Shantae, the Half Genie Protector of Scuttle Town! (A Switch To A New WayForward) (2024)

Moves:

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Shantae Moveset

Gameplay Synopsis
Shantae uses her different forms to fulfill certain requirements during the match. Her human form has decent tools to use in all situations, but she can become great at certain tasks by switching to her different forms. For example, her monkey form can be used to approach and start harassing an opponent, her elephant form can be used to punish predictable opponents, her spider form can be used to harass slow characters and heal herself, and her harpy form can be used for edgeguarding. All of her forms are most likely the best in the game at what they do, but they are all severely limited individually and most are scary to be off-stage with. Thankfully, it's easy to transform back into Shantae whenever you are done with whatever you transformed for. Shantae while in her human form has the best all-around abilities by far, but even in this form she is encouraged to transform so that she can still have fun while her Special Moves recover. Custom moves are encouraged for use by players that prefer to be in her animal forms more frequently, as they would not mind that it takes her more powerful Special Moves longer to recover.

Stats

Weight: Medium-Light. A little bit lighter than Marth.
Fall Speed: Medium-Slow. A little faster than Olimar.
Air Speed: Sort of slow. Same as Fox.
Jump Height: Somewhat high. Same as Luigi.
Dash Speed: On the slower side. Same as the Ice Climbers.
Walk Speed: Also slow. Same as Ice Climbers as well.
Special Moves
Neutral Special

Pike Ball: One steel ball flies in a circle around Shantae. The ball will fly around Shantae for 3 seconds and hit opponents for 3% and very light knockback. This move can be toggled off by hitting neutral special again. If toggled off, it will save the amount of time it takes to recover from this move. For example if Shantae toggled Pike Ball off one second before it ended, it would shave two seconds off of the recovery time. Normally it would take 6 seconds before Shantae can use it again.
Custom 1: Super Pike Ball - Shantae summons two Pike Balls instead of one. This version takes 9 seconds until it can be used again.

Custom 2: Mega Pike Ball - Shantae summons three Pike Balls instead of one. This version takes 12 seconds before it can be used again.

Forward Special

Fire Ball: Shantae shoots a fireball that travels full screen. It has a very quick start up and almost no end lag. The projectile does 13% and has about as much knockback as a half-charged Charge Shot from Samus. However she can only use it every 12 seconds.

Custom 1: Spitfire - Shoots a Fireball diagonal up, diagonal down, and forward. Can only be used every 24 seconds.

Custom 2: Flamethrower - A huge and powerful flamethrower; bigger than Bowser's and with less lag. Lasts for a maximum of 3 seconds. It takes 12 seconds before it can be used again. Stopping flamethrower early saves recovery time.

Up Special

Storm Puff: Shantae rides a cloud that floats upward for three seconds and then once its reaches its apex, it shoots lightning downward in three directions for 6 seconds. Each lightning strike does 8%. They can be moved left and right by attacking them. Shantae is free to do whatever she wants while on the cloud and it restores her jumps because it acts as a platform. Her Up Special is so practical because it can be used so infrequently. After a storm puff is activated it takes 18 seconds before another one can be activated.
Custom 1: Super Storm Puff - A cloud appears under Shantae that causes an upwards burst of wind 2 seconds later. The wind lasts 1 second. It can be moved left and right with attacks, even while wind is being pushed out. Shantae can use her Up Aerial to maximize the distance that she gets sent by the wind. It takes 26 seconds before this move can be used again.
Custom 2: Mega Storm Puff - Similar to Super Storm Puff, but instead of wind there is large explosion effect. If Shantae is standing on the cloud while it is exploding, Shantae will be blasted in the direction she is in relation to the cloud, much like Ness' Up Special but goes much farther to make up for its long activation time and extremely infrequent use. Being hit by Shantae after she gets blasted does 20% and high knock-back, but she enters free-fall after use. It takes 35 seconds before this move can be used again.

