Alright, first moveset post, let's hope this isn't too bad.
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Phantasmal Percussionist
Horikawa Raiko
The Extra Stage Boss of
Touhou Kishinjou ~ Double Dealing Character, Horikawa Raiko is a newly-born taiko drum tsukumogami - youkais that are born from the resentment of gods living in items after they are disposed. Realizing that her birth is due to the power of the Miracle Mallet, Raiko took the risk of abandoning her old taiko body and inhabiting a drum set in the Outside World, thus making her self-sufficient. Despite being a newborn youkai, Raiko is able to reach Extra Boss status with her 'ability to make anything follow a rhythm'. In all Extra scenarios, Raiko is shown as laid-back and a free spirit, though she does look out for her kind, supposedly working to create a paradise for other tsukumogamis.
Despite only appearing in two games - none of the two are fighting games, to boot - Raiko has two pretty clear theme in her attacks: Electricity and Sound. Her last spellcard "Pristine Beat" even follows the rhythm of her own theme! She also oftenly summons additional drums, either to use as (sometimes explosive) projectiles or to launch bullets.
...Why would you use tools of your own kind to attack?
Statistics
Weight: 8 (About the same as R.O.B. and Wario. The drum kit adds to her overall weight quite a lot.)
Size: 8 (Think Peach sitting on a floating drum kit)
Ground Speed: 4.5
Air Speed: 7
Fall Speed: 2.5
Jumps: 3
Jump Height: 7
Raiko is a somewhat floaty character despite her weight, as pretty much everyone in Touhou series can fly and that translates to her low falling speed. Her jump height, low falling speed and good air speed makes her great at aerial combat, which combined with her aerials (see below) allows her to easily put pressure on the opponent, while her ground speed isn't too bad either.
Also of note is that Raiko
cannot footstool opponents. Granted, being hit on the head by a drum set probably feels painful, but you can't really jump on someone else's head if you're floating...
Mechanics
Grazing
Taken from the Touhou fighting games, Grazing in here is an alternative to airdodging; just input a direction when airdodging, and Raiko will dash towards that direction for about a Battlefield platform. During Grazing, only projectiles will not hit Raiko; melee attacks will still hit her. In addition, the end-lag of Grazing is slightly longer than airdodge, though the action itself lasts longer, making it easier for Raiko to avoid being hit by projectiles. Furthermore, This can be used as another aerial movement option for Raiko, allowing her to dash in and follow up some hits.
However, Grazing has more end lag than regular airdodging, and can only be used two times in mid-air which only refills when Raiko lands, so use it carefully.
Thunder Sign "Den-Den Daiko of Rage"
Almost all of Raiko's specials spawns Taikos (see below), and their placement can be important in protecting Raiko. When Raiko is hit by a melee attack, there's a short timing window - about as long as Roy's Counter - when she can input the shield button to make all taiko drums on the field release a shockwave that is larger than the drum by 3 size ranks and does
1% damage. The damage itself isn't important; what's important is that if the taiko drums are positioned well, it could break Raiko out from an opponent's combo. Perfect Shield can also trigger the effect.
Only 4 taiko drums may be on field at once, and Raiko only has 8 drums in stock, needing a second to restock each drum if she runs out. Although, a newly spawned drum will always replace the drum that's the earliest spawned when the drum count limit has been reached.
Moves
Unless otherwise specified, all projectiles used by Raiko are the size of Diddy Kong's Peanut Popgun projectiles.
Specials
Neutral Special: Third Drum "Three Strikes at Midnight"
Raiko put forward her hand, and a taiko drum the size of Kirby appears in front of her. As Raiko snaps her fingers, the taiko drum will start shooting three yellowish-white round bullets from its two side thrice in 5 seconds, then staying for another 5 seconds. As the move is finished once the taiko drum spawns, attacking Raiko herself before she snaps her fingers will not stop the drum from shooting.
Each bullet does
1.5% damage without any knockback, and travels at the same speed of Luigi's fireballs initially and slowing down until at 1/3 of Battlefield where it's at half speed and disappears. The taiko drums spawned by the special has
13% health, so it is possible to destroy the drum before it starts shooting, though risky. Additionally, it can be knocked away from its original position. However, the drum can also be picked up and thrown by Raiko for
7% damage, and it will still shoot bullets while traveling in midair after being thrown. It will always land on its side whether from being hit or thrown, though. If the move is used in mid-air, the taiko drum will stay afloat, and cannot be picked up in such case.
