Joker (SSBU)/Neutral aerial

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Hitbox visualization showing Joker's neutral aerial.

Hitbox visualization showing Joker's neutral aerial when Arsène is active.

Overview[edit]

Joker spins in the air while slashing with his knife. It only has a single hitbox that is deceptively small and one of the smallest of any normal attack's collective hitboxes, but the long duration and constant hitbox interpolation compensate for this. Being frame 12, it has the second highest start-up of any of Joker's aerials, beaten only by down aerial with 13 frames of start-up. However, its slow start-up has mixup potential in catching certain defensive options such as spot dodges and rolls, giving it additional utility in ledgetrapping scenarios. The final active frames of the slash cover his front a second time, potentially faking out opponents that dodged the first part of the slash.

While its speed and lack of range makes it a poor out of shield option (frame 15 when buffered out of a short hop) compared to forward aerial and back aerial, it makes up for this with its low landing lag, allowing it to start combos at lower percentages while also being relatively safe on shield (-5 at best). It is a relatively weak neutral aerial, limiting its KO potential to gimps or off-stage edgeguards.

When Arsène is active, he covers Joker's back side with a secondary disjointed hitbox that is lower in damage, but slightly stronger in knockback. This greatly reduces Joker's blind spots and makes it more potent at catching defensive options and jumping opponents. Since the two hitboxes are separate parts, it can indirectly improve Joker's combo potential and or safety on shield by hitting again shortly before he lands. It can also catch shield drops with the second hit after a shielded first hit.