Fatal Fury Special/Axel Hawk

Introduction

Pros	Cons
Best dodge attack in the game Jumps are quicker than average Good projectile and tons of anti-air moves Decent chip damage	Poor mobility Slow recovery on most moves Somewhat weak pressure Needs lanes to compensate for bad mobility... ...thus losing a match makes his rematch harder

Quick Move List

Throw

Move Name	Motion
Hell Bomber	F+HK when close to opponent
Head Crush	B+HK when close to opponent
Rolling Buster	UB+HK when close to opponent

Special Moves

Move Name	Motion
Tornado Upper	QCF + P
Smash Bomber	Charge B,F + P
Axel Dance	Tap P rapidly

Super Move

Move Name	Motion
Axel Rush	B,HCB,UF + LK+HP

Normal Moves

Standing A

• The far standing A is his fastest and longest-ranged (I think)standing normal and is cancelable.

Crouching A

• The low A is my favorite move to use when up close. It's his fastest normal, period. It's always a good idea to cancel this into a tornado upper or Axel Dance.

Standing B

• The far B is one of my favorite moves with Axel. It has good range, comes out almost instantly, hits crouchers, is cancelable, and beats out almost any physical attack I can think of. Its flaw is the recovery; even if you connect with this, most characters can sweep you or do worse while you're recovering. The way around this is to cancel it into a tornado upper.

Crouching B

• The low B has good startup and recovery , is his longest-ranged low move along with the D, and is cancelable. However, I almost always prefer the low D over this.

Standing C

• The far C is a good move to poke with, as its range is better than the far D's. Recovery is kinda harsh, so it's best to use at its maximum range. The close C is a quick move that hits crouchers and is cancelable. Not bad at all.

Crouching C

• The crouching C is only good for anti-air. Its hitbox is a bit high; most characters can duck under it. No horizontal range.

Standing D

• The far D isn't necessarily bad, but there's little reason to use it over the C for ground fighting. The close D is even quicker than the C and is cancelable. I should use this move more often.

Crouching D

• The low D has the same animation and priority as the low B. It has only slightly more startup and recovery than the B, which is why I prefer it. It tends to hit moves at a bit farther range than it looks. It is cancelable; good to use the dash upper after this as well as the tornado.

Jumping A

• Both A and B are exactly the same. I prefer C and D over these usually. I do use these to counter certain attacks (Duck's ball or Krauser's Leg Tomahawk) because they stay out longer.

Jumping B

• (See Jumping A)

Jumping C

• All his jumping attacks have the same animation and priority. Only difference is that these don't stay out as long as A/B, but they do more damage, cause longer hit stun, and hit twice. The latter three reasons are why I use these.
  • All of Axel's jumping attacks can cross up

Jumping D

• (See Jumping C)

Crawl

• Hold Down-Forward

Low Dive Glove

• LP/LK/LP+LK from opposite plane

High Dive Glove

• HP/HK from opposite plane

Command Moves

Low Blow

• (While blocking)Forward + LP
  • Axel's Guard Attack is one of the best in the game, without a doubt. The reason is because its range is incredible; it's his longest-ranged physical attack.

Line Blast

Power Blow

• HP+HK
  • Will knock opponent to opposite plane

Throws

Hell Bomber

• (Close to opponent)Forward + HK

Head Crush

• (Close to opponent)Back + HK

Rolling Buster

• (Close to opponent)Up-Forward + HK

Credit to Josh-TheFunkDOC

Special Moves

Tornado Upper

• Quarter Circle Forward + Punch
  • His main special move, without a doubt. Its startup and recovery are very good for a projectile, almost as good as Krauser's Blitz Balls. I mainly cancel into it after certain normal moves.

Smash Bomber

• Charge Down-Back, Forward + Punch
  • Its startup is *very* slow, but the recovery is good. Good move to use after a low D. Low D -> Dash Upper is a good tactic for getting close.

Axel Dance

• Tap Punch repeatedly
  • This move is key to playing Axel up close. Mash the low A, and one of them will get canceled into this for nice block damage. AFAIK, this is his only special move that combos (Not sure about the dash upper). Make sure NOT TO MASH ANYMORE after the move starts, as he'll throw more punches that'll completely whiff. As you can imagine, that is a Bad Thing, and he looks like a doofus too.

Credit to Josh-TheFunkDOC

Super Move

Axel Rush

• Back, Half Circle Back, Up-Forward + LK+HP
  • His Desperation Move. I've heard this mentioned as one of the hardest moves to do in the game, but I don't agree. For me it's slightly easier than a Raging Storm. This is a move that, unlike the Dash Upper, I can hardly find any good uses at all. Its startup is even worse than the dash upper, and there is no invincibility at any point in it. If any of it hits, the enemy is knocked down and loses about 1/3 of his life. If blocked, it will do 2 hits of block damage, no more. This is a Very Bad Thing because usually the last punch will not connect at all if the move is blocked, giving your enemy a year to figure out what to do to you.

Credit to Josh-TheFunkDOC

Combos

• Jump C/D, cr.A > A Axel Dance

The Dance will get 2 hits if you jump from the front, or 3 hits if the combo is a crossup.

• Close B (2 hits) > Axel Dance
• cr.C > Smash Bomber (A)
• Close C > Tornado Upper (A)
• Line attack > close A > Axel Dance

The Basics

General Strategies

• Generally, I like to play Axel at mid-range. All his far normals except the low A and C have great reach; use it. Stand B into tornado upper is one of my favorite tactics; just don't use too much against guys with invincible-at-startup DP's (i.e. The 3 heroes, Kim, Duck) or other fireball-punishers (Cheng's belly flop). Against those characters, I favor the sweep into tornado as it pushes them farther back if blocked. Don't keep using standing B against other characters though; be patient and poke with his other normals, especially the low B/D (Against Krauser and Geese, put heavy emphasis on the un-reversable low attacks). As I've told you by now, he is really lacking in speed, but makes up for it in range and priority. Playing Axel at full-screen ain't bad either. Like I said, his projectile is one of the best. If they jump, CD their ass, or do far B and cancel into tornado to continue this. Don't get too predictable with that, though, as if they jump early enough they can still get you. Against some characters like Jubei, I like to switch between mid-screen and rushdown Axel. The latter involves using jumping attacks or low D -> A Dash Upper to get close and from there pressuring with constant low A's into Axel Dance. That's pretty damned fun right there.

Credit to Josh-TheFunkDOC

Advanced Strategy

Anti-Airs

• Axel has 5 moves that are viable anti-airs: His far B, far D, low C, CD attack, and his DM.
  • Far D: Only use this when the enemy jumps from a far distance and the damage from it will kill them. Priority is decent.
  • Low C: This works only if the enemy's right next to you because its horizontal range is zilch. Kinda sad, as the priority is excellent.
  • CD Attack: The best if they're close. I prefer far B if they jump from a distance (explained below). Except on the Billy/Axel/Laurence stages, on which this should be your one and only anti-air.
  • Far B: This is my favorite because its priority is awesome and you can cancel it into a tornado upper. They'll land right on it and be forced to block or line switch. Note that the hitbox of this move isn't as high as the others, so don't use it too early.
  • Desperation Move: As the startup on this is horrible, only use if you can psychically predict when your enemy will jump. If you actually do get it out, then it's great, as no normal will beat it.