Down Special

Belly Dance: If Belly Dance is pressed and then a direction is immediately pressed afterward, she will transform after 30 frames of doing the corresponding dance. Each form has an "Attack" move and a "Special" move, with the exception of the Harpy. This move can only be used on the ground. Turning back into Shantae uses the same input and also must be on the ground. The transformation back into Shantae only takes one frame. The different transformations are below.

Monkey

Shantae transforms into a monkey with the Right input. Monkey form makes Shantae as light as Kirby, able to dash as fast as Pikachu, jump as high as Falco, and have the aerial movement speed of Wario. The Monkey can also cling to walls.

Attack move: Monkey Claw. A very simple claw attack that comes out fast and retracts quickly. Can be used in the air and on the ground. Does 6% and only moderate knock-back.

Special move: Pressing anything but Down Special will activate the Monkey Bullet. This move functions exactly like Fox's Side Special, but it goes much farther, has no lag, will cling to walls like Lucario's up b. The downside is that it travels much slower and offers no invincibility. 4%

Elephant

Shantae transforms into an elephant with the Left input. Elephant form makes Shantae as heavy as Bowser, slow as Jigglypuff, and the worst jump height in the game.

Attack Move: Elephant Ram. Shantae rams into the opponent as an elephant and it does a whopping 23%. This is Shantae's strongest move. This move functions like Wolf's forward smash, but it goes farther, travels more slowly, does a lot of shield damage, and has super armor during it. This can be used in the air. Despite having high knockback, at low percents this move can combo into the Elephant's Special Move if Shantae falls off an edge during the attack.

Special Move: Elephant Stomp. If used on the ground, this causes the elephant to jump and crash down automatically. This move does 15% and functions like Donkey Kong's Down Special, but with even more range. If used in the air this move causes the elephant to drop to the ground like the Bowser Bomb, but with full super armor. Hitting someone on the way down will also do 15%.

The reason I made Elephant Form so ridiculous is because she has very poor options in this form if the opponent tries to gimp her because she can't use Up Special. This way if the opponent tries to juggle her off the edge, she can get to the ground easily or push her way back on stage with an aerial "Attack Move".

Spider

Shantae transforms into a spider with the Down input. In Spider Form, Shantae retains all of her regular characteristics such as her weight and fall speed.

Attack Move: Spider Venom. This attack shoots balls of venom at the opponent rapidly. This move is exactly like Megaman's blaster while standing, moving and jumping, but it fires larger shots.

Special Move: Web Shot. This move fires a line of web at the opponent. If it touches them, they are stunned for an equivalent amount of time as they would be if they were buried at the same percent. If Shantae passes through their hurtbox while they are stunned, she will stun them even longer as though she is using Robin's Nosferatu. If the line of web she shoots touches the edge, it will act as a grapple. Kind of like Sheik's Brawl Side Special, but longer.

Harpy

Shantae transforms into a Harpy with the Up Input. In Harpy Form, Shantae becomes as light as Kirby, has the fall speed of Link, and has traction even worse than Luigi's. Her traction is really that bad in the game. However, Shantae has 7 jumps in this form.

Attack Move: Harpy Talon. Shantae use her talons to strike at the opponent. The attack is located toward the bottom of her body, so she must be above the opponent or right next to them for the most part. This move does 6% and doesn't have much knock-back. This move can be used in the air or on the ground.

The Harpy has no Special Move. I tried to make the Harpy primarily useful for being offstage and getting gimps.

Custom 1: Aggression Point - All of Shantae's forms do 1.3x as much damage at the expense of being 0.5x as light.
Custom 2: Healing Dance - For every 5% damage that Shantae's opponents have, Shantae can recover 1% by dancing. The move no longer heals her for the % of her opponents that she already used. For example, if Shantae's opponent is at 50% and Shantae uses this move, she will heal 10%. If her opponent gets to 60% and Shantae uses this move again, it will heal her for 2% as opposed to 12%. If multiple opponents are on the screen, it will divide the result by the number of opponents.

