Overview
Behold, THE greatest mistake in BlazBlue's history!
Arakune (sometimes referred to as just "Kune") was top dog (blob) in CT, being able to do basically everything. His incredibly oppressive Drive mechanic, Curse, allows him to flood the screen with multipurpose bugs after hitting the opponent with a D button and gain access to unparalleled offensive potential and damage. Even without it, Arakune still has many great normals, some of the best mobility in the game with an aggressive and cancellable airdash, and other strange quirks such as a combo starter CA and positive combo rate (????).
Arguably, Arakune's only "real" downsides are things that become negligible in the upper echelons of fighting game meta: the knowledge and execution required to play him. He became so infamous for his strength that the developers made jokes about it in the sequel (despite him being arguably stronger in those games), and was crowned as BlazBlue's most hated character. As BBCT's lifespan came to an end, Arakune stopped being the popularly considered best character in the game as Nu-13 and Rachel continually made advancements in tech over Arakune, not helped by him also having poor matchups against those two thanks to his strange tools not being very effective against them. Still, for those who relished in making their opponents angry, Arakune provided everything you could ever want in a setplay character.Health |
10,500 |
Prejump |
3F |
Backdash |
48F (1~38F Inv All) |
Combo Rate |
105% |
Heat Gain Rate |
80% |
Guard Libra Rate:How resistant this character is to Guard Libra drain. |
90% |
Fastest Abare Option:This character's fastest attacks for mashing or scrambles. Excludes universal throws. |
5A (6F) |
Reversal Attacks:Any reversal-esque moves this character has. Excludes universal options. |
236236C (7F) |
Arakune made people refund Calamity Trigger.
- First-Rate Air Movement: Slippery and hard to catch due to his numerous strange movement options and ability to mix between them, such as his multiple arched air dashes that can be cancelled early for a "glide Specifically refers to a technique in the early BlazBlue (and by extension P4A) series where a character cancels their air dash into a series of actions that alters their trajectory downward instead of following the full airdash trajectory." effect with 4+j.A/B/C or even just Barrier, and a myriad of air command normals.
- Instant Curse: Simply hitting a single D attack, or in some cases on block instantly applies Curse and grants Arakune his win condition.
- Unorthodox Defense: For whatever reason, Arakune's Counter Assault is his regular throw, cancel properties and all. He still can't kill from a combo started off of it, but otherwise can always combo and Curse you from it. He can also release Curse bugs during gaps in the opponent's blockstrings with no risk due to the negative edge input.
- Mix-up Master: Has more setups than you can dream of once in Curse. Opponents will have to block multiple left/rights and nearly instant multi-hit overheads into more nonsense, all of which can be (quite literally) invisible and also nonstop due to bugs.
- Ludicrous Damage: Once Arakune is in Curse, his damage output is unparalleled, especially thanks to his 6C loops and dive cancels. Without spending any meter at all, he can easily get 4~7K off of any random hit. This stacks with his crazy mixups, often times making Arakune's victory after applying Curse an inevitability.
- Avoids CT's Curse: Arakune doesn't rely on extended pressure sequences outside of Curse, and Curse pressure sequences can be as low-risk in a real match as they are in Training Mode due to bugs covering him, so CT's main antagonists of Instant Block and Barrier are mostly irrelevant to him.
- Third-Rate Ground Movement: Has very awkward to nonexistent ground pressure and neutral due to a slow walk and a slow teleport dash. Arakune only ever wants to touch the ground to restore his air options or press mix-ups/combos during Curse.
- Faustian Bargain: You're a terrible person.
Unique Mechanics
Normal Moves
5A
- Jump cancellable on connect
- Forward dash cancellable on connect
Shanking jab, maybe Arakune's best poke. Kune also has a 5A > 6B cancel that sends your opponent flying and knocks down on hit. This move is very useful, especially when keeping opponents off of you; this cancel is jump cancelable/dash cancelable, so if you're opponent is abusing you with pressure in the corner you can just hit 5A when you find an opening then 6B, if it hits you've successfully smacked you're opponent to the other side of the screen, if it doesn't hit you can just dash cancel out of the corner, or jump and teleport.
