The King of Fighters '98/Daimon

From SuperCombo Wiki

Introduction

Goro Daimon was previously known as just "Daimon" before the King of Fighters tournament. The name means "Die, man".

Just before the first KOF tournament, he defeated Goro, prince of Shokan in hand-to-hand mortal combat, taking his namesake as a trophy.

Anyone who could defeat Goro is extremely strong, so as expected, Goro Daimon is a top tier character.

Colors

Snka.gif Snkb.gif Snkc.gif Snkd.gif
Daimon98 colorA.png Daimon98 colorB.png Daimon98 colorC.png Daimon98 colorD.png

Gameplay Overview

Daimon does a ton of damage, has very high priority normals, very effective throw mixups, and is top-tier. Even from an anti-air he can do 30% or so thanks to ground pound OTGs and juggles. He has very good defense (ie takes less damage than average) and is basically a wall of pain. His only disadvantage is that he has a very large sprite. He has combos/tactics that vary from requiring nearly no execution skill to requiring godly execution. He is a decent character for a beginner.


In-depth Analysis

Movelist

Frames Advantage Cancel Block Hitbox Notes
Standing Close
Snka.gif 4/4/5 +3/+1 HL
Kof97p070.png
Snkb.gif 7/4/9 -1/-3 HL
Kof97p071.png
Snkc.gif 4/4/13 +3/+1 HL
Kof97p072.png
Fast, cancelable, great as a meaty. More range than close D, so you can use cr.A, cl.C as a block string.
Snkd.gif 4/8/14 -2/-4 HL
Kof97p073.png
Best meaty, and if not too meaty or out in the open, you actually have a good amount of time to hit-check hcb,f+P off of it. Same speed as close C, cancelable.
Standing Far
Snka.gif 4/5/6 +1/-1 HL
Kof97p056.png
Fast, really good anti-air against short hop.
Snkb.gif 4/5/10 -3/-5 L
Kof97p057.png
THE POKE! Fast, low, long range, cancelable. You can do repeated st.Bs, but if you think they will hit a button in between, cancel into hcf+C. You can also combo this into hcb,f+P if you're in range, which most people forget about.
Snkc.gif 9/9/16 -5/-7 HL
Kof97p058.png
Nice and big, stays out a long time. Can stop short hops.
Snkd.gif 5/6/16 -2/-4 HL
Kof97p059.png
Fast, high priority, one of the best anti-air normals in the game. It can also punish things like incompleted Iori rekkas. It will whiff over crouching characters, so watch that.
Snkc.gif+Snkd.gif 15/4/26 KD/-8 S,Su HL
Kof97p069.png
Big ass cancelable move. often used to cancel into his qcf+K counter and bait CD counters.
Crouching
Snka.gif 3/5/5 +2/0 HL
Kof97p065.png
#1 poke if you're too close for standing B. Cancelable.
Snkb.gif 4/5/6 +1/-1 L
Kof97p066.png
Good poke if you're too close for standing B as well. Links into super easily since it has a long animation/advantage.
Snkc.gif 5/4/19 -3/-5 HL
Kof97p067.png
Fast, good range. Probably better options though.
Snkd.gif 4/7/12 KD/-1 L
Kof97p068.png
A sweep! Can be meatied pretty easily.
Jump
Snka.gif 5/13/- -/- H
Kof97p060.png
Pretty good air-to-air.
Snkb.gif 8/17/- -/- H
Kof97p061.png
Stays out for a long time, can be used as a crossup if it's very meaty, or your opponent is close to the corner, or in the corner and you are player 2. Good setup for his grab mixups.
Snkc.gif 9/8/- -/- H
Kof97p062.png
Crosses up, has a pretty hefty hitbox (what doesn't?).
Snkd.gif 7/7/- -/- H
Kof97p063.png
Godly jump move. Good for jumping in, or air-to-air jumping back. Can be used as an instant overhead (short hop only).
Snkc.gif+Snkd.gif 15/4/- KD/- HL
Kof97p064.png
CD in the air!
Command Normals
f+Snka.gif 22/4/26 -10/-12 HL
Kof97p074.png
Kof97p075.png
Not overhead! Active frames and last two start-up frames cancel projectiles.
df+Snkc.gif 3/4+9/16 KD/-11 HL
Kof97p077.png
Kof97p078.png
Great anti-air. It doesn't beat as much stuff as standing D, but it will trade with most things, enabling you to perform a ground pound combo. Remember if it trades, you will have to re-buffer your qcb+B/qcf+B afterwards so the ground pound will hit OTG.
Command Normals
hcf+Snka.gif 5/7/41 HL
Daimon98 hcfA.png
A Overhead Slam (hcf+A)

