Overview

Harold

Harold is the big body grappler of Combo Babies, and a beast of a character in multiple situations. He boasts some of the highest damage with consistent conversions, amazing buttons to control neutral with, many 50/50's and unblockable setups, and one of the single best EX moves in the game with 236D. His [4]6C is an oppressive reversal and approach tool, and with a bar of meter he can easily convert into 70% combos or more. Buttons like 6B, j.C, and 2C are nigh uncontestable and lead to massive reward on counterhit. This is fairly standard for grapplers, but Harold combines these qualities with his incredible mixups in 214X and instant overhead j.A and incredible mobility utilizing a fast dash and airdash.

He does have a few weaknesses, namely in terms of frame data. Many of his normals are slow on startup, and he lacks many ways to enforce frame advantage, especially without meter. He relies heavily on the armor from 6B to control neutral, and has to play a bit preemptive with all of his other normals. This leads him to baiting heavily, using his mobility to dash in and out quickly before tossing out a huge button and finding the counterhit.

Harold is widely considered the best in Combo Babies, and for good reason. His oppressive offense, amazing defense, powerful metered options, and armored neutral tools make fighting him difficult, and every solid hit can lead to death. He abuses the systems incredibly well, and if you want someone who is easy, strong, and very fun, Harold has you covered.

Pros

Cons

Damage: Combo Babies is a fairly high damage game at times, but Harold's combo routes combine great stability and TOD potential to a level nobody else reaches.
Defense: With multiple frame 1 armor options, most of which lead to full combos, and likely one of the single best EX moves in 236D, Harold isn't lacking in defensive options.
Offense: As a grappler, he naturally possesses strong strike/throw. This is even further complimented by powerful overheads, and the system mechanics of CB like airdash cancels.
Neutral: Harold has amazing buttons and specials to control neutral, namely 6B and j.C.
Mobility: The natural systems of Combo Babies allow movement to be heavily varied, and Harold abuses this with very fast dashes and airdashes, alongside j.2C which is a fastfall.
Metered Options: All of Harold's EX moves are stellar, his uses for BC are amazing, and he has likely the single best super in the game. Harold builds and spends meter fast.
Mechanical Synergy: The nature of his kit simply meshes well with this game. Many characters lack combo stability near the corner, but Harold constantly sideswaps and juggles midscreen. His plethora of combo options help avoid IPS, and all of his uses of meter allow him to extend far beyond where other characters have to end combos. He can easily set up unblockables since his command grabs ignore throw invulnerability. His fast and grounded dashes work perfectly with the lenient movement mechanics. No character plays Combo Babies quite like Harold.

Frame Data: Outside of 2A and 6B, nothing Harold can do without meter leaves him plus. Many of his buttons have slow startup, and lots of whifflag if you miss. Characters with faster buttons can stuff a lot of things on startup.
Big Body: His hurtbox is larger than others, leading him to be hit more often, though this isn't by as large of a metric as the usual big body grappler.

Ground Normals

5A
5A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	Mid	5	-	-	+10	-2
Harold's jab. Great to start out his combos if he can land it, and a nice button to mash in pressure

5B
5B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
12	Mid	7	-	-	+11	-2
A forward-reaching punch. Does nice damage, but mostly relegated to combo fodder and pressure. Jump cancellable on hit and block.

5C
5C

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
18	Mid	10	-	-	Launch	-9
The big punch. A great normal, has slow startup but is great to punish people for mashing in pressure, and sets up for a guaranteed command grab on block. Smart use of this move is strong with Harold. Cancelling a dash with this move makes it go almost fullscreen, which is a fun callout.

2A
2A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	Low	3	-	-	+16	+4
Harold's fastest normal, which makes it very important in his kit. Links into itself for hitconfirms, and combos into 236A for a full combo, or [4]6A/B/C/D for a knockdown/combo.