Gatling options: 5A, 6A, ~6B, 6C, 5D, 6D
- dash cancelable on hit or guard until 14F
- 9~14F cancel to follow up
- rapid fire cancel up to three times
5B
- Jump cancellable on connect
- Forward dash cancellable on connect
Drill arm.
Gatling options: 5C, 5D
- Dash cabcelable until 21F
- hitstop 3F
5C
- Launches on hit
- Jump cancellable on connect
- Forward dash cancellable on connect
Giant beast tongue attack that functions as an anti-air, although Arakune will not use it much since it's so slow and he won't be on the ground a lot.
Gatling options: 5D, 6D
- launches on hit
- dash cancelable on hit or guard until 31F
2A
- Standing hit stun 13F
- rapid fire cancel up to three times
2B
2C
Normal that probably instantly kills you if it gets blocked and shouldn't be used often outside of curse.
Otherwise a standard Dictator sweep, only does one hit instead of several unlike other games. Zero cancels while launching with no hard knockdown, sideswaps if you hit with the early active frames. On non-counterhit, the opponent can tech in whatever direction they'd like and most any "mix" you can run is very mashable (if they decide to land and not air tech away), but you become slightly more plus the later you hit 2C.
In curse you can convert with A-B-D bugs, if the opponent blocks it you can keep yourself safer with the C bug you're holding.
- Launches on hit
6A
- vacuum effect on hit or guard
- slam down in the air
- untechable
- dash cancelable on hit or guard until 27F
6B
Ambiguous-looking standing low which forces stand on the opponent on hit. No gatlings, but it's special and jump cancellable, so your main pressure will be between air offense & If P Then Q mixups after that.
- Staggers (26)
- dash cancelable on hit or guard until 30F
6C
6C:
- 7~ airborne
- floor bounce on hit
- 36~41 cancel to follow up attack
6C > 5C:
- launches on hit
- 25~32 cancel to follow up
6C > 5C > 2C:
- Knocks down in air
- untechable
3C
Teleports Arakune forward a fixed distance and hits low with an on-hit jump cancellable sweep. Has no crossup hitbox nor does it track, so actually landing this move at all can be very spacing dependent and specific. On hit, you can jump cancel it into an immediate j.2D to hit OTG and instantly curse the opponent for guessing wrong on where Arakune was teleporting once.
Crosses up faster than Arakune's forward dash (most noticeably at further ranges) but has a longer total duration and puts you in CH state.
- Teleports at 15F
- knocks down
- untechable when hit on the ground
5A > 6B
- Blasts away
j.A
- Rapid fire cancel up to three times
j.B
- Slam down in air
- hitstop 3F
j.C
- Slam down in air or on counter hit
- untechable
- Arakune jumps on hit
j.2A/B/C
- Commonly referred to as "dives" ("A/B/C dive")
- Any dive can be cancelled into any other dive on connect, as long as it's a different strength and hasn't been used already in the chain (i.e. j.2B > j.2A > j.2C is a valid string)
For his iconic "dives", Arakune does a very fast leap into the air and then U-turns back down to the ground with an attack that hits overhead. Each button does a different trajectory, which can be used to his advantage in his air neutral as it can force many mind-boggling whiffs from the opponent and punish them immediately, while also being able to get surprise mix-ups from positions that can't be easily contested such as directly above the opponent's head.
- j.2A
Kune arcs forward over the opponent. Used for a fast overhead cross-up off of things like a blocked 5C or to leap over anti-airs for a punish away from its hitboxes. Commonly chained into C dive on block for a double cross-up from time to time, or on hit to make up Kune's "dive loops" when paired with bugs while the opponent is Cursed.
- j.2B
Kune dives in an arc that looks almost completely straight up and down, but he does arc ever so slightly back. Used when Kune wants to hit the ground or opponent directly below him. The slight arc back can also set up for a very hard if not impossible to see left/right if placed properly.