While the bullets are definitely not a kill move, it can help dealing chip damage to the opponent and limiting their movement options, giving Raiko more opportunity to zone out the opponent. Moreover, the drums can be thrown just like Mega Man's Metal Blade, but you'll end up wasting one of the drums you have in your stock if you ended up throwing it off-stage.
Side Special: Seventh Drum "High Speed Taiko Rocket"
Raiko rears her hand, which is now holding a taiko drum the size of Olimar, back, and then throws the drum out as a short laser the length of 1/2 Battlefield platform shoots out from its back, launching it forwards. The drum does
7% damage on hitting, and the laser on the back does
2% without stunning. The drum slows down after travelling 1/2 of Battlefield, and lands at 2/3 of Battlefield, disappearing after 6 seconds. The drum has
10% health, so again, it can be destroyed mid-flight. The move has a bit of start-up lag, about the same as Ike's uncharged Eruption.
This move is great for horizontal coverage, and even if the opponent jumps over the drum rocket they'll still take damage from the laser as they land, so this can be use for chip damage, drum placement, and forcing the opponent into the air at the same time. Using the move, however, leave yourself wide open to attacks from above and behind, so no, don't spam it.
By inputting B twice, this move will spawn a drum that explodes on hitting an entity or the ground; in such case, 6 red energy balls the size of Samus' uncharged Neutral B shoots out in a circle from the destroyed drum, each doing
2% damage, and travels for the height of Mario before disappearing. The explosion does no damage, though. This alternate move can be used to gimp recovery if you hit it, as the bullets actually has quite a decent range. It can also hit opponents who are looking to dodge the drum rocket, as the bullets does a little hitstun, giving time for Raiko to do zoning or approaches the opponent for a kill move. However, note that this still uses up a drum even if the drum doesn't stay onstage, and the earliest spawned drum will still disappear if the drum count is full.
Up Special: Sixth Drum "Alternate Sticking"
Functioning similarly to King Dedede's Up B, Raiko drums at the smaller drums surrounding her as she flies upwards and lands, creating a shockwave on the ground and around her, as well as six yellow energy bullets floating upwards to the height of Ganondorf. The jump is as fast as King Dedede's but travels a longer distance upwards, while the fall is as fast as Kirby's Up B. The jump can be angled, though at a lesser extent when compared to King Dedede's.
The jump itself does no damage, and the drop itself does
8% damage whether during falling or on landing. The shockwave, on the other hand, does
12% damage and the bullets
2% damage each. Raiko also bounces slightly after landing, and then enters helpless state until she lands again. As such, landing on moving platforms can be dangerous. If shield button is imputted as Raiko lands, the shockwave does 1.5x damage, though the shield will not appear, and Raiko will bounce even higher after landing, making it more risky if the move misses. This is mostly used as a recovery move, but the damage it does isn't too bad either, making it good as a high damage output if you're certain you can land it. However, the knockback isn't quite enough to be a reliable kill move, KOing opponents at 180% only.
Down Special: First Drum "Raging Temple Taiko"
Much like Pac-Man's Hydrant, Raiko creates a taiko drum the size of Toon Link from electricity in her hands, and then throw it at the ground, which emits a shockwave the size of 2/3 Battlefield platform on hitting the ground. The drum itself does
8% damage, and the shockwave does
7% damage; If the drum head on the bottom hits the opponent in mid-air, it'll be a Meteor Smash, doing
12% damage, and the drum bounces up slightly before continuing to fall downwards. The taiko drum has
18% health, and disappears 8 seconds after landing. This move is mostly used to place drums, especially since this is the largest drum and thus has the most range for its effect. It can be a great option to kill offstage opponents, too. However, the end lag of the move is slightly long, so it may leave a hole in Raiko's defense.
By inputting B twice, this move will also spawn an explosive drum instead of a regular one, which spawns 8 red energy bullets the same size as Samus' uncharged Neutral B in a circle on explosion, traveling for the height of Mario and each dealing
2% damage just like the alternate Side B.
Standards
Jab: Thunder Roll
Raiko swipes forward with her drum stick twice for
2% damage each, then starts drumming on her small drums to produce bullets in the shape of musical notes in front of her, doing
0.7% damage each hit for 8 hit in total and ending in a shockwave as Raiko strikes her large drum, doing
3% damage.
By hitting the A button in certain rhythms after the first two jabs, Raiko can perform different rapid jabs.
Note: A " . " signifies a tap, and a " _ " signifies holding the button for a bit longer.
Jab 1( . _ . . ): Instead of musical notes, Raiko spawns six yellow wisp-like bullets circling her, and shoots outwards as the jab ends. The wisp bullets does
2% damage when around Raiko, and does
3% damage when shot out, travelling the distance of 2/3 of Battlefield platform. A typical projectile move, this can be used to pursuit projectile users who are trying to zone Raiko out when she's using melee attacks.