2B
2B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
12	Low	7	-	-	Launch	-3
Harold's dedicated launcher. Not a bad move by any means, but is mostly overshadowed due to command grab being a launcher too. Still, not bad to confirm into off of 2A if you struggle with 2A > 236A.

2C
2C

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
24	Air	10	-	-	Down	Down
The clap. A strange but staple normal The upward range on this move however makes it a nice tool for his combo loops, and adds a decent bit of damage to even his easiest combos. Low profile and a good hitbox placement make this great as an anti-air if you can time it right.

6A
6A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	Mid	13	-	-	Down	Down
The universal anti-air button. Harold has one of the slowest in the game startup wise, but it does have nice reach and consistently confirms into 236C or a dash cancel into a full combo. Nice if you know they're gonna jump, but hard to use on reaction due to it's startup.

6B
6B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	Mid	7	-	-	+9	+2
The universal poke button. A great move, especially considering it has super armor. Dash cancel this on hit into 5A or 5B for a full combo. Nice to throw out in neutral or on block to make your opponent scared to press a button, or to counterpoke laggy moves.

Jump Normals

JA
JA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	High (Aerial)	3	-	-	Variable	Variable
A small downward kick. While it isn't the best aerial he has, it has nice uses as his fastest one, and airdash cancelling it can allow for both combos and resets. Usually seen at the end of his combos to add a little bit more damage and to reset or get small extensions. Rising jA isn't a bad anti-air either.

JB
JB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	High (Aerial)	7	-	-	Variable	Variable
The claw. Great airdash in tool, it has a bit of downward movement on startup which lets it easily confirm into grounded normals. Can be used in combos as well, and nicely combos into both jC and an airdash jA. Also good for confirming j236A/B/C/D

JC
JC

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
12	High (Aerial)	13	-	-	Variable	Variable
A big upwards slap. Staple for his loops, as the angle it launches at leaves them perfectly spaced for followups on the ground. Great as an air-to-air, and a powerful but somewhat committal jump-in.

J2C
J2C

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
12	Mid	3	-	-	Variable	Variable
Harold ball. Harold curls into a ball and drops quick, causing a huge amount of knockback on hit. Due to the knockback, this is a bit hard to use in combos. Still, it's very fast, and the quick downward movement lets Harold drop out of the air almost like a fastfall. Useful as a sort of "get off me" tool.

Special Moves

236 A/B/C
236 A/B/C

Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
A	6	Grab	5	-	-	Launch	Grab
The command grab, and Harold's most important special. Harold reaches upwards and grabs out of the air. On hit, he sideswaps and launches. This can be jump cancelled, EX cancelled, and super cancelled. Absolutely his most important special, used in every combo and in his most basic strike/throw mixups. Get used to using this, a lot. All versions besides EX can be crouched under.
Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
B	6	Grab	7	-	-	Launch	Grab
A slower version of 236A, with more active frames. Not bad, but due to the longer whiff animation, you may wanna stick with 236A as much as possible.
Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
C	6	Grab	9	-	-	Launch	Grab
A leaping grab. Good as an early anti-air, and to catch people out of things like burst or a 2C hit. Easiest to punish on whiff due to the lengthy jump animation and landing whiff animation. Staple in his bnb after a 2C for massive damage potential.

214 A/B/C
214 A/B/C

Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
A	12	High	9	-	-	Launch	-7
Harold's overhead. Very fast overhead, and important to Harold's mixups as it beats the things that 236 loses to: crouching and mashing. The armor also makes it great as a mixup tool to counter people mashing out of block, or to catch people trying to anti-air you. A microwalk 5C > 2C will start Harold's loops, making this a huge threat in the same way 236 is. Also acts as a decent combo ender for damage.
Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
B	18	High	11	-	-	Launch	-14
Slower but more damage. Harder to combo into and out of due to the startup speed, but is a great ender when it can. Nice as an in-between of the 2 versions, but usually the least used.
Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
C	24	High	13	-	-	Launch	-21
The slowest but highest damaging version. Best for oki, as while it is the slowest, 13 frames is not exactly easy to react to. Nice for combos when you can wallbounce into it.

