Chaos Code/NSC/Catherine

Story

Catherine is a mangaka who doesn't care much about the unlimited power of the Chaos Code. Instead they're pulled into the events of the story as a complication of the love triangle that absolutely exists between Cerberus, Kudlak, and Catherine which also happens to be the plot of Catherine's manga. Catherine also has magical cosplay super powers that are unexplained and unrelated to the magical powers of the Chaos Code, or are they?

Playstyle

Health: 29000 Stun: 90

Catherine is one of the few chaos code characters who has strong okizeme and set-play. They also have fairly competent zoning tools, although they aren't as dominating as the more dedicated zoning characters like kudlak. Catherine has to play a balancing act, managing meter for zoning options, but also keeping it around for confirming hits, while also saving some for oki setups. This makes Catherine a sort of jack of all trades, but one who has to consciously choose when it's important to be good at something. In addition, Catherine doesn't have a real reversal. Catherine is a good character for players who are looking for setplay, zoning, or just a character with a highly variable playstyle.

Run vs Step

Run - The speed makes Catherine's game more well rounded and makes the character's rushdown game more effective. Microdashing is also useful in some combos.

Step - The faster meter gain can be used towards counter supers and EX zoning tools (such as EX Happiness Bells). Step cancels can also be useful for setting up tic throws.

Move List

Normal Moves

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	Cancel	CH Properties	Notes
5A	6f	-6	HL	Yes	-	Good anti-air hitbox, it's punishable so make sure you cancel it on block.
2A	7	+4	HL	Yes	-	Good range and good frames on block. Because 5A has such bad advantage this is Catherine's primary tool for stagger pressure.
cl.B	7f	+2	L	Yes	-	Standing low, good to hit people who want to up-back during blockstun.
5B	8f	+2	HL	Yes	-	Good range makes this a decent poke
2B	7f	+4	L	Yes	-	basically a low version of 2A. You might have a hard time catching a jump out though.
cl.C	12f	-7	HL	Yes	Stagger	High damage but not super useful outside of combos.
5C	10f	-10	HL	Yes	Stagger	Far hitting poke, it has a lot of recovery though, so try not to whiff it.
2C	10f	-9	L	Yes	Stagger	Long range low, useful both in footsies and to cancel out of in pressure strings.
cl.D	10f	+1	HL	Yes	Stagger	The frame advantage is nice and makes this an alright move to use if you're trying to frame trap, but mostly you'll use it in combos when you're close enough to chain into it after a cl.C or something.
5D	11f	+1	HL	No	Stagger	Good anti-air and works for beating out pokes in neutral too.
2D	16f	-1	L	No	Launch	Sweep, pretty slow compared to other characters, but only being -1 is pretty nice.
j.A	6f	-	H	Yes	-	Really good IAD normal, but doesn't have a ton of active frames.
j.B	7f	-	H	Yes	-	Good as an air-to-air, also works alright as an IAD normal.
j.C	8f	-	H	Yes	Stagger	Good jump-in, you can make it cross-up on oki. It's also good as a move to chain into after an IAD j.A or j.B.
j.D	6f	-	H	Yes	Stagger	Really good hitbox, goes very far down making it strong against characters trying to cross-under or low profile. It also works well as a chain option.

Command Normals

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	Cancel	CH Properties	Notes
Mermaid Princess 6B	26f(raw) 16f(Cancel)	-1	H(raw) HL(cancel)	Yes	-	Jumps over lows, big hitbox, and moves Catherine three character lengths forward. Catherine is considered airborne during this move and can only cancel into air specials like Devil Stomp or bunny's war cry.
Butterfly smash j.2C	14f	-	H	Yes	-	Has a ton of hitstun and launches the opponent up and away if chained into. If it's down raw it'll cause the opponent to faceplant into the ground and allow for an otg. In the corner this leads to easy rejumps making it really good in combos, on it's own though it's a bit too slow to be useful.

Special Moves

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	CH Properties	Notes
Bell of Happiness 214P	42f(A) 58f(C) 47f(ex)	+26(A) +28(C) +39(ex)	HL	-	Spawns bells above at a set distance. Ex version tracks. Works both as a zoning tool and really shines as an oki tool. The frame data is tested against standing Catherine and will vary depending on how the move gets blocked, but it'll always be very plus.
Magic Harmony 236P	21f	-1(A) +4(ex)	HL	-	The notes stay on screen for a long time. It works very well as a zoning tool to keep opponents out. A version is -1, but the spacing it leaves you at is really strong so it works well for pressure. You can also link into 5A afterwards if you're close enough. Be careful when you have an opponent corned though, it's possible to throw the note off screen.
I'll Support You 623K	8f(B) 11f(D) 9f(ex)	-12(B) -14(D) -4	HL	Wall bounce	Works as a midscreen whiff punisher mostly, or to smack opponents trying to run up or air dash through your zoning options.
Little Devil's Stomp j.214P	22f	-	H	Ground Bounce	Pauses air momentum, when Catherine starts falling you can move left/right to change where you'll land. On hit it'll cause a ground bound you can combo from. Additionally this move can be canceled into any other air normal after 24 frames. The ex version can be jump canceled and will give Catherine an extra jump. Additionally there's an odd bug where afterwards you can Chaos Shift if you've canceled the move into an air jump.
I'll Serve You 214K	12f(B/ex) 13f(D)	-11(B) -19(D) -9(ex)	L	-	Predominantly a combo ender. D version will wall splat and if you're at the right spacing you'll be able to pick up off of it. EX version will let you combo off the wall splat even if you're point blank, so it works as a combo extender.

