GGML/Baldhead

Overview

Lore:

Once, he was known as one of the leading doctors globally, and nothing warmed his heard like curing the sick. However, misfortune struck one day when an operation he was conducting on a little girl went horribly wrong, which caused her to pass away on his operating table. The misery and regret were too much for Baldhead, and he went insane, transforming a revered doctor to a feared serial killer.

Playstyle

Baldhead is the "mildly seasoned" precursor to Faust's more polished "spicy zoner", playing a good keep-away game without many frills.
Pros	Cons
Godlike normals: Baldhead has arguably the best normals in the game, with his moves like 2S and f.S being fast, disjointed, and leading to infinites. Aerial offense: Baldhead possesses a longer and slower airdash than the rest of the cast, allowing for prolonged aerial offense which pairs well with GMW for a safe way to land and potentially continue pressure on the ground. Good conversions: 2S and 2H are some of the furthest-reaching ground normals, giving Baldhead the furthest-reaching charge cancel infinite. Low-profiling crouch: Baldhead is the character with the shortest crouching hurtbox in the game, allowing him to avoid a lot of attacks by simply ducking under them. Most notably Justice's Gamma Ray. Matchups against Top Tiers: in Missing Link, matchups usually matter more than raw strength, given the accessibility of infinites. Baldhead's reach and low profile traits help him navigate matchups against dominant characters while retaining the grime that most characters have.	N/A: While Baldhead has some smaller issues like janky hitboxes, no projectile, and mediocre guard cancels, he has no weaknesses that heavily affect him compared to other characters.

Baldhead

Defense:	90%Raw Value: 9
Jump Startup:	9f
Backdash:	31f
Meter Gain Mod:	150%Raw Value: 15
Charge Time:	45f
Forward Walk Speed:	83%Raw Value: 640
Backward Walk Speed:	174%Raw Value: 1024
Dizzy Resistance:	117%Raw Value: 35

Normals

How to Read Frame Data

Damage

A quantification of how a character's health bar is reduced when they are hit.

Guard

The act of defending against incoming attacks. Guarding either negates the damage from an attack entirely or reduces it to minor chip damage.

Low: Guarded against while crouching
Mid: Guarded against in either the crouching or standing state, but not while airborne
High: Guarded against in the standing state
All: Guarded against while crouching, standing, or while airborne
Throw: Cannot be guarded against, but only applies to grounded opponents
Unblockable: Cannot be guarded against

Startup: The time before an attack is active including the first active frame. For example, an attack with 10F startup means the attack will do nothing for 9 frames, then hit the opponent on the 10th frame.
Active: The active frames of an attack refers to the amount of time an attack can hit the opponent.
Recovery: The recovery of an attack refers to the amount of time an attacker must wait before he may perform another action, even blocking.
On-Block: A measure of frame advantage when the opponent blocks an attack. Positive values indicate that the attacker can act first. Negative values indicate that the defender can act first.
On-Hit: A measure of frame advantage when the opponent is hit by an attack. Positive values indicate that the attacker can act first. Negative values indicate that the defender can act first.
Invuln: No results

5P

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
5	All	7	4	9	-5	+2	none

Fairly slow 5P without much range. Works well as a combo starter and can lead to decent damage but generally not great.

5K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
11	All	4	14	6	-11	-4	none

Very big anti-air button with an extremely janky hitbox that can even hit crouching opponents. Can be followed up with grounded normals. Shockingly fast so it can be used for abare.

c.S

c.S

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
9,2	All	8	14	13	-14	-2	none

Combo filler. Use with caution however. Using c.S as a dash-in will cause Baldhead to throw out f.S instead, which completely whiffs on up-close opponents. In fact, even c.S will whiff against up-close opponents in certain situations, making it a risky button to use.

f.S

f.S

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
12	All	12	4	21	-16	-4	none

Big mid range button that can be cancelled into 2H or CC for an infinite. Be careful when throwing out this move however. Using it as a dash-in will cause it to whiff completely. Fully disjointed.

5H

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
16	All	10	8	17	-12	+6	none

A shorter range but safer alternative to f.S and 2S. Will still whiff at point blank despite this. Useful for combos but generally inferior to 2H. Fully disjointed.

6P

Signature pose is only hurtboxes.

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
9	Mid	2	7	25	-25	-20	none

Decent anti-air. Although this move appears big, it actually seems to have a very small hitbox. However, it's his only air unblockable option, so it has to be used under some circumstances.

Air unblockable

2P

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
9	Low	7	5	11	-10	-2	none

Baldhead's fastest low, useful for mixups and mashing although he has better buttons for abare.

2K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
7x3	All	11	4,4,8	9	-10	+2	none

Big close range button with long active frames. Unfortunately unlike in later Guilty Gear games, all three hits of this attack hit mid. It's still a decent move and can gatling into S and HS normals. Because the first hit goes at an upward angle this move can also function as an anti-air, but he has better options.

2S

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
11	All	5	3	20	-15	-3	none

Baldhead's best move. It's horrifically large, with a hitbox that extends both up and out for footsies, keep-away, and anti-air. On top of that, it's his second fast button at a stunning 5 frames, making it also good for abare and punishes. It consistently converts into 2H or itself when CCed, allowing for infinite conversions. The only weakness is it has an awful lot of whiff recovery, but you'll rarely be whiffing this. Fully disjointed and Baldhead's hurtbox is low profiled for most of the duration.