Beats pretty much everything above the top half of the screen, his arm is not hittable. It can be air blocked if the opponent is jumping up or back, though. Can be comboed from d/f+C on an opponent in the air. Ends in a back turned, un-rollable knockdown, and sets up for a meaty (unblockable) Ground Pound (dp+A).

hcf+Snkc.gif 12/4/37 HL
Daimon98 hcfC.png
C Overhead Slam (hcf+C)

Catches ground pokes, but is punishable by some fast long range things. Good to use as a combo ender if you aren't comfortable using hcb,f+P. Can hit OTG. Ends in a back turned, un-rollable knockdown, and sets up for a meaty (unblockable) Ground Pound (dp+A).

hcb,f+Punch.gif 0 Grab [[image:|center]] Ragdoll Toss (hcb,f+P)

Instant, long range, comboable throw. Not rollable, and sets up for a meaty (unblockable) Ground Pound (dp+A).

dp+Kick.gif 0 Grab [[image:|center]] Trip Slam (dp+K)

Slower grab with invincibility. You can even use it to go through fireballs. This is his main weapon in attack/throw mixups. Set it up by doing it on your opponents, wakeup, after a sloppy jump-in, or whatever. Not rollable, and sets up for a meaty (unblockable) Ground Pound (dp+A).

dp+Snka.gif 27/1/44 L
Daimon98 dpA.png
Ground Pound (dp+P)

C version is a ground pound fake. It is 'blocked' by crouching, but there is no blockstun. You don't even need to hold d/b, just crouch. This can hit OTG (on the ground) after an anti-air d/f+C canceled into a non-blockable move (like a throw or utility move). It is also unblockable if done as a meaty attack, but the window is small and the setups vary from character to character. The knockdown can be rolled, but if they miss, you can combo a hcf+C in the corner.

dp+Snkc.gif 35 --
Daimon98 dpC.png
qcb+Snkb.gif 16+17 -- [[image:|center]] Ground roll (qcb+K)
Invincible during the roll, but completely vulnerable at the end of the roll. Usually used for the ground pound combo bug or to gain meter after a knockdown. Can be canceled into to roll through some auto-guard moves or CD counters.
qcb+Snkd.gif 23+18 --
qcf+Kick.gif 2/12/15 -- [[image:|center]] Counter (qcf+K)
Will counter any mid/high hitting normal attack or CD counter. Usually used to cancel into to make moves safeer (like standing CD) and to bait CD counters at the same time. Ends in a back turned, un-rollable knockdown, and sets up for a meaty (unblockable) Ground Pound (dp+A).
DMs
hcbx2+Punch.gif 0 Grab [[image:|center]] Super Ragdoll Toss (hcbx2+P)

Instant good range super throw. Does damage. MAX version does more damage.

hcfx2+Kick.gif 0 Grab [[image:|center]] [[image:|center]] Super Armor Throw (hcf,hcf+K~hcf+K~dp+K)

A slower throw that has super armor on startup (ie you will still take full damage from any hits). The followups switch sides every time, and are timed as the previous part hits. MAX version does more damage.

Normal Throws

b or f+C - Unbreakable (mashable), forward knockdown, face forward, un-rollable.

b or f+D - Breakable, reverse knockdown, back turned, rollable.

b or f+C (just outside of normal throw range) - Breakable, forward knockdown, back turned, un-rollable.

Combos

As I stated above, his combos range from easy to extremely difficult depending on what you're comboing into.

  • cl.C/D, d/f+C (optional) xx C Overhead Slam (hcf+C)/Ragdoll Toss (hcb,f+P)/Super Ragdoll Toss (hcb,hcb+P)
  • cr.B, Ragdoll Toss (hcb,f+P)/Super Ragdoll Toss (hcb,hcb+P)
  • anti-air d/f+C xx qcb+B/qcf+B/dp+K/f,hcb,f+P, A Ground Pound (dp+A)
  • anti-air d/f+C (counter-hit) xx qcb+B, d/f+C xx A Overhead Slam (hcf+A)

The cr.B link into super is a good way to combo into it without having godly execution. Just perform it like f,d/f,d,d/b+B,b,hcb+P.

It is possible to perform his Ground Pound (dp+A) on the opponent's wakeup with such timing that it cannot be blocked. Here is a list of unblockable Ground Pound setups after various moves for different characters: unblockable Ground Pound setups