King K. Rool (SSBU)/Neutral special

Overview
pulls out his Blunderbuss and shoots a Kannonball from Donkey Kong Country 2. He then proceeds to attempt to suck in an opponent or a Kannonball through the Vacuum function (officially called Suck Up). Blunderbuss is an extremely crucial move to King K. Rool's boxing capabilities in neutral, as well as maintaining the advantage state. When Blunderbuss begins, K. Rool enters a 25 frame long "preparation stance" before the game decides to shoot a Kannonball or begin Vacuum, based on whether a Kannonball is active or not.

Kannonballs
Kannonballs are mainly used to control space and thus limit opponent's options in competitive play. This is usually done through analyzing the opponent's habits and then responding with either grounded Kannonballs, or full hop ones. These control different levels, with grounded ones forcing aerial approaches and full hop ones forcing the opponent to play grounded or full hop over the Kannonball themselves. King K. Rool can approach alongside this to build pressure, or use Crownerang to cover the leftover space. If a platform is in the way, one can hold down to force K. Rool to ignore the platform while shooting the Kannonball.

Kannonballs have extremely high hitlag when they connect, which allows them to be great combo tools and + on shield at range. This can also be used to confirm dash grabs, particularly those used from a dash attack cancelled dash grab. The Kannonball's high damage also enables it to beat out projectiles in some matchups (Such as 's Fireballs). These factors also allow Kannonballs to be extremely useful for hitconfirming dash attack or forward tilt for around 30% from a small interaction. Holding Vacuum if a Kannonball hits at close range guarantees a Vacuum Throw, allowing for a ~30% combo at lower percentages. In this case, using Blunderbuss's up throw is recommended to force landing situations, which can potentially allow for an up aerial frame trap.

Offstage, Kannonballs can be used to restrict recovery routes. Thanks to buffs in 6.0.0, Kannonballs have legitimate KO potential offstage at higher percentages, giving them a significant threat factor. K. Rool players often abuse this to get offstage neutral aerial and forward aerial hits for gimps or KOs. This can also be used alongside Crownerang for more effective coverage, however, the KO potential is greatly dampened. It's also possible to full hop and delay a B-reversed Kannonball to have it fall off the ledge, hitting opponents recovering low and confirming back aerial. This commonly sees play among Japanese King K. Rool players like Chirori, though western players are averse to it due to the setup required.

Vacuum
During the period a Kannonball is out, Vacuum becomes available, and a Kannonball is active for 120 frames, meaning that at a surface level, K. Rool has Vacuum for 2 seconds. Once a Kannonball has connected with an opponent, wall or shield, it will retain a hitbox (dubbed the "Ricochet Hitbox") and remain active for around a second, but once it hits the floor, it can quickly disappear. The length of time it remains out, as a result, fluctuates greatly. All of this comes together to mean K. Rool should have Vacuum for around 3-4 seconds.

When Vacuum is available, K. Rool can use it and slide through platforms for mixups. Vacuum can be delayed for up to 19 frames rather than simply holding the button while in the preparation stance, allowing for mixups. As such, pressing B after the Blunderbuss during the frame window will trigger Vacuum instead. Vacuum will come out on frame 6 after the game allows it to be used, which is effectively frame 31 considering the preparation stance. Vacuum can be kept active for 30 frames, but can be extended for up to 90 frames - thus 120 frames - through holding the button. Tomahawk Vacuum is a very common play as well as the typical platform slip due to the windbox's wide range.

Once Vacuum is active, it will progressively enlarge a Kannonball searchbox. If a Kannonball comes into contact with this, it will slowly approach the Blunderbuss muzzle while retaining the ricochet hitbox. Once it enters, K. Rool will reshoot it with drastically increased damage and knockback, to the extent that it is +3 on shield at minimum range, allowing for shield mixups and virtually guaranteed grabs. There are three reshoot angles, all of which have some use, with a decision window of 6 frames as the reshoot begins.
 * The forward reshoot is largely considered the best, and allows K. Rool to quickly dash attack or forward tilt opponents into the Reshot Kannonball from around 65%. At 0%, a reshot Kannonball at close range allows for a forward aerial followup. Crownerang's first hit can send opponents into reshot Kannonballs at high percentages.
 * The upward reshoot can be used to catch jumps, and K. Rool's up aerial can also send opponents into it. However, the frame window for any other ways to knock opponents into it is too tight for feasible use, due to how fast the Kannonball flies.
 * The backward reshoot rarely sees use outside of doubles play due to how most of the time, opponents will be in front of K. Rool after a Kannonball connects. It is usually kept as a mixup.

However, Vacuum can also grab opponents, and will prioritize them over Kannonballs every time. During a throw, intangibility is given to opponents until just before hitstun ends. There are three reshoot angles for vacuumed opponents, all the exact same as the Kannonball reshoot:
 * The forward angle has strong KO potential if unstaled, KOing at around 120% at the ledge. At lower percentages, this throw has an excellent tech situation for okizeme.
 * The up throw has negligible hit advantage, but K. Rool's up aerial is a common followup to catch jumps, as well as bad landing options and airdodges.
 * The back throw is usually used while recovering, dragging opponents to the blast zone by abusing the windbox. The KO potential at the ledge, however, is very negligible.

Update History
     

Hitboxes

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Kannonball Shot

 * Kannonball
 * Fire
 * Fire

Vacuum
Animation length is the sum of SpecialNEnd and SpecialNLoop.


 * Windbox
 * Kannonball Searchbox
 * Vacuum Grab
 * Kannonball Searchbox
 * Vacuum Grab
 * Vacuum Grab

Forward Reshoot/Throw
Reshot Kannonballs are active until they reach the blast zone; opponents maintain a hitbox until hitstun is over. As such, placement on a strip is essentially impossible. The prop frame here is to signify the hitbox's release.


 * Hitboxes

Upward Reshoot/Throw
Reshot Kannonballs are active until they reach the blast zone; opponents maintain a hitbox until hitstun is over. As such, placement on a strip is essentially impossible. The prop frame here is to signify the hitbox's release.


 * Hitboxes

Backward Reshoot/Throw
Reshot Kannonballs are active until they reach the blast zone; opponents maintain a hitbox until hitstun is over. As such, placement on a strip is essentially impossible. The prop frame here is to signify the hitbox's release.


 * Hitboxes