Extra Specials

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	CH Properties	Notes
Pure Love Coming Out 63214K	19f(B) 22f(D)	-	-	-	Command grab that launches. You can combo into this move in the corner for meterless combo extensions. It's fast enough that it works fairly well as a mix-up option as well.
Bunnies War Cry 214K	12f(B) 14f(D)	-	H	-	A swinging kick that wall splats. Mostly a combo ender, but depending on your spacing you might be able to extend after the wall splat. B version keeps the opponent in hitstun as they fall, so it's better if you want a knockdown. The D version keeps them on the wall longer though, so it's sometimes better for extending combos or if you want to reset an opponent after an air tech. The advantage depends on height, but it's around -20 when done fairly low to the ground.

Ultimate Chaos

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	Notes
Meow Meow Miracle Dynamite 2363214K	-	-35(B) -31(D)	HL	Just a ranbu super, does decent damage but doesn't have much use outside of ending combos. The D version has a huge amount of start-up but does way more damage.
The Truth in the Mirror 214214P	-	-	-	Counter super. Only activates on physical hits. Active from frame 1. If you cancel into this from a special move the counter will immediately activate.

Extra Ultimate Chaos

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	Notes
Bell of Happiness - Goal in! 236236P	-	+110	HL	A version tosses a bouquet up, C version tosses a bouquet forward. On block a bunch of bells afterwards which trap your opponent. The exact frame advantage varies depending on your opponents position. On hit a single large bell falls on the opponent and causes a ground bound for easy combo extensions.
Love is Phantom 214214K	21f	-	-	Custom combo super. Catherine gets a shadow to repeats everything on a delay. You can use it for unblockable setups or just do really cool long combos. The problem with this super is that the long startup makes it very hard to combo into. B version will repeat moves quickly, D version repeats moves fairly slowly.

Destruction Chaos

Move	Startup	Block Adv	Guard	Notes
Maiden's Shining Heart 2363214PP	-	-54	HL	Has invun and reaches the top of the screen. Pretty easy to combo into and can be combo'd out of.

Extra move selection

In general it's highly recommended that you take Bunny's War Cry, since without it you wont really have a way to end air combos with a knockdown. Since most of Catherine's combo routes end with an air series, you're either missing out on a lot of damage by taking war cry, or missing out on a lot of oki setups, which is a big part of Catherine's game plan.

Pure love coming out has a lot of utility. It can be a good mix-up tool which is nice since Catherine doesn't have too much in the way of mix-up tools naturally, or it can be a launcher in the corner which is nice since Catherine's only meterless launcher requires specific spacing for a wall bounce. You can combo it midscreen, but you'd have to be point blank and confirm the hit very early.

The most common choice of extra super is probably Bell of Happiness - Goal in. It's very versatile giving both combos and pressure extension. Midscreen a pickup off of it can lead to the corner no matter how far out you are, and the bells on block hide Catherine's sprite making IAD mix-ups much much harder to see. The only real downside is that it costs meter and isn't that exciting for corner combo extensions since Catherine's 50 bar corner routes are so good anyway.

Love is Phantom is not a very strong extra super, while custom combos sound really good, there's too much recovery on the super activation to confirm into it, meaning you have to give up an oki set-up. Plus meter build is frozen for the duration of the super, so the meter cost is effectively higher than Bell of Happiness. That all being said Catherine still gets pretty respectable damage off Love is Phantom combos and gets really strong pressure and mix-up options because of the delayed nature of the shadows. So while the cost of this move is rather high, it does have a high payout as well.

recommended sets

If you'd rather not take any of these and just use something else that you think is cool, by all means go ahead. Chaos code is ultimately a game designed to let you do you, but if you want suggestions try out one of these:

Pure love coming out & Bunny's war cry

This is the classic Catherine set, war cry gives hard knockdowns for oki and pure love conserves meter for oki setups. There's a lot of synergy here and it's very easy to use, the only downside is that if you're is too far from the corner to get a wall bounce off of I'll serve you then you have to just take small damage or spend a full bar on meow meow miracle for some okay damage.

Bunny's war cry & Bell of happiness - goal in

Another common set, this one trades meter efficiency for more strong midscreen combos and the ability to dump meter on pressure extension. This set occasionally runs into meter problems as Catherine now has to spend bar on combo extensions in the corner, but the added options when full screen or against a blocking opponent help even this out. This set is especially good if you don't plan on spending much meter for zoning, since that will leave you with a bit of extra bar to help make up for both the lack of pure love and the extra cost of using goal in.

