Introduction
THE 'NOV.
Karnov is Data East's flagship character, and his powerful is *nearly* unmatched in FHD. His invincible balloon, high damage output and doable infinites make him a strong contender in this game. He is often thought to be unbeatable, but the more you play him you will recognize the weakness of Karnov....
Weak Spot
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Frame count | - | 2 | 2 | - |
Color Options
Punch | Kick |
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Moves List
Quick Reference
Normal Moves
Light Punch 
- Standing (Close):
Damage | 8 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | yes | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | +10 | |||
On block | +11 | |||
Frame count | 2 | 1 | 1 |
- Standing (Far):
Damage | 8 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | yes | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | +10 | |||
On block | +11 | |||
Frame count | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Spammable.
- Crouching:
Damage | 8 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | yes | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | +10 | |||
On block | +11 | |||
Frame count | 2 | 1 | 1 |
A staple in Karnov's ground game. Great poke, longer range than standing far LP.
- Jumping (Diagonal/Neutral):
Damage | 12 | Startup | ![]() |
Chain cancel | yes | ||
Special cancel | yes | ||
Frame count | 2 | ∞ |
This is the only chain-cancellable air attack in the whole game. It allows Karnov to do sick shenanigans with Balloon Attack in the air. Also it's unique because of the faster startup than every other aerials in the game.
Strong Punch 
- Standing (Close):
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
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Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||||
Special cancel | yes | |||||
On hit | -3 | |||||
On block | -8 | |||||
Frame count | 4 | 3 | 3 | (4) 18 |
- Standing (Far):
Damage | 30 | Startup | ![]() |
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Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | ||||
Special cancel | yes | ||||
On hit | +9 | ||||
On block | +4 | ||||
Frame count | 4 | 1 | (1) 11 |
An ultra fast hand stab. Comparable with medium punches in SF. Big damage, safe on block, good in combos. Arm becomes vulnerable after active part, but only on 1 frame.
- Crouching:
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
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Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | ||||
Special cancel | yes | ||||
On hit | -3 | ||||
On block | -8 | ||||
Frame count | 4 | 6 | (6) 18 |
Great anti-air. Stuffs pretty much any jump-in.
- Jumping (Diagonal):
Damage | 30 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
Frame count | 4 | 12 | ∞ |
Good jump-in, stays out for long time.
- Jumping (Neutral):
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
Frame count | 4 | 6 | ∞ |
Light Kick 
- Standing (Close):
Damage | 7 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | +5 | |||
On block | +6 | |||
Frame count | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Matchup specific attack to target weak spots.
- Standing (Far):
Damage | 7 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | +2 | |||
On block | +3 | |||
Frame count | 2 | 4 | 6 |
2px longer than cr.LP, so maybe is useful as a poke. Maybe as far anti-air.
- Crouching:
Damage | 7 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | +4 | |||
On block | +5 | |||
Frame count | 2 | 4 | 4 |
Basically useful only against Marstorius.
- Jumping (Diagonal/Neutral):
Damage | 12 | Startup | ![]() |
Chain cancel | no | ||
Special cancel | yes | ||
Frame count | 4 | ∞ |
Butt splash! Awesome crossup tool.
Strong Kick 
- Standing (Close):
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
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Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | ||||
Special cancel | yes | ||||
On hit | -3 | ||||
On block | -8 | ||||
Frame count | 4 | 6 | (6) 18 |
A high kick. Hits Zazie's standing weak spot.
- Standing (Far):
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
On hit | -3 | |||
On block | -8 | |||
Frame count | 6 | 6 | 18 |
Good far anti-air. Use it particularly against far jump-ins instead of cr.HP.
- Crouching:
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
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Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | ||||
Special cancel | yes | ||||
On hit | kd | ||||
On block | -10 | ||||
Frame count | 4 | 8 | (12) 18 |
A slide. Fairly slow, but you can catch opponents off guard if used sparingly.
- Jumping (Diagonal):
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
Frame count | 4 | 6 | ∞ |
Great jump-in. May crossup.