Jab/Dash Attack
Jab: Whips rapidly with ponytail. Attacks at the same rate as Villager's repeated jabs with the same amount of damage and cooldown, but with more range. 3%

Dash Attack: Does the "Tiara" ability from Shantae. The animation is similar to Megaman's dash attack, but Shantae floats upwards when she does it and it goes farther, which could be both a good and a bad thing. 6%

Smashes
Forward Smash: The "Cuff" ability from Shantae. This ability's quirk is that it has no charging animation, so opponents can't tell what you're doing. When released, Shantae charges forward with an elbow dash that goes considerably farther forward than Wolf's, but at a slower speed. 12%-17%

Up Smash: The "Boot" ability from Shantae. Shantae does a backflip while doing two kicks directly upward. This move puts her into the air at about half her full hop height, where she can do aerial attacks. Kind of like Metaknight's Up Smash in Brawl Minus if you've ever played it. 9%-14%.

Down Smash: Shantae crouches and spins in a circle, while her hair attacks people. 10%-15%

Aerials
Forward Aerial: Flintlock Pistol. Shantae fires her pistol at the opponent. Works the same as Villager's slingshot, but is slower and does more damage. 9%

Back Aerial: Same as forward aerial, but in the opposite direction. 9%.

Neutral Aerial: Shantae whips her ponytail forward in a similar animation to her jab. 3%

Up Aerial: Shantae holds her Pirate Hat above her head to attack opponents. Does almost no damage, but slows her decent dramatically and stays out for a while. 1%

Down Aerial: Uses the "Sash" ability. this causes Shantae to do a spinning dive kick at the opponent in a completely diagonal angle. 8%

Throws
Initial Grab: Longer than normal throw with slightly more start up.
Bash: Smashes her hips into the opponent while belly dancing. 3% each, about the same pace as Mario's.
Forward Throw: Throws them forward. Pretty straight forward. 7%.
Back Throw: Does a back flip and releases them as she's moving. 8%, better knockback.
Down Throw: Stomps on them while they're on the ground. 6%
Up Throw: Throws them straight upward. 7%

Final Smash
Protectors of Scuttle Town: Sky, Wrench, and Bolo appear on screen and follow around Shantae. Bolo swings his morning star weapon around in circles with massive range on both sides. Sky attacks enemies close to Shantae and knocks them forward, while Wrench flies above all of them to catch opponents that try to jump over Shantae.
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Here's a preliminary moveset idea I had:

N-Special: Dance (Shantae begins to dance. Putting in another special input will create a transformation for Shantae to use.)
U-Special: Storm Puff (throws it underneath her as she bounces upward. It can also be used on ground like a shorter and less powerful version of Pikachu's thunder)
S-Special: Fireball (think Din's Fire, but explodes on contact)
D-Special: Pike Ball (Creates a Pike Ball that swirls around her. Hitting an opponent with it will cause it to damage them, and disappear. It has noticable start-up lag, but she can have two at once. They disappear once Shantae uses a transformation.)

Combined with her Dance, these inputs create new transformations. Shantae can actually chain the normal transformations and use two of them in succession, but will always end up in reverting back to normal and going into helpless. Chaining these combos allow for unique attacks and possibilities. However, due to the lag:

N-Special: Using dance twice won't transform her; instead, she'll fire a speedy Flash Bolt. Good for playing mind games.
S-Special: Monkey Bullet (transforms into a monkey and leaps forward in a powerful corkscrew. Can actually wall-cling if directed to a wall. After finishing, she'll transform back and go into helpless.)
U-Special: Harpy (becomes a harpy and bursts upwards. Reverts to normal and becomes helpless.)
D-Special: Elephant Stomp. (transforms into an elephant and does an extremely powerful ground pound. Reverts back to Shantae. Think Bowser Bomb. Unlike other attacks, this one can be acted out of quickly in chains to use one of Shantae's normal specials.)

Shantae's main unique feature is her large amount of possible specials, most of which allow for interesting combos. I might give the rest of the moveset a try eventually. My only problem so far is finding her Final Smash.
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