[4]6 A/B/C
[4]6 A/B/C

Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
A	12	Mid	3	-	-	Hard knockdown	-3
A super armor charge. Great special to use, both out of a 2A confirm and just in neutral. Super armor basically through the entire duration, and stuffs a ton of buttons. Also causes hard knockdown, and can be converted into a full combo with groundbounce. Also an amazing anti-air when Harold has the charge for it. It loses armor if blocked, and all versions are punishable point blank. A well spaced A version can be safe or even plus, however.
Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
B	18	Mid	4	-	-	Hard knockdown	-9
Longer duration and more damage make this great for escaping the corner or punishing disjointed hitboxes. The startup being 1 frame shorter can hurt more than it may seem, and the significantly worse advantage make this mostly used in combos.
Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
C	18	Mid	5	-	-	Hard knockdown	-14
The slowest and highest damaging of all the meterless armor dashes. 5 frame startup and terrible disadvantage on block makes this the least useful in neutral, but great for confirmable combos and as a reversal and anti-air.

Throw

6D
6D

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
30	Grab	13	-	-	+14	Grab
Harold's throw. Armored, making it very good in neutral or pressure. Mostly overshadowed by his command grab, but notable that it easily confirms into his air super, and starts any combo (including a combo into itself). Depending on which way you throw them, you can either corner carry or reset to midscreen with this. Has a huge weakness in that the entire animation can be throw teched, and it does no damage until the very end, making it much easier to tech on reaction than other throws.

Super Moves

236D
236D

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
6	Grab	3	-	-	Launch	Grab
EX command grab. Great move for a variety of reasons. Acts as a "get out of jail free" move: armor and lightning fast startup let this beat out a lot of things, and since it's his only uncrouchable command grab, it amplifies his unblockable potential a lot more. Also a great reversal, and easily extends combos.

214D
214D

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
24	High	7	-	-	KD	-12
EX overhead. Combining the high damage of the C version and fast startup of the A version, this is a great move to use. Hard to use during oki however, as the super freeze makes it pretty obvious and reactable. Because of this, it's usually relegated to a callout tool or as a way to add massive damage to combos.

[4]6D
[4]6D

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
18	Mid	6	-	-	Hard knockdown	-19
EX armor dash. Goes the farthest of any of the dashes, and has the most armor. Great use as a way to beat pressure or get out of the corner, and causes hard knockdown like the other versions. Be wary of this getting blocked however.

41236D
41236D

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv on Hit	Adv on Block
96	Grab	2	-	-	Launch	Grab
Heavenly Harold Buster. An absolutely godlike super, cannot be jumped/reversaled post-flash and grabs anything besides burst, meaning if they press anything at all when in range of it they will get hit. Does a ridiculous amount of damage on hit, and due to its speed, can be used as a legitimate reversal. You may not always have this since Harold has such good EX moves, but when you do, you can strike the fear of god into your opponent. Many of his combos also confirm into this, and most of them will become TOD combos with a super at the end. Do be aware that opponents can burst the first hit of this attack, which will make it deal 0 damage in total

Combos

Harold has very high damage, stable combos, and getting his most optimal ones learned makes playing him much more rewarding.

His combos usually start off of a few moves: 5A/2A, jC, [4]6X, or a raw command grab. These all allow him to get his full bnb. 214X also does, but it uses groundbounce.

Meterless bnb: 5A > 5B > 5C > 2C > 236C > jC > 5B > 5C > 2C > 236C > jC > 236B > jA > jB > 236A > jA > jB > 214A | Video link

The go-to bnb meterless for damage and positioning. Works just about everywhere, and easy to get off the most common starters. Many parts require delays, but it isn't too bad to get used to. Add 214D instead of 214A to make this combo 210 damage instead, or add a super instead to make it a TOD.