- j.2C
Kune dives with the same arc as j.2A but backwards. Used as another way to get Kune the hell away from the opponent other than air backdash glide Specifically refers to a technique in the early BlazBlue (and by extension P4A) series where a character cancels their air dash into a series of actions that alters their trajectory downward instead of following the full airdash trajectory..
- launches on hit
- can cancel to other button version on hit or guard
- cancel to follow up within 3F during landing to cancel landing recovery
- switch appear location after landing by input different directions: �¨'s duration 32F, 5~20 invincible, and 21F teleports forward. �©'s duration 37F, 6~25 invincible, and 26F teleports forward. Jump �«B's start up is 22F
j.6A/B/C
Arakune's other air command normal series where he quickly lunges forward with a spike. The button strength determines the distance that Kune will travel, with j.6A being the shortest and j.6C traveling the furthest. Since they have such short total animation time, Arakune can use this normal series as a slow pseudo-airdash to make up for his unique regular one and continue to keep his air movement very ambiguous.
Drive Moves
5D
- Jump cancellable on connect
Close-range Curse button. Kuna can gatling into this from most of his ground buttons, most notably after his 6A, to easily apply and re-apply Curse when he lands hits. He can also link into this after his beam super to apply Curse, such as after he lands a Throw or CA.
- Staggers (29)
- enter cursed condition on hit
2D
- Applies Curse on hit
Kune fires a high velocity cocoon at a slightly downward angle that travels about half screen, which on connect with the opponent hatches a bug that does a second attack. A little hazardous to use in neutral compared to his other options, but 2D in Curse gameplay is actually good at helping lock the bottom half of the screen down for the opponent and reapplying Curse at a safe distance at the same time.
- enter cursed condition on hit
- projectile property
- hitstop 3F
- at close distance (when only 1st hit connects) frame advantage is -12F
- 2nd hit guaranteed comes out after 1st hit.
6D
Arakune calls a bell bug to descend from the air a small distance in front of him. Good screen pollution option if you're given breathing space as opponents really don't want to be caught extending a hurtbox or airdashing into it, and it generally covers you if the opponent is trying to get around j.D angles.
- enter cursed condition on hit
- projectile property
- hitstop 3F
j.D
The classic. You've probably heard of this one in a Youtube video before.
Arakune's j.D in Calamity Trigger is an aimable aerial low with 6 different angles to choose from and all of them instantly apply and/or re-apply a full curse meter on hit, even if it hits OTG. Disgusting mix-up option, calamitous-reward low-risk neutral option, frequent combo tool whenever 5D won't work, name it and Arakune presses it.
- Knocks down
- enter cursed condition
- untechable
- projectile property
- hitstop 3F, input
A Bug
- Vacuum effect on hit or guard
- projectile property
- decreases 40 points of the curse gauge
- unable to summon A bug again within 40F
B Bug
- Launches on hit
- projectile property
- hitstop 3F
- decreases 80 points of the curse gauge
- unable to summon B bug again within 80F
C Bug
- Staggers (41)
- vacuum effect on hit or guard
- projectile property
- decreases 200 points of the curse gauge
- unable to summon C bug again within 120F
D Bug
- Projectile property
- hitstop 3F
- decreases 250 points of the curse gauge
- unable to summon D bug again within 150F
Universal Mechanics
Forward Throw
5B+C
Both throws are largely identical, but have a slightly different launch angle. Forward throw is angled in front of you. Neither can be followed up except by Curse bugs, air cloud, and 236236C. They both allow the opponent to air tech around halfway up the screen.
- Launches on hit
Back Throw
4B+C
See forward throw, angled to put the opponent slightly behind you.
- Launches on hit
Air Throw
j.B+C
- Launches on hit
Counter Assault
6A+B while blocking
Arakune's Counter Assault is basically just his ground throw but with a tiny bit more range, which means he can apply Curse off of CA. Same follow-ups still apply.
- launches on hit
Special Moves
Zero Vector
j.236D
Air-only Curse cloud with 3 variants.
