#gg dictionary

[Axl Low / I-No]Though they don’t have a title per se, they are sometimes classified collectively as “Causality-altering Phenomena” or simply “Causal Anomalies” because of their time travelling powers.

According to GGXrd Arena Data, I-No is referred to as the “Crimson Minstrel” / “Musician in Red”.

[Anji Mito]Sometimes goes by the nickname “Kakukyaku” which means “Glorious”/“Brilliance”.  May be an alias, or possibly that Anji Mito is not his real name either.

[Crow]Various people I.D. him as a man named “Crow Kuruwaba” but he denies this as the truth.  Despite working as a Division Head for the Postwar Administration Bureau, it’s unclear if he has any connection to Leon Mining or someone named “Dr. Repro Crowley”, who was involved with creating the O.P.U.S. and the Cyprus Project.

[Daisuke Ishiwatari]Sometimes referred to as the “King of Tea” according to legend.  Also has a mysterious connection to the creature known as Chimaki.  He voiced Sol Badguy for the first half of the Guilty Gear series and is it’s lead creator/director/composer/everything in between.

[Dizzy]“That Man” once referred to her as the “Child of Light and Darkness” (Hikari to Yami no Kessei).  Illyrian Guards code-named her “Maiden of the Grove” (Kokage no kimi) for security purposes for King Ky’s Sake.  In GG2 Material stories, she is also referred to as “Commander of the Gears”, “Biological Weapon”, and later “Reproduction of Justice / Justice-Backup” by Dr. Paradigm. (Not to be confused with ‘Justice Copy’ which Crow built.)  Eddie also once derogatorily referred to her as the “Princess of the Gears” (Gia no Hime), while Testament (in an alternate timeline) refers to her the same as he did Justice “Aruji” or “Master/Mistress”.

[Flament Nagel (A.B.A.’s Partner)]He goes by the title “Sanguine Gale” (Budoushu no Tachikaze), though what sort of history he has is anyone’s guess, since he was originally discovered by Slayer wandering the wastelands some time during the Crusades and he isn’t technically a Gear either, since he’s a Foci (sometimes called Tsukumogami in Japanese, though that’s not an official GG term), or Magical Foci Beast.  A.B.A. of course renamed him “Paracelsus” after her creator.

[Sir Gottfried of Casteria]Known as the “Iron Whirlwind”, he fought Venom to his death in Night of Knives, and took orders from Leon Mining who deceived him in to becoming a member of the “God Series” of science derivatives based on Forbidden Beasts (Gear-based technology).  Venom’s killing him spared him the fate of becoming a pseudo-Gear monster, thus he died a warrior.

[Justice]“Justice” was the American Gear Project codename for her until she took the name for her own independence.  Prior to that her code designation was “Number 1 / No.01” (An Evangelion Unit 01 reference), and “That Man” refers to her as “Aria”, though GGXrd Library implies that Justice was a “Copy of Aria” instead of being Aria herself.  Later, as the Crusades progressed, she was referred to as “Herald of Destruction / God of Destruction” (Hakaishin).

[Kliff Undersn]When he became Commander of the Sacred Order and was given the Dragonslayer sword… they nicknamed him “Dragon Killer”, though he was famous for that reputation long before he became Commander.

[Ky Kiske]Leo Whitefang nicknamed him “Bambino” or Infant, and it sorta stuck in some circles (jokingly of course), though most referred to him as “The Commander” out of respect when he was being serious.  Sol just refers to him as “Boy” or “Delinquent King” later on.  He is also called the “High King” of the United Kingdoms of Illyria.  He also held the position of “Director” of the International Police Force at one point.

[Leon Mining (sometimes Leon Maining)]GGXrd says he is referred to as “The One who Grieves for This Nation”, though he was the one responsible for the coup attempt on Calronia and an attempt at assassinating Salteria Calroni (next heir to the throne), it was thwarted by the Assassins themselves, and he ultimately was hired on to work for the Postwar Administration Bureau as a middleman/spokesperson to the Assassins. According to Slayer he was once a Zepp ex-patriot mercenary.

[Leo Whitefang]Venom refers to him as “Lion of the Two Swords” (Lion of the Twin Swords), but he is also known as the “Second King” of the United Kingdoms of Illyria.