Jab 2( . . _ . ): Raiko shoots curved beams of electricity upwards from the ground twice, doing
3% damage each hit and drags hit opponents upwards, then finishes with a larger electric beam, doing
5% damage. The whole jab has a fairly low knockback. The first two wave of beams reaches the height of Kirby above Raiko herself, and the finisher reaches the height of Ness above Raiko. This jab does the most damage, but has quite a bit of end-lag as the beams takes quite a while to disappear, and only then can Raiko move.
Jab 3( _ . _ ): Raiko releases two shockwaves, one slowly expanding with the range of a Battlefield platform doing
7% damage and little knockback, and the other does no damage but paralyzes the opponent in the range of two Battlefield platforms, expanding at a faster speed. While this jab does less damage, at close-range it's pretty much a guaranteed hit, plus the low knockback allows her to follow up with other attacks.
Raiko hits her drums with the same rhythm of the above jabs.
Forward Tilt: Dual Stroke
Raiko strikes her drum sticks forward in a cross shape, doing
6% damage. The attack has a fairly small hitbox, but it has decent horizontal knockback and can reflect projectiles without damage or speed modifier up to
25% damage. Not a kill move, but pretty good for zoning. Can be followed up by the usual aerials or Side B. If the move hits a spawned drum, though, the whole drum becomes a hitbox right afterwards, doing
5% electrical damage; as such, even after the move ends, spotdodging the move may still lead you to being hit by the drum.
Up Tilt: Tomoe Spin
Raiko holds up and spins her drum stick, doing 6 hits and
1.5% damage each hit. Barely any knockback, but it has almost no start-up lag or end lag, and the hitbox covers the whole forearm, making it easy to land the move. Can be used for chip damage during comboes, or follow up with Down Smash.
Down Tilt: Wind-and-Thunder Wheel
Raiko spins the small drums around her, creating a ring of lightning the size of 2/3 Battlefield platform striking at the floor around Raiko. The spinning drums does
3% damage, while the lightning does
5% electrical damage. If you're hit by the ring, you're probably going to be hit by the lightning too. Incredible range for a standard attack, but it has little knockback and a bit of start-up lag. Use it when the opponent is looking to approach you, as it stops them right in the track, giving Raiko space to accomplish her next action, whether it be distancing herself from the opponent or preparing a grab. It can also hit opponents in prone, getting them up for further attacks.
Dash Attack: Bounce Slam
Raiko stops abruptly in her dash, and slams the large drum she's sitting on upwards, dealing
7% damage and good vertical knockback. Another excellent move in getting the opponent into the air, this is Raiko's quickest attack with the function, though the damage is somewhat lacking in comparison to Forward Smash and Up Throw.
Ledge Attack: Rumble Shock
Raiko floats up onto the ground, and stomps down with her large drum, creating a shockwave that does
6% damage. It's not the fastest of moves, having noticable start-up lag, but it has a decent knockback to give Raiko a breather after getting up.
Grab Game
Grab
Raiko extends her arm, grabs the opponent and pull them against one of the small drums around her. A fairly normal grab.
Pummel
Raiko hits the drum that the opponent is pulled against, causing a drum sound and electric effects. The pummel does
2% damage each hit.
Forward Throw
Raiko spawns a taiko drum the same size as the ones in her Side B, slam it into the opponent for
3% damage, then strikes the drum with her drum sticks three times, dealing
1.5% damage each hit, and then a final strike such that the drum explodes in a red aura, dealing
5% to the opponent. If one inputs A button the exact moment Raiko strikes the drum,
1.5% extra damage will be added per hit, making this move an excellent damage dealer if you wants to. However, the knockback is pretty weak, and this uses up one of Raiko's drums too, making it unwise to always use the throw.
If Raiko has used up her drums and tried to use this move, she will simply slam her drum sticks into the opponent, doing
3% damage and almost no knockback.
Back Throw
Raiko grinds the opponent on her drum ring, as she turn around and throw them towards the back. The opponent takes
2% damage from being grinded past each drum - passing by 3 drums in total - and
4% damage from being thrown, for a total of
10%. Similar to Forward Throw, if the A button is inputted when the opponent passes each small drum, Raiko will hit the drum and
2% more damage is dealt per hit, which means the throw can end in a total damage of
16% if you can time the hits. Have a decent diagonal knockback, allowing it to potentially do a lot of damage and help Raiko with zoning.