- Jumping (Neutral)
Damage | 28 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
Chain cancel | no | |||
Special cancel | yes | |||
Frame count | 4 | 6 | ∞ |
Throws
Damage | 32 | ![]() |
Range (From pushbox) |
31 |
Special Moves
Damage | 16 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
On hit | kd | |||
On block | -2 | |||
Frame count | 11 | 1 | 30 |
A fireball that bounces on the ground and deals fire knockdown on hit. LP version have a lower bounce arc and HP have higher arc. Anyways it can be blocked both high and low. Slightly slow recovery, traverses full screen. Incorporate this into your ground game and be sure to try the slide glitch... Your opponent might have trouble blocking ;)
Punch version:
Damage | 24 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
On hit | Light/Hard kd | |||
On block | Light/Hard +1* | |||
Frame count | Light | 15 | 3 | 26 |
Hard | 15 | 25 | 26 |
Kick version:
Damage | 24 | Startup | ![]() |
Recovery |
On hit | Light/Hard kd | |||
On block | Light/Hard +1* | |||
Frame count | Light | 15 | 3 | 26 |
Hard | 15 | 25 | 26 |
*Frame advantage is measured as recovery + 2f of additional lag from active frames
Basically Dhalsim's Yoga Flame. Better up close than Fireball, this attack stays out longer. Karnov also cancells the rest of active frames when the move hits, so don't worry about getting punished. A solid way to help keep an opponent locked down, especially in the corner. Hitbox of kick version is moved a bit further.
Damage | 48 total | Startup | ![]() |
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Recovery | Landing | ||
On hit | 0/+4/kd | ||||||||
On block | -5/-1/+3 | ||||||||
Frame count | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Best rushdown special in the game. These rapid-fire kicks are useful from a cheap damage to the main combo ender from a standing light punch. Pressed kick button determines how fast Karnov will fly forward, frame data is the same for both versions. From the very first frame Karnov is already in the air and can't be interrupted with low attacks. If used from a bad distance kicks won't connect properly most of the times (it's even possible to hit with only the first hit). This move covers a wide area of weak spots. Especially good to punish crouching opponents.
Input note: this move can be done on the ground, after completing the input Karnov will automatically ascend upward.
Damage | 28 | ![]() |
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Landing | |
On hit | Depends on character height | ||||
On block | |||||
Frame count | Light | 22 | (float) 5 | (fall) varies | 6 |
Hard | 38 | (float) 5 | (fall) varies | 6 |
This is the one. Karnov floats in the air while being invulnerable and then falls with an exelent crossup hitbox. Active frames can be easily interrupted into any aerial attack that can be special cancelled into ANOTHER balloon attack. Incredible invincibility, stays out forever. Experiment with this for crossup fun and lock down shenanigans. If you want to play Karnov you will need to be able to effectively use this move. But watch out for aerial throws!
The Basics
He is the main character of the game and also one of the top tiers. With great arsenal from low to medium bouncing projectiles to overhead ones its a excellent all around character, sadly you don't have a good anti air outside of your standing HK.
BALLOON!!
As an overhead can be a nice cross up combo tool, use it on big hitbox chars like Mastorius and Zazie. As a air mix up tool its nice when an opponent block your jumping LP. In corner can be a nice air trap for crounching oponnents.
Combos
- cr.HP xx Fireball
- cr.LP/LK x n, st.HP xx HK 100-kicks
- falling Balloon, any combo of above
Advanced Strategy
Karnov can cheat the game a little and do a glitch with his 100-Kicks special combined with the ↓ + HK slide. The input is: Charge ← (or ↙), LP ~ ↘ + HK. Karnov teleports across the screen to the other end. Useful for crossing up with his fireball.
Match-ups
Ray | Lee | Zaz | Kar | Jea | Miz | Sam | Yun | Mat | Clo | Fei | Mar | Ryo | |
Karnov | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Vs. Clown:
Karnov had some advantages but try to escape of Overhead Stand with a Slide or 100 Rush Kicks,
Vs. Jean:
Try to get close with 100 Kick Rush, don't ballon it
Vs. Ryoko:
Vs. Karnov (self):
Vs. Lee:
Senkyutai is an issue here because 100 Kicks is beaten by it, and he can counter most jump ins with it as well as balloon. Use fireballs to keep him at bay, and crouching hard punch to counter his jump ins. Sliding is a bad idea here.
Vs. Feilin:
Vs. Yungmie:
Vs. Marstorius:
Vs. Matlok:
Vs. Mizoguchi:
Vs. Ray:
Do not brainlessly spam balloon. Ray has the edge here with Wheel Kick. You will also not be using close fireballs / flame breath for this same reason. Ray's fireball is incredibly fast, so use balloon to float over those. Just be careful to never enter wheel kick range. (Need more info)