Bunny's war cry & Love is phantom

The love is phantom set. Has all the same problems as using goal in, but instead of getting stronger combos you get an alternative oki option in the form of activating custom combo. The difference in damage isn't really high assuming you open the opponent up. Also if you ever find yourself getting a stun you'll have time to activate and do a full custom combo. War cry is really the only extra move that gives extra utility with love is phantom, since you can combo off delayed shadow war cries in the corner.

Combos

Combo theory

Basic Catherine combo theory requires you to be aware of your spacing and distance to the corner at nearly all times. If you're at just the right spot you can use 214D to get a wallbounce, if you're real close to your opponent you can land the "pure love coming out" extra move and combo them, but you typically wont get close enough without either an extremely short confirm string, or by being in the corner already. if you're doing an air series you can extend it with "Bunny's war cry or you can use j.2C for rejumps. If you're either unsure of spacing or you know a meterless option wont work, 214BD's wall bounce is high enough that Catherine can followup even when fully in the corner. It also works at all the spacings that 214D will work, although it'll cost you meter.

When ending combos you generally just want to end in bunny's war cry (assuming you took it as an extra move) since it leads to a hard knockdown and thus a bells setup.

Bell oki is fairly straightforward, knock the opponent down, do 214AC to set ex bells on top of them, then do whatever you want. The bells don't actually hit meaty, but they hit close enough to meaty that the opponent can't really avoid getting hit if they press buttons. Some examples of what you can do for bell oki include: Roll through the opponent for a cross up, jump over them but air dash back for a fake cross-up, jump over them and use j.C for an actual cross-up, throw them out of their roll, etc. Really though the key is to be unpredictable, so finding your own set-ups is highly encouraged and not too difficult.

midscreen

2A > 2B > cl.C > 214B/D

Basic meterless confirm, you can add more 2As to make the confirm easier. 214B leaves the opponent right next to you, but 214D will send them away, at the right spacing 214D wall bounces and you can run up and combo off it. You can also replace 214B/D with 2363214B (or just cancel into it if you have the meter and are feeling spicy) to confirm into super, which is a decent option when you're too far from the corner to start an air combo.

2A > 2B > cl.C > 6B > j.214B

More damaging meterless confirm, although it requires "Bunny's war cry"

2A > 2B > cl.C > 236236C > otg 2B > 2C > sjc > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.D > j.214B

confirm into bell super, does respectable damage but you might want to vary the air series slightly to get a wall bounce depending on your distance to the corner.

2A > 2B > cl.C > 236236C > otg 2B > 2C > sjc > j.A > j.B > j.C > land > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.214B > land > 5A > cl.C > sjc > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.214B

Corner to corner carry, you can do more off the wall bounce if you want, basically any of air sequences you see below in the corner section will work.

2A > 2B > cl.C > 214B > BC > 236A > 2363214D (11) > AB > 236A > 2363214D (3) > AB > 236A > 2363214D

Exceed combo, you can cut out the second chaos shift if you want, and just end the combo there (if you do that it's better to use 214D and then cancel into super) but you lose out on like, 100 or 200 damage.

near corner/in corner

2A > 2B > cl.C > 214BD > 2C > sjc > j.C > j.D > j.2C > land > j.A > j.B > j.C > double jump > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.214B

Pretty basic Rejump, only works near the corner.

5A > 5B > cl.C > 236A > 5A > 5B > (5A) > 5C > 214BD > 2C > sjc > j.C > j.D > j.2C > land > j.A > j.B > j.C > double jump > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.214B

Alternate extended confirm you can use if you're very close to the opponent in the corner. If you do the optional 5A you'll build a half a bar just from the confirm itself, but it makes the combo noticeably harder.

2A > 2B > cl.C > 41236B > 2C > sjc > j.C > j.D > j.2C > land > j.A > j.B > j.C > double jump > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.214B

Corner combo that uses "Pure love coming out" to launch instead of ex maid. You save on the meter which causes the combo itself to build enough meter for an ex bell oki setup.

2A > 2B > cl.C > 41236B > 2C > sjc > j.C > j.D > j.2C > j.214AC > jump cancel > slight delay > j.2C > land > otg 2B > 2C > sjc > j.A > j.C > j.D > j.2C > land > j.A > j.B > j.C > double jump > j.A > j.B > j.C > j.214B

Corner combo that spends some meter on an ex devil stomp to extend things. You can also use 214AC to start it, but it makes the combo significantly harder.

2A > 2B > cl.C > 214B > BC > 236A > 2363214D (11) > AB > 5A > 5B > cl.C > 214B > 2363214D

Corner version of the midscreen exceed combo, does a little less damage since 214B eats a bit of the exceed time.

video example of the above combos

Colors

• Console Versions: You can hold R1 button while selecting a character to get an alternative color.
• Arcade Version: You can hold START button while selecting a character to get an alternative color.

A Button

B Button

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Tinky Winky

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(Teletubbies)

C Button

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Po

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(Teletubbies)

D Button

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Dipsy

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(Teletubbies))

R1 + A Button

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Laa-Laa

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(Teletubbies)

R1 + B Button

R1 + C Button

R1 + D Button