that, with the above example, that one pull would end the chain instantly.

Ebitan can still move while the opponent is trapped, and in turn the opponent can as well. Aside from the pull, this is a very basic MYM tether attack. It helps keep the opponent close in, making up for Ebitan’s bad speed and very close-range attacks. If Ebitan goes offstage with the chain, it will snap when it hits the edge, freeing the opponent and basically putting the Ebitan to death (ironically, even if you use his recovery). This isn’t actually a bad thing, as clever usage can lead to set ups involving the puddle/grab. In addition, Ebitan can still get in one more pull if the input is used off-stage and will only activate when the chain hits the edge of the stage. This will only deal half the knockback it would normally, and the chain breaks directly after. Useful if you need a quick boost to get the opponent in the right place. Ebitan cannot pull himself towards the opponent in this case, however.

The chain isn’t a recovery tool, as it will simply bounce off ledges if fired. If the chain misses, it will flop to the ground, and slowly start being pulled in. This takes as long as it normally does to fully retract, but it’s purely cosmetic and Ebitan can use the attack again at any time. It also means the attack has very low ending lag. The chain can also be used to pull in items, which happens instantly because that would be silly.

Finally, the chain has a very special property. Being a command grab, it can hit through shields, but that’s not all. Due to the pulling input, Ebitan can pull opponents out of their shield, leaving them completely vulnerable. This doesn’t break the shield, but it does deal 5% shield damage so it can potentially break the shield. Anyway, having a way to pull an opponent out of their shield, giving them an incentive to not use it while tethered, makes this move fairly ridiculous.

Up Special – Swarm
Ebitan rears back, and then lets out an ear-piercing screech, alerting his zombie comrades. Two generic zombies will raise up from the ground and proceed to mindlessly chase whatever the closest opponent is. Before we get into details, we have to talk about the screech itself. The scream creates a circular hitbox around Ebitan that deals 8% with decent upwards knockback. The attack is rather slow, making it hard to actually hit with, with not much reward, but it acts as decent protection during the move itself. The attack has minimal ending lag as well, but the start-up is bad enough that you probably won’t want to use this that often – fortunately, that’s something you don’t have to do.

For the zombies themselves, they’re based on the generic zombies that show up in the House of the Dead series, and are actually slightly taller than Ebitan, thanks to having a less hunched posture, though they are still quite hunched over. The zombies are very slow, about the same speed as Ganondorf’s old man walk, and have the most basic AI pattern you can imagine, simply chasing after which opponent is closest. They don’t have the ability to jump but can fall off of ledges if there is safe ground underneath it. This can potentially result in the zombies being trapped with nowhere to go, like the brainless goofs they are. This mostly only happens on larger stages, however.

The zombies can act as good pressuring tools, as they are very relentless in their chase. When a zombie reaches an opponent, they will lock them into a grab. The zombie then proceeds to rapidly bite the foe for 2% damage each bite, the opponent can fairly easily escape as the grab only has 1.5x mashing resistance, but they will take a bit of damage no matter what. The zombies are weak, only being able to take 15% damage before re-dying, and their grab has low priority. There isn’t a whole lot the zombies are capable of really doing aside from applying brief pressure.

Instead of leaving his zombie friends to their fate, it’s actually more suggested that Ebitan attacks alongside them, creating a classic zombie swarm scenario. Overwhelm the opponent with the three zombies and rack up some extra damage. The foe being grabbed by a normal zombie leaves them completely open to Ebitan’s other attacks, potentially letting him get in a Putrefaction or attach a chain to them. At higher percents he could even get off a KO move. There’s a lot to work with here.

As mentioned earlier, the zombies can tend to get stuck in silly places. Thankfully, Ebitan has his chains with him in order to help get them out of those situations, as they can indeed latch onto the zombies. Ebitan can pull them around freely, even up into the air. It behaves very differently compared to when an opponent is attached, making it a lot easier to position the zombies. Also, while Ebitan can only have two zombies helping him at a time, he can still use the screech. This will cause the zombies to move away from chasing the opponent and attempt to get as close as they possibly can to where the screech was. Once they reach that point, they will return to their old behavior.

Finally, the move has a special interaction with Ebitan’s slime puddle. If one is on the stage, and Ebitan uses his screech within 4 Blocks from it, instead of the two generic zombies, it will now summon up a Ko Ebitan. Ko Ebitan is a much shorter version of Ebitan, roughly half his height, with an even more hunched stance. Despite this short height, Ko Ebitan is stronger and faster than the generic zombies. He can take 30% damage, and moves at Mario’s speed, making him SUBSTANCIALLY faster than his normal counterpart.

Ko Ebitan is far more aggressive, though still with the same basic AI pattern. Ko Ebitan can jump, however. On the ground Ko Ebitan has a generic swiping attack that deals two hits of 3%, and in the air it has a leaping pounce attack that turns Ko Ebitan’s tiny body into a hitbox that deals 10% damage with decent knockback. Downside with the leaping attack is that Ko Ebitan will always use it while very far from the opponent, as the attack has a stupidly long reach, roughly 8 Blocks wide and it unfortunately can go off ledges. Ko Ebitan will use this attack very liberally, so you don’t have to worry about it too much. If a dagger from the an exploding Ebitan is on the stage, Ko Ebitan can grab it and turn his swipe into a swipe with a knife that now deals tow hits of 5%. If he comes in contact with any loose body parts, if he’s full on health he will throw them, but when not at max health, he will quickly chomp them down to restore 10%.

Ko Ebitan can also be attached to the chain, creating a rather odd-looking situation that some dude on Tumblr would think is hot. I digress. The chain can help keep Ko Ebitan from leaping off the stage, and also help keep him out of trouble he isn’t prepared for, as being so small makes him very light, which means problems when facing certain, heavier characters. Ko Ebitan also works well alongside Ebitan when attacking, much like the generic zombies. Ebitan can’t have a Ko Ebitan and the two generic zombies out at the same time, and creating a Ko Ebitan uses up a puddle, making it sort of a risk-reward factor.