2H

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
16	Low	16	21	14	-13	-8	none

2H is a long range poke that hits low even though it doesn't look like it should. Can be used to catch opponents walking back. Leads into the most lenient charge cancel infinite in the game on hit and is key combo filler. Fully disjointed.

j.P

j.P

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
5	Overhead	9	4	5			none

A somewhat slow jumping attack for that's only really good for air to air or hitting opponents above you.

j.K

j.K

Spin move!

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
7	Overhead	8	14	4			none

j.K is a big aerial button that knocks the opponent down on hit, which can be hard to tech when grounded. It's also a big jump-in but won't lead to a combo. Similar to other aerial attacks, Baldhead will keep momentum if he performs this during an airdash. This can give you the chance to kick again, or chain it into another move like Going My Way. Might instant overhead (research needed).

j.S

j.S

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
14	Overhead	5	4	13			none

Incredibly fast and big air button. Controls a lot of vertical and horizontal space, and is a useful jump in. Fully disjointed.

j.H

j.H

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
18	Overhead	13	9	9			none

Very strong aerial poke that does a lot of damage. You'll be using this button to control air space in front of Baldhead. Less versatile than j.S but still useful. Fully disjointed.

Universal Mechanics

Dust Attack

S+H

Poster child for this game's hitboxes

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
16	Overhead	11	6	19	-2	+82	none

A quick overhead that whiffs on most crouching opponents.

Can be used against the following character when crouching:

Throw

6H or 4H

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
18	Throw	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	-15	none

Is a Guilty Gear throw. Launches the opponent high up into the air, so be ready to chase them after landing this.

Instant Kill

What Goes Up Must Go Down to Hell

P+K > 236X

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
FATAL	All	8	14	3	N/A	N/A	Above Knees 4~7; Above Feet 8~24

Kills the opponent instantly. Has a big horizontal hitbox, which makes it easier to land than a lot of other Instant Kills.

Specials

Souten Enshin Ranbu

236P

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
7x2	All	10	12	8	+2	0	none

Dr. Baldhead suddenly swings himself forward and enters the Pogo Stance. This special is good for catching opponents off-guard and avoiding low attacks. While you cannot block in Pogo Stance, Baldhead's hurtbox stays above the ground for the duration of the stance, which can be frustrating for certain opponents to deal with. Notably, you can avoid Axl's special from neutral Pogo Stance. See Pogo Stance functions below.

Going My Way

214S or j.214S

Spin move...2!!

Name	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
Going My Way	8	All	24	26	20	-3	-28	none
Aerial Going My Way	8	All	1	25	4			none

Dr. Baldhead launches himself off of his scalpel and zips across the stage. This special covers a decent amount of air-space and comes out quickly enough to catch your opponent off-guard. Doing 66 during startup causes Baldhead to fly further forwards.

The air version is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool in Baldhead's arsenal. It has very little recovery and leaves Baldhead fully air active once it's done, allowing him to move around in the air while being an active hitbox and mixup his air movement. It can also be used to get extra damage out of air hits. It also has no landing recovery, meaning he can use it to land faster and even TK it for unseeable left/rights.

Re-re-re no Tsuki

41236H

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
9	All				-21	+6	none

A hit-grab move and Baldhead's longest range attack. Because of the distance it travels it's relatively safe on block, so feel free to throw this out if your opponent is stalling at full-screen. Follow up this attack with 44 to pull your opponent back and deal a good chunk of damage. Although this move can hit airborne opponents, you won't be able to pull them back.

Hack 'n Slash

623S

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
~18? idk	All	14	[6(2)]x8,5	30	-17	-17	none

High damage special that works well as a close-range combo-ender. This move can also be charged by holding 623[R].

Unlike most chargeable specials, this one doesn't gain better hitboxes or properties. Instead it just gains additional damage. The Level 3 version does some really great damage, and is fairly accessible thanks to Baldhead's fast charge time. Useful for chip damage and combo ending if you aren't going for an infinite.

You can walk forwards and backwards while using it.

Pogo Stance

Moves accessed through Souten Enshin Ranbu.

Forward Movement

Pogo > 66

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
14	All	1	20	6	+2	0	none

Baldhead flings himself forward to hit the opponent. This move comes out instantly and can easily catch your opponent by surprise. It's not very rewarding however, as it doesn't really have any combo potenital.

Backward Movement

Pogo > 44

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
	All	1	20	6	+2	0	none

Baldhead flings himself backwards. This move can be used to hit opponents that are behind you, and can also be used to avoid attacks in some situations.

Above

Pogo > P

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
18	All	11	15	5		-12	none

The Pogo Stance anti-air. Use this to keep away opponents trying to knock you off of pogo. Annoying is minus on hit so you'll probably have to end pogo regardless.

Below

Pogo > K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
9	All	8	11	5		+10	none

Another keep-away move. Use this move to punish opponents for trying to jump at you, can combo into forward movement.

Supers

Mad Operation

2363214H

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	On-Hit	Invuln
45	Throw				N/A	-38	none

One of the few command grabs in Missing Link. Baldhead slams the opponent onto an operating table and performs surgery on them. As a fairly traditional command grab, this super is instant and unblockable but has very short reach so you need to be extremely close to your opponent in order to land it. Deals a fair amount of damage but is unsafe on hit, making it best used when it will kill.