[“That Man” (Ano Otoko)]Sometimes referred to as “The Gear Maker”, though GGXrd Library plays around with the idea hinting that this may be more than one individual (though I think we know better).  Raven sometimes refers to him as “His Holiness”.

[Millia Rage]Venom once referred to her as “Witch of the Blonde Hair”, though on bounty hunter list she has been known as “Blonde Huntress” or derogatorily as “Fox Girl”.  Her Curse is called Angra, though not much else is known about it other than being the 6th Forbidden Magic compared to Zato’s 5th Curse.  Venom also later refers to her as “Number Two” or the Guild’s 2nd Most skilled operative.

[“The Original”]So as to avoid confusion he is sometimes referred to as the “Original Man” and has ties to Axl, the Sanctus Populi, “That Man”, the Backyard, and the Dawn of Revival… the book he supposedly wrote on the Backyard is referred to as the “Sage’s Testament”, and he is sometimes called “The Philosopher”.

[Potemkin]Not a title, but his barcode was #4595605381 as he was referred to since childhood until Zepp’s coup in 2180.

[Raven]Known as the “Undying Disease” (Fushi no Yamai) though the Gearmaker refers to him by his nickname “Karasu” which means “Raven” in Japanese.  He is also called “The Chronicle” as he observes history… he refers to people who impact that history as “Wheels that Move the World”, even referring to Sol Badguy by such.

[Robo-Ky]One of the Mass Production Models (Robo-Ky Mk.II) was referred to as “Serial No.000348”… it later encounters a “Prototype” of itself and has many arguments with it, though despite the Prototype’s claims that 348 is inferior… 348 manages to out-argue nearly every claim the Prototype makes, but ends up being saved by the Prototype when it was destroyed protecting him from the ORIGINAL Ky Kiske’s Ride the Lightning attack.  348 will never forget the Prototype’s noble sacrifice… until it’s wiped from its memory that is.

[Sanctus Populi]Originally called the “Apostles” of “The Original”, these were the people who followed the prophetic warning that came just prior to 1999’s Dawn of Revival.  Later became an inner hidden circle known as the “Senato” or “Conclave” and lead by Pope Maximus Ariels… the Conclave were responsible for founding the Postwar Administration Bureau along with several other secret projects, even working with the Assassins’ Guild.  The Conclave are lead by Chronus (IV), Bardius (Baldias) (III), Libraria (II), and Axus (I).  Axus was killed by Ky Kiske, Bardius went missing when Sol fought him, Libraria was last seen inside the Cradle (inside Justice’ giant form before Sol attacked it), and Chronus is currently in Dr. Faust’s custody.

[Sekine Kazutoshi]Overseeing Battle Director for both Guilty Gear and BlazBlue for ARC System Works.  His nickname is “Pachi” which might be a play on words for “Patch Updates”… or not?

[Slayer]Sometimes called “The First Assassin” or Founder, also once called Zato=ONE “Young Assassin”.  "That Man" refers to him as “Noble One” (as his kin are referred to as Nobles collectively), though he is also called “Ishu / Kishu” or “Outsider / Exception”.  He is the ghost author of the journal of “Eripmavs D Yraid” (backwards and decoded it reads “Vampire D’s Diary”), while the “D” may have some connection to “Dracula” (or possibly “Dandy”), we may never know for certain.

[Sol Badguy]“Flame of Corruption” (Haitoku no Honoo) / Prototype GearSometimes known as “The Badguy” by American authorities when he was sabotaging Gear Cell Research facilities some time between 2016 and 2172 when he joined the Sacred order.  GGXrd Library says that Sol got his name “Flame of Corruption” directly from Justice who deemed him a traitor to his own Gear-kin… also referred to as the “Guilty Gear”.Dr. Paradigm playfully calls him “Freddie/Rude Monkey” while Sol calls Paradigm “Grilled Chicken” (Yakitori) at times.

[Testament]He was referred to as the “Lawbreaking / Aberrant Gear” (Konwaku no Gia / Koho kakuran no Gia) by Potemkin, as he was the first known Gear to resist Justice’ influence and act independently (beyond Sol Badguy of course).  Of course, despite his strong willpower he was unable to prevent the acts he committed in her name.  And much later it was revealed that Dr. Paradigm and other gears had “awakened to sentience” besides Testament long after Justice’ control had ended.  Still, it’s said Gears that become sentient can still be controlled if they are not careful, as Sol once warned Dizzy about when she encountered the Justice Copy, though ironically Testament did not feel the Justice Copy’s influence… only Dizzy and Sol seemed to.