Up Throw
Raiko twirls around, throwing the opponent upwards for
3% damage, then raises her drum stick upwards and shoots 3 v-shaped projectiles (the ones that appear in her non-spell card segments in the shooting games) upwards. The projectiles move slightly slower than Pit's arrows, but faster than Mewtwo's Shadow Ball, and does
3% damage each. Despite the damage, it has little knockback aside from the initial throw, and even then it can only kill at very high damage. It can be used to juggle opponents, however.
Down Throw
Raiko slams the opponent downwards for
3% damage, then strike the small drums around her to launch electricity on the ground for
5% damage. Forces the opponent to prone as they fall back to the ground. Somewhat similar to Ryu's Down B, it gives Raiko opportunity to setup comboes or projectiles as the opponent gets up, although it has very little knockback, but still enough such that the opponent wouldn't be able to hit Raiko with a get-up attack.
Smashes
Side Smash: Thunder God
During charging, Raiko rears back her hands, then swipes across the small drums, causing 4 beams of electricity to shoot from the ground before her in a distance of 1/2 Battlefield platform. The swipe does
5% base damage, and the electric beams does
4% base damage each. Despite being a forward smash, the knockback is mostly vertical, and can get the opponent into the air where Raiko has an advantage. You can follow up with Up Air to get them further up in the air, or just jump up and follow up with Forward Air. It's an alright kill move too, killing at 123% without charging. Moreover, if the attack hits a spawned drum, they become charged with electricity for 3 seconds (6 if the Smash attack is fully charged), and if the drum effect is triggered during that time the shockwave released will do electrical damage instead, resulting in a longer hitstun for Raiko to take advantage of. The projectiles shot by the drum spawned from the Neutral B will also deal electrical damage if the drum becomes charged from being hit by this move.
Up Smash: Blue Lady
As Raiko charges, she puts her hand downwards, and when releasing the smash she strikes her drum stick upwards as 8 musical note bullets burst out of the ground Raiko is floating on, each bullet doing
1.5% damage without stun and reaches the height of two Mario before falling back down. As the charge time increases, the amount of bullets spawned increases instead of the damage, reaching 16 bullets when fully charged. Hits a very large area, more than a Battlefield platform, and the bullets only disappear upon touching a surface or the blastline, so you can use this to do chip damage on recovering opponents. Additionally, if the bullets hit a spwaned drum, they will be enlarged in size and does double the damage, as well as bouncing back up to half the height of the distance it travelled downwards before. This allows Raiko to hit opponents even if they ran away from the move as long as she has the set-up ready. However, this move has noticable end lag, so you can't just go around spamming it.
Down Smash: Primordial Beat
Raiko raises her drum sticks and her feet with the drum mallets as she charges, and then strikes at the drums, creating a shockwave that travels a whole Battlefield platform. The shockwave does
14% base damage, and paralyzes hit oppnents for half a second uncharged, and a full second when fully charged. Long start-up lag, but the paralyze effect allows Raiko to follow up with Back Throw for more projectile game or go for a kill move in Forward Air.
Aerials
Neutral Aerial: Air Percuss
Raiko strikes her large drum, and a circle of 8 gun shell-like bullets spawns around her, then shoots out for the distance of a Battlefield platform, each doing
1% damage. If Raiko uses the attack again before the bullets disappear, the diagonally spwaned bullets will speed up, while the vertical and horizontal ones will slow down slightly. Typical bullet hell-like projectile game, this move has a rather long end lag (for aerials), and should only be used with zoning. The pattern change can be used to surprise the opponent too, being useful in baiting an airdodge from them.
Forward Aerial: Rest Beat
Raiko strikes at the small drums around her, and 3 bullets in the shape of horizontally placed quarter rests spawns, shoots out at a high speed as she points her drum stick forward, travelling the distance of a Battlefield platform. Start-up is a bit long, but each bullets does
3% damage, has a high knockback, and pierces entities. This is Raiko's best kill move, able to kill at 110% from the centre of Battlefield. Of course, you wouldn't be doing that at the centre of the stage; Use Forward Throw or Dash Attack to knock the opponent to the side first, then strike with this move; Or get them into the air with Forward Smash, Up Throw or Dash Attack, making it harder to avoid the move.
Back Aerial: Rage Spark
Raiko swipes backwards with her drum stick, and 3 lightning spikes the length of Kirby's height appears out of the tip of the stick, hitting for
6% electrical damage and decent knockback, and the stick swipe does
2% damage. With the extended hitstun from the electric damage property, this allows Raiko to knock back opponents long enough for her to spawn more projectiles, or even hitting them into the path of one.