Because curse is applied instantly on hit, opponents aren't punished for remaining in the cloud through residual curse buildup. Instead, touching any of the clouds on hit or block will instantly apply OR refresh a full duration curse.
For all clouds:
- Arakune can recast this as many times as he wants, even if a cloud is already out or the opponent is Cursed.
- Clouds do not go away when Arakune blocks. They only disappear when he is hit.
- Clouds last approximately fifteen seconds, longer than a curse ticking down on its own.
- Clouds have a minor amount of hit/blockstun, but this most prominently means opponents can't just shrug through clouds to get to Arakune. They demand respect.
Air cloud:
- The positioning essentially turns off some characters' ability to jump, else they'll be giving Kune his Curse for free. Tager in particular can even get tagged by this if he dares to press anything that extends his hurtbox upward, like his miserable excuses for anti-airs.
- Combos off of throw.
Opponent-tracking cloud:
- Slowly loses momentum as it gets close to the opponent, but it's very easy for them to stick a hurtbox into it or get shoved into it.
- Likely the largest stop sign in neutral, but it can be juked around due to its slow movement unless you're a bad character.
Arakune-tracking cloud:
- Home defense system. People can tag Kune with disjoints or use something that trades very favorably since Curse goes away when he's hit, but he essentially wraps himself in barbed wire. Curse does not go away on the attack that trades with this cloud.
- Easy to apply on offense as it covers a crossup forward dash with blockstun while also applying or re-applying curse. Also very difficult to impossible for the opponent to avoid when used with your wall teleport.
- Does not go away on block. Blocking close-ranged offense and killing your opponent violently for trying to interact with you is encouraged. Unethical special move.
- Cursed effect on hit or guard
- projectile property but doesn't take out by projectile
- hitstop 3F
- Not counter hit vulnerable during landing
If p, then q
214A/B/C (Air OK)
214A:
- 6~ airborne
- 38F teleports
214B:
- 6~ airborne
- 46F teleports
214C:
- 7~36 and 61~62 goes through opponent
j.214A:
- 33F teleports
j.214B:
- 41F teleports
j.214C:
- 31F teleports
y, two-dash
j.236C
- Launches on hit
- hitstop 3F
Equals 0
236B
- Makes Arakune mostly-invisible until the next time he or the opponent touch one another with an attack of any kind, on hit or block
Your opponent already put the controller down after you got a Curse knockdown, but if you want them to not play you again this is as valid an option as any.
- attack hit opponent (excluding projectile) or Arakune gets hit or guard an attack stops the effect
Wall Teleport
j.44 Near Wall
- 19F telelports
- uses an air option
Distortion Drives
f Inverse
236236C
- strike launches, vacuum effect
- strike's hitstop 3F
- laser portion has projectile property
- goes through other projectile
- laser hitstop 5F
f of g
j.214214D
- 14th hit launches, enter cursed condition
- hitstop 3F
- does not hit opponent in block stun or invincible from throw state
Click [★] for character's full frame data
Essentials
• Controls •
HUD •
FAQ •
The Basics
• Movement/Canceling •
Mechanics •
Gauges •
Universal Strategy •
Detailed & Advanced Information
• Damage/Combo •
Attack Attributes •
Frame Data & System Data •
Misc •
Archived Information
• Archived Fan Wiki • Tier Lists •
- Advanced Input
- Attack Attributes
- Attack Level
- Astral Heat
- Auto Heat Gain
- Burst
- Barrier Block
- Barrier Gauge
- Bonus Proration
- Clash
- Combo Rate
- Counter Assault
- Counter Hit
- Counter Hit Carry
- Danger State
- Distortion Drive
- Guard Crush
- Guard Bonus
- Hard Knockdown
- Heat Gauge Cooldown
- Instant Barrier
- Instant Block
- Negative Penalty
- Purple Throw
- P1, P2
- Rapid Cancel
- Same Move Proration (SMP)
- Starter Rating
- Super Flash Buffer
- Throw Reject Miss (TRM)
- Ukemi/Tech (Air)
- Ukemi/Roll/Emergency Tech
- Untechable State