Mortal Kombat 1/Ghostface/Introduction

Introduction

The Terror of Woodsboro

"The many killers who have worn the Ghost Face mask all share a horrifying trait: they take perverse joy in inflicting pain and taking lives. Armed with a menacing knife, an encyclopedic knowledge of horror films, and a psychopathic compulsion to torture, Ghost Face has become an infamous symbol of terror. No sooner did Ghost Face arrive in the New Era, then dead bodies began to pile up. Panic has seized the realms as its citizens fear for who might be this serial killer’s next victim."

Ghostface is a Rushdown/Mixup killer with a unique "3-in-1" design; he begins as the original Woodsboro Slasher, but as the rules of the Scream franchise dictate that there is always more than one killer, he also enlists the aid of two anonymous Black Dragon mercenaries (the Enforcer and the Assassin) to assist him. Ghostface has generous hitboxes and/or forward reach on his knife-based normals; his game plan revolves around playing neutral/footsies with these buttons and converting single-hitting mixups or Throws (with special cancels or Kameo assists) to begin a kombo and end it with his B3, a fast Mid that restands the opponent with enough advantage to create a vortex setting them up to guess again. During many abilities that may call an alternate Ghostface onscreen, the character is able to establish further mix-up potential by Swapping into the place of another Ghostface killer, spending 1 bar of meter to have the swapped killer take his place (for non-EX moves only) and gaining new abilities based on the killer variation. His EX specials that allow him to start/extend kombos, as well as his “killer swaps,” make him a very meter-intensive character with decently high reward.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opening Night: Many of Ghostface's buttons and strings are solid and hard to contest; of note is a 20 frame Overhead, a solid B4 sweep, and a trivial hit confirm with F21; Sequels and Reboots: B3, aside from being a respectably fast Mid, gives him a restand they can either extend into further grounded damage or just let it rock for plus frames in the opponent's face, his preferred position; Franchising: Ghostface's three variations/identities allow them to apply a wide variety of mixups; command grabs in the default state, overhead-low in Enforcer, and stance cancels in Assassin. B3 and the EX swap allows them to seamlessly flow from one state to another in their combos. A Formula That Works: Ghostface's combo structure is pretty straight-foward and Kameos like Scorpion or Mavado create openings everywhere, including his command grab; Slow Pace Builds Tension: Ghostface's special attacks and combos also have especially long animations, giving their Kameo time to regenerate for the next opening; Now In Widescreen: While they prefer to fight up close, Ghostface has several options to harass enemies at long distance, including a full screen Fatal Blow; Critic Proof: Swapping identities practically allows them to tank a single hit; while they will take the full damage of the attack, it also makes them very non-committal in their approach when using the Assassin or Enforcer identities;

Plodding and Meandering: Compared to other pressure characters like Johnny or Smoke, Ghostface's movement is lacking and their long range normals are pretty slow, making their neutral game rough; Lacks Range: Their fullscreen options are also quite slow and only the Assassin Ghostface has access to any projectile, so they're reliant on Kameos to contest at long range; Way Over Budget: Using the Identity mechanic to its fullest potential makes Ghostface especially meter hungry. Can't Wrap it Up: While Ghostface always has meterless routes available, their damage once the hit is found is low, and especially lacks ways to dump meter to increase the damage. You're (Not) Cornered: Ghostface has an odd disincentive to not corner the enemy; his combos have almost no corner carry due to frequent and repeated side switching, and his phone call special does not work in the corner. While this means that he is comfortable without needing a corner, it also means that it is difficult for him to corner the enemy at all if the matchup demands it.