Up Aerial: Aya-no-Tsuzumi
Raiko points her drum stick upwards, and 3 v-shaped bullets shoots out in a line, each doing
3% damage and travelling the height of 1.5 Ganondorf from the tip of the drum stick, with almost no knockback. The move has average end lag, and the drum stick is
not a hitbox this time, so the distance between Raiko and the opponent doesn't really matter. Rather than projectile spam, this move is more like a segmented laser; It can't kill, but it can do chip damage and keep the opponent in air for Raiko to keep on attacking. Best used when the opponent is recovering from above the stage, as this limits their landing areas.
Down Aerial: Resounding Beat
Raiko swipes her drum stick downwards, and 3 clusters of bullets appears in a fan pattern. The stick swipe does
3% damage, and the bullets does
2% explosive damage each, breaking apart as they hit the ground or an entity. The bullets can be tilted towards the front or the back in a 45 degree angle. Little end lag allows Raiko to safely use this move more oftenly than other aerials. Another typical bullet hell move, this move takes advantage of Raiko's air mobility to rain down bullets on opponents, stopping them from retaliating right as Raiko lands. However, the bullets are somewhat spread-out, making it easier to dodge than other projectile moves.
Final Smash
"Come, my drummer from the outside world!
Let your primal beat echo throughout Gensokyo!"
"Pristine Beat"
Raiko flies to the middle of the stage, and starts drumming on her drum set. The soundwave produced travels indefinitely, so it's not like Donkey Kong's Final Smash where you can just move out of the range. Rather, opponents have to time their dodges and shields to the move. The soundwaves follows the rhythm of the drum, which is different depending on the stage; for a Kirby stage, it's the Green Greens melody, Hyrule Field for Link stages, and so on. Each wave does
10% damage only, but they rack up very, very quickly.
Taunts
Neutral Taunt
Raiko lean backwards, and twirls her drum sticks in her hand.
Up Taunt
Raiko spins along with her large drum, as musical notes appear around her.
Down Taunt
Raiko plays her drum set, following different rhythms for every stage.
Playstyle
Raiko is somewhat similar to Mega Man in terms of playstyle; Both utilizes a lot of projectiles, with only a few physical attacks. However, Raiko mostly utilizes her projectiles in air, and the large quantity of bullets she can fire makes up for their lack of power; Even if each bullet only does 1-2% damage, the damage can stack pretty quickly at which point Raiko can come in and take the K.O.. Her projectiles can limit movements of the opponent, forcing them to certain areas lest they get hit. Generally, your best option when using Raiko is to get the opponent into the air where her projectile game and aerial mobility can be used to pressure them.
Against projectile users and melee attackers, Raiko has her advantages and disadvantages; Grazing allows Raiko to easily bypass projectile spam from other opponents (even herself in a mirror match), but as her projectiles are either close-ranged or spread out at long distances, they can be avoided with relative ease with proper zoning. Raiko can rush in with Grazing and attack up-close, though. As Raiko's close-range attacks are either weak or have somewhat long start-up, she may have trouble with melee attackers... if they can get past the bullet hell, that is. Even then, The drum mechanics allows Raiko to interrupt being comboed if they're placed in the right place, and Grazing, while not as useful against melee attacks, gives Raiko more aerial movement options to control the spacing.
Miscellaneous
Crowd Chant
Raiko Saikyō (Strongest)!
Alternate Colors/Costumes
Raiko's alternate colors are based on other music-related characters in Touhou, including the Prismriver Sisters, Mystia Lorelei, Kasodani Kyouko, and the Tsukumo Sisters.
Victory Screens
Victory 1: Raiko plays her drum to the victory theme, and hums the tunes of her own theme -
Primordial Beat ~ Pristine Beat - along with drumming after the victory theme ends.
Victory 2: While having her back against the camera at first, Raiko spins the drums around her with her drum sticks as she twirls around on her large drum, facing the camera up front after the splash, twirling the drum sticks in her hands.
Victory 3: Raiko throws her drum sticks into the air, then catch them and strike at the small drums and the large one she's sitting on at the same time, causing lightning to strike from the sky.
Kirby Hat
Kirby gains Raiko's red hair, as well as the drums circling around her. Kirby gains a tweaked version of Neutral B; The drum placed is even smaller, and disappears automatically after shooting the bullets. It also only shoots one bullet on each side per wave.
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"The tools are crying because
of the way you use it so recklessly."
"...You're acting self-important when you're just a tool."
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"If I beat these guys, I'll have nothing more to fear.
I will become the new ruler!"
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