[Toshimichi Mori]Nicknamed “Mori P” with the P standing for Producer and creator/director of BlazBlue.  He also voices Flament Nagel.  Behind his sunglasses are rumored to be… another pair of sunglasses.

[Valentine]Valentines are collectively known as “(Illegitimate Children) of a Merciless Apocalypse” (Jihi naku Keiji no Otoshiko) (sometimes just Merciless Apocalypse for short).  Their servants are called the “Vizuel”.  Worth noting that “That Man” was the one who gave them this name, though they may not necessarily go by that title.  It should also be noted that the term "Merciless Apocalypse" (Jihi naku Keiji) is interchangeable in some translations with the term "Universal Will".  Ramlethal refers to Humans as “Redundancies” or “Doll Imitations”.

[Venom]“Venom” was actually a name he inherited from the master of his old household as a child.  We don’t know if he had an original name.

[Zato=ONE]When he was a boy and a war orphan before joining the organization, the people in his village called him “Monster” because of his willingness to kill to survive.  When he bonded with Eddie, Eddie was referred to as a “Shadow Organism” or “Life-Eating Shadow” in later translations.  Eddie and Angra (along with anything else tied to the 6 Forbidden Binding Spells) are called “Forbidden Beasts” (Kinjuu) collectively.  "Zato=ONE" is actually a play on words for “Zatoichi” which means “Leader Number ONE”, as he was the Head of the Assassins.

Disclaimer: Most Historic Titles found in Guilty Gear are either called such by one character and then suddenly accepted by everyone else, which is inconsistent with how the very idea of a nickname works, as not everyone knows certain characters' nicknames in real life.  For example, "That Man" was the first to call Valentines "Merciless Apocalypse" and yet now everyone calls them this, and it's not like the Gearmaker broadcasted that term.  Just understand that it's inexplicable and not really that important canonically where the titles came from.

[Air Dash] Also known as an "Aerial Dash" or used as an "Instant Air Dash" (Abrv. IAD). Pressing backwards or forwards twice while in the air or up-forwards and forwards again or up-backwards and backwards again will lead to this maneuver for some aggressive air-to-ground overhead attacks, cross-ups, or evasive maneuvers. An Air Dash can be performed during a High Jump as well but cannot be jump cancelled after. In most cases this is true for normal jumps as well (with exception to Chipp and AC+ Justice who can jump once after an Air Dash and Potemkin who can only Jump cancel once but not Airdash). In other cases Millia, Dizzy, and Justice have TWO air dashes, though they cannot jump cancel after the first airdash like Chipp or Justice can (however the caveat to this is that once you commit to the 2nd airdash you cannot Jump cancel). Meanwhile A.B.A. normally only had one (1) airdash, but when she activated Double-Edged Hell Mode, she could airdash twice. Further, some special Force Roman Cancel and Force Break maneuvers with Auto-Jump-Install Properties can 're-install' an Air Dash in to some character's jumps (though this is often highly technical to perform). Unique to Justice, however, her Force Break "Saperia Trance" is an attack, cross-up, wall-stick, AND high speed airdash all at the same time! So long as she has Tension, she can do it any number of times! See also "Air Turn", "Jump Cancel", and "Jump Install".

[Air Turn] Unique to the first Guilty Gear, Aerial Turns were done by pressing the "Taunt" Button while in mid air to turn around. It was useful for cross-ups or enhanced air dashing. This later developed the concept for "Turning" in Guilty Gear Isuka.  See also "Air Dash", "Cross-Up", "Taunt", and "Turning".

[Attack Level] This is what determines the strength of an attack. Generally attacks have three levels of strength. Stronger attacks are going to cause more stun, damage, and guard stun but are slower and sometimes chargeable/delayable. Weaker attacks are usually faster but have higher priority. During clashes (GGXrd), certain stronger attacks will be able to repel** weaker attacks. Here is an example list of normals that repel or equal other normals: 

HS < S (repel) Forward P = Close S (even clash) Crouching HS < Jumping HS (clash with equal repel, may cause "Danger Time") **Note that this feature was later replaced by the [Blitz Shield] mechanic.

See also "Gatling Combination" and "Clashing".

