Karas - Tatsunoko

"The duty of a karas ... is to protect the city ..."

TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM BIO:

Karas is the dark hunter who tries to maintain the order between the human world and the Spirit world. His partner, a cat-like female spirit, acts as his liaison, listening to pleas for help from the human world. When someone needs to be punished, she summons Karas to take care of the matter.

CHARACTER ORGIN

Karas originated in a six-part self-titled anime mini-series which commemorated Tatsunoko's 40th anniversary of anime production. The first episode aired on Japanese pay-per-view TV in March 2005.

Gameplay Details:

Karas isn't the monster he was in Cross Generation of Heroes, but he's still a force to be reckoned with in the right hands. Karas has many tools at his disposal and is good at using them. He has ways to get out of troublesome situations and ways to pressure the opponent almost constantly. His normals have impressive range and speed, allowing him to quickly shut down direct approaches and he has the unique ability to bring the opponent to the corner of the stage no matter where he is. Unfortunately, Karas has the lowest amount of health in the entire game and for this reason he can't afford to take too many hits. Couple this with the fact that Karas's damage is very low until the player masters very difficult advanced combos, and you have a character who is not for beginners, no matter how cool he might look in action.

CHARACTER STATS

Difficulty: advanced

Style: Poke and Punish/offensive rushdown

Defensive power: While his HP is awful, he has some excellent defensive tricks to keep himself safe. Many of his specials are useful for stopping agressive opponents, and he even has a counter hyper which starts in an instant.

Offensive power: Advanced combos are needed to deal just above average damage by other character's standards. He can combo into unblockable setups for much greater damage, but this requires baroque and the right partner.

Approach strength: He can approach with relative safety thanks to his high-priority normals. His unique dash lets him pass through opponents and do many confusing crossup tricks.

Combo ability: He has many ways to naturally extend his own combos, and can combo the opponent relentlessly until he's forced to stop through game system limitations. An optimal advanced Karas combo will take the opponent from one side of the screen to the other, then back again and then into the air. These combos don't do as much damage as some other characters with better strength, but they are consistant no matter where Karas is on screen, and do not require any meter or assist. His ability to put the opponent in the corner also lets him reliably combo into unblockable resets with the right partner...and even then he is able to use baroque and mega crash offensively to further continue his unblockable resets infinitely until he runs out of meter. With perfect execution and enough meter, Karas can still take off an entire life bar in one 'combo'.

Meter Usage: Karas mainly conserves his meter for megacrash or Crossover air raids. His ability to keep the opponent under pressure allows him to build meter very quickly. With unblockable setups he can build meter even faster.

Key Techniques: Players MUST learn how to link all hits in his kasha ending with yashaguruma in order to deal sufficient damage per combo. The timing on this combo is strict. Using his F+H unblockable correctly in combos with the right assist and on the tag is also vital for doing damage. Another difficult tactic high level players will want to master is comboing into his 'slide loop' to the corner, which is still possible but nowhere near as deadly as it was in Cross Generation of Heroes.

Partner Options: Anyone with an assist who can help Karas set up unblockables is vital, but bonus points are added to those who can offer powerful air combos after a Crossover Air Raid. These characters are Chun Li, Megaman Volnutt, Tekkaman Blade, Yatterman-2, Soki and Saki. Karas himself can benefit anyone who needs a reliable defensive anti-air or projectile shield.