[Awakening] In Japanese this is known as "Kakusei Mode" in the Original Guilty Gear. When a character's Health fell below 50% (or down to roughly 15% in GG Mode in later games) a character would gain a Red or Yellow Aura and have either an Unlimited amount of Chaos Attacks (Overdrives), or an Increased amount of Tension Gain. BlazBlue retained this to some extent, but redesigned it. Not to be confused with "Kakusei Sol/Kakusei Ky", the hidden bosses of Guilty Gear Isuka's Boost Mode!  See also "Chaos Attack", "Tension Gauge".

[Back Dash] By pressing backwards twice while standing, a character can avoid an attack for so many frames, even when cornered. Originally in the first GG, Kliff Undersn had neither a forwards or backwards dash and had to rely on his lean back "Ahead of Time" Special (Sen no Sen). It appears AC+R Justice now has this problem in exchange for all her new abilities. Potemkin and Jam are said to have some of the best backwards dashes in the series, likely second to Slayer who can buffer his specials in to either his forwards or backwards dashes which can go through projectiles and normals. See also "Air Dash", "Dash", and "Negative Penalty".

[Blast Drive] Exclusive to Guilty Gear 2 Overture, this allowed players to run around stages at high speed in exchange for expending small amounts of Tension, which could be regenerated next to nearby captured 'Ghost' bases. During tight corners, a well-timed angling of movement could result in a "Blast Drift" which allowed for faster navigation. See also "Breaker", "Cross-Up", "Dash", and "Faultless Defense".

[Blitz Shield] Exclusive to Guilty Gear Xrd, so long as you are not guarding an attack and are in a neutral state, by pressing any two attack buttons that are not Dust, you can repel an opponent's attacks at the cost of 25% Tension.  Unlike Slash Back, you cannot repel Overdrive attacks. See also "Slash-Back". [Bound] (Alt. "Boundary/Wall Bounce/Floor Bounce/Wall Stick/Skid/Floor Slide") A 'bound' is a developer term for the 'semi-physical' wall that surrounds the playing field of the fighting game. Whether that bound is a floor, invisible wall, corner, or ceiling makes no difference. It is the edges of the visible area in which two characters have room to fight. If a character backs away, they can only back so far away in most cases that they can't go "off-camera". Most fighting games have a mechanism for 'zooming' in on the characters when they are near one another to make the players feel they are getting closer to the action. Inversely the camera will zoom out when the characters are further away...or if one character is airdashing or high jumping around the screen, the other will be obscured below or shown with an icon and so on. "Bound" is the mechanic that causes various wall properties to the characters: whether they are bouncing off walls, sticking to walls/ceilings, or bouncing and sliding along the floor. Bound also effects special attacks, such as the invisible wall tracking to Sol's Riot Stamp or Chipp's Wall Cling. In some rare situations, Bound glitches occur that cause wierd corner combos or other strange properties. Some moves have a 'universal wall bounce' in the middle of the screen even if there is no wall, such as Ky's Lightning Javelin, while others require a corner of the stage in order to be effective, such as Slayer's Pile Bunker. It's important to know the Bound/Boundary properties of each special move and whether or not they are useful Mid-screen or only in Corners. See also "Breaker", "Clean Hit", "Counter", "Dust Attack", "Faint", and "Lane Change".

[Breaker] (Alt. "Crash/Clash") A "Breaker Dash" occurs when the character has full Chaos Meter and performs a full-momentum run towards an opponent, ramming them, though the attack is blockable. Certain attacks had unique hit properties while running in this state as well.  See also "Bound" and "Dash"

[Charge Attack] Certain normal and special attacks can increase in attack power level based on a gauge or gimmick device (such as Order-Sol's Charge Meter, or Johnny's Mist Finer in conjunction with his Gold Coins, or Jam's kick cards). Typically you have to enter a risky state or stance of "Charging" in order to build up your Charge Attack. Generally speaking though this could easily be cancelled by releasing the "Respect" or "Dust" buttons (or cancelling the stance) and using the charged attack or another attack respectively. This method is known as "Charge Cancelling" or "Stance Cancelling" (Mist Cancel). Highly powerful Charge Attacks such as Ky's Stun Edge Charge Attack (Abrv. CSE) or Kliff's Reflex Roar Charge Attack usually require a large amount of startup or even Tension to be used (sometimes being risky in the process). In more recent games featuring GG Generations Mode, Charging allowed you to charge up your Tension gain instead for Overdrives. The Instant Kill Stance could be considered an extreme form of a Charge Attack.  See also "Charge Burst", "Instant Kill", and "Taunt".

[Charge Burst] Unique to Order-Sol, it is a semi-safe/semi-unsafe means of taking some pressure off of him while he is charging up his attacks to prevent opponents from attacking him. He can also use "Action Charge"/"Charge Keep" after a Charge Attack to retain some of his charged meter.  See also "Charge Attack" and "Psyche Burst".

[Chaos Attack] Special attacks that require Chaos meter, except under certain conditions.  See also "Awakening" and "Overdrive".

[Chaos Gauge] This was the original term for a "Tension" meter.  See also "Tension Gauge".

[Clashing] This term refers to when two attacks of the same attack level offset eachother. Once a clash occurs, either character can cancel in to any move they desire afterwards, though this is risky. In Guilty Gear Xrd, weaker attacks will be repelled by medium/strong attacks, regardless of the opponent's position. If five (5) attacks clash of equal strength in a row, both characters will be repelled a great distance. If two very strong attacks of equal strength occur, the screen status will flash RED for both players and "Danger Time" will be initiated.  See also "Attack Level", "Danger Time", and "Gatling Combination".

[Clean Hit] Originally a term for Home Runs in Baseball, refers to Sol Badguy's unique powerful punches which, when they hit squarely, will do powerful damage and guard stun regardless of whether or not the opponent was blocking. This highly useful combo mechanic was originally meant to appear in the first Guilty Gear but was scrapped and later re-used in GGXX Slash and Accent Core games.  See also "Breaker", "Bound", "Dead Angle", and "Dust Attack".

[Counter] A term that refers to "Counterattacks" or "Counter-Hit" (Abrv. CH). When a character performs an action with recovery frames, an opponent can freely hit them for a Counter. Counters have unique properties which range from changes in hit stun, recovery time, even damage in some cases. A Counter will automatically occur when the Guard/R.I.S.C. Gauge is flashing. In the original Guilty Gear, some counter-hits had Instant Kill properties.  See also "R.I.S.C.", "Guard Gauge", and "Danger Time".

[Cross-Up] A universal term for attacks that have a large "back" hitbox that can cause an opponent to be confused as to how to guard an attack from the front or behind. Order-Sol's Gunblaze is one such example. In some cases, attacks that appear to hit from behind can still be guarded from the front (for example with Eddie, even if his Shadow summon attacks you from behind, so long as you are guarding away from Eddie's real position in front of you, you are guarding correctly). See also "Air Turn", "Bound", "Mix-Up", and "Turning".

[Danger Time] Exclusive to Guilty Gear Xrd and triggered by two strong attacks clashing. The first opponent to land a hit on the other in this state obtains an opportunity for a higher damaging combo with longer un-techable recovery. A similar effect to this kind of counterhit is BlazBlue's "Fatal Counter". Danger Time inherits the "red screen of death" that Instant Kills once had in the original Guilty Gear.  See also "Attack Levels", "Clashing", "Counter", and "Instant Kill Cancel".

[Dash] By pressing Forward twice (two times), players can have their character run along the ground to close in on their opponent. You cannot block during either a dash or air dash, instead, it is recommended to FDC (Faultless Defense Cancel) the 'breaking' animation as you run up alongside your opponent. In some instances, some characters do not have a Dash, but instead of a slight forwards hop or no Dash at all. In other games certain attacks can be "Dash Cancelled" as well. In GG Isuka and Judgment, characters could dash around the field in "Boost Mode" using the 'Boost' button or simply tapping Up twice or Down twice. See also "Airdash", "Blast Drive", "Breaker", "Dust Attack", and "Faultless Defense".

[Dead Angle] (Abrv. DA) Also known as an "Alpha Counter/Counter Assault/Guard Cancel Attack", it is a precise semi-invincible critical strike in exchange for 50% Tension while guarding. The downside to Dead Angles is that you cannot do many damaging combos or Slash K.O. with them as they are meant to alleviate pressure off of you, not win Duels. Each character has their own version with unique properties and uses.  See also "Clean Hit", "Gamble", "Instant Kill Cancel","Lane Change", and "Throwing".

[Dust Attack] (Alt. 'Dast') A universally powerful attack that serves as a Standing Overhead (for breaking crouching guards), Sweep (a universal low attack), or Jumping Knockdown Attack. It was originally performed by pressing Slash and Heavy-Slash simultaneously, though it later got a universal button input. While it is usually slow and unsafe when blocked, it benefits from being able to be cancelled in to from nearly any weaker normal and repel other normals if it clashes. Sol Badguy is also famous for his Dust-Loop aerial combo. If a standing Dust Attack lands, it can lead to a Homing Jump to an Aerial Beat Gatling Combo. In GGXrd you now have the option to dash cancel after one lands for some unique combos that were once only available via the "Impossible Dust" technique.  See also "Homing Jump", "Impossible Dust", "Mix-Up", and "Psyche Burst".

[Faint] Each character has their own 'dizzy status rating' that increases with each counter-hit, or high stunning hit. Eventually they reach a point where they become Faint and cannot recover until all the 'angels'/'stars' around their head go away, leaving them open to more attacks. Normally mashing any button or wiggling the stick is needed to recover from this state, but this state can also recover itself much faster when the opponent enters their "Instant Kill Stance" (this varies from startup time of certain IKs), certain moves such as Dragon Install and Necro Install nearly double the rating for a character as well, making it much easier to dizzy that character. Also, some characters have a low dizzy hit-box, so not all characters can be hit the same way (with exception to command grab type attacks or certain low-hitting attacks. Once a character becomes dizzy and recovers however, it may take slightly longer for them to get dizzy again based on the previous amount of the rating. See also "Counter", "Guts", "Instant Kill", "Negative Penalty", "Proration", and "Stagger".

[Faultless Defense] (Abrv. FD / Alt. 'Fortress' Defense) While blocking by pressing back or down-back, and then holding down any two buttons (except Slash + Heavy), a Green Sphere Field will nullify all attack damage to the player, reduce the Guard Gauge by an amount and increase push back on guard to create breathing room in exchange for more block recovery (guard stun) and gradual loss of Tension (in the original Guilty Gear, this was done by holding down the Respect button while guarding). This technique can be stacked with "Instant Block" to reduce damage and reduce recovery if well-timed. During some maneuvers such as ground dashing or certain light attacks, Faultless Defense can reduce the recovery state of the move at the expense of a little Tension in order to move around safely. This is known as a "Faultless Defense Cancel" (Abrv. FDC) and has some unique properties that allow players elaborate "floaty" aerial maneuvers as well. FD is also indispensable for Option-Select inputs (multi-button presses) where blocking safely and throw breaking are necessary during tight frames and frame traps. See also "Dead Angle", "Instant Block", "Recovery", "Slash-Back", and "Tension Gauge".

[Force Break] (Abrv. FB) An enhanced or "EX Attack" alternate special move that expends 25% Tension. Can sometimes link in to Overdrives for another additional 25%. See also "Charge Attack", "Overdrive", and "Tension Gauge".

[Force Roman Cancel] (Alt. 'False' Roman Cancel/Abrv. FRC) is essentially a 'Roman Cancel' that expends only 25% Tension to make certain moves and projectiles safer on wiff, or more useful offensively. Typically the timing and input for these is very precise and takes practice. Introduced in GG Isuka, is something called a Yellow Roman Cancel (Abrv. YRC) that only expends 12% Tension. Note that in some cases, there is an Auto-Jump-Install property on certain aerial special moves. See also "Modern Cancel", "Roman Cancel", and"Tension Gauge".

[Gamble] "Gamble Attacks" are attacks that strike out at an opponent at the risk of draining your Chaos Meter completely while guarding.  See also "Dead Angle", "Instant Kill Cancel", and "Turning".

[Gatling Combination] (Alt. "Beat Combo") This is the all-encompassing term for Guilty Gear's combo "cancel" system. The basic cancel-string of attacks is from weak to strong in this way: Punch > Kick > Slash > Heavy-Slash > Dust. There are unique variants to this rule depending on what normal attack properties some characters have and can cancel from, such as Foward+Punch leading to close-standing Slash.  See also "Attack Levels", "Clashing", and "Jump Cancel".

[Guard Gauge] (Alt. "Guard Level/Guard Libra") A gauge unique to GGX-era onwards games. Initially the gauge will start at 0, but will fill when attacks are guarded. If it starts to flash, and the character makes a mistake, it can lead to a "Counter". This can be mitigated by using "Faultless Defense". When a character is being hit with a combo, after a while the Gauge will fall in to Negative levels, thus reducing the amount of damage and prorating each hit onwards the longer the combo gets. In Guilty Gear Isuka, a "Negative Penalty" often filled the Guard Gauge.  See also "Counter", "Negative Penalty", "R.I.S.C."

[Guts] "Guts Rating" refers to how much damage reduction a character receives when their health reaches a certain low point, effectively making their Life last longer in dangerous situations. The more lightweight a character typically, the lower the threshhold. Chipp Zanuff and Baiken compared to Potemkin and A.B.A. would be on opposite ends of the spectrum, with Sol and Ky being somewhere near the middle. Think of it as the difference between a Heavy Weight and a Feather Weight fighter. See also "Awakening", "Faint", "Guard Gauge", and "Proration".

[Hell Fire] Exclusive to Guilty Gear Xrd, when a character reaches a certain Health threshold (low Health), their Overdrive Attacks' damage is increased, making the attacks become more powerful, even potentially reversing their bad situation. See also "Overdrive" and "Chaos Attack".

[High Jump] (Abrv. hj) Also known as a "Super Jump", by pressing Down then Up, a character can jump higher than they normally would. In some cases, these jumps can be controlled/directed in certain ways to cross an opponent up or are used for unique combos (such as Anji Mito's unique High Jump air combos). High jumps in GGX onwards games are limited in that they can only perform an "Air Dash" and not an additional jump, this required the use of a glitch technique called "Jump Install" to further give the character more aerial options.  See also "Air Dash", "Homing Jump", and "Jump Install".

[Homing Jump] A Homing Jump is a jump with homing properties that follows a successful Dust Attack. Unlike a normal jump, Jump Cancel, or High Jump, for a certain number of frames after the first hit during this jump any number of Jump Cancels can be executed during an Aerial Gatling Combo, adding on to the damage the combo can do (but unfortunately for very prorated damage in exchange). Eventually you DO run out of opportunities to jump and have to finish your air combo, so ideally you would go for a damaging attack that leaves the opponent un-techable to at least fall to the ground for a knockdown. See also "Dust Attack" and "Jump Cancel".

[Impossible Dust] Also known as a "Homing Jump Cancel", if the player successfully performs the first hit after a Dust Attack and cancels out of their Homing Jump state, falling back to the ground and using the un-techable frames of that attack, they can land some very Unorthodox technical combos. Though moderately difficult to perform in recent Guilty Gear games, Guilty Gear Xrd has recently created the ability to "Dash Cancel" a Dust Attack, allowing the player to run after the Dusted opponent without having to Homing Jump after them to achieve the same effect (bear in mind, however, that this Dash cancel only works on hit, not on blocked Dust attacks). See also "Dust Attack", "Homing Jump", "Jump Cancel", and "Jump Install".

[Instant Block] Also known as "Perfect Guard"/"Chokuzen" (Abrv. IB), it is a well timed blocked attack (by pressing back or down-back) that results in your character flashing white for a few frames and recovering faster than they normally would from the blocked attack. Instant Blocking does not reduce your Guard Gauge by much, however, since it is still guarding. Worth noting that the timing for an Instant Block is only slightly wider than that of a Slash-Back, but if you can get the timing of an Instant Block down, you can eventually learn to Slash-Back an attack. See also "Faultless Defense", "Guard Gauge", and "Slash-Back".

[Instant Kill] (Abrv. IK) Also known as a "Destroy Attack" or "Sakkai/Hissatsu" maneuver done by pressing the four main buttons (P+K+S+HS). In the original Guilty Gear, if this attack landed it would end the entire match. In later games it only ends the Duel round by destroying the opponent's life gauge. The system for Instant Kills was revised in GGX so that the Tension Gauge would transform in to an "ATTACKKCATTA" meter that would slowly empty out all remaining Tension (even if the player changed their mind, and changed back, they lose all Tension in the process). Besides having huge start-up times, it was a hit-or-miss ultra-risky attack, and if the player took too long, the Tension in the ATTACK gauge would empty and start draining away their Health!! And if they missed, they couldn't use Tension anymore for the remainder of the Duel (Round). Different from a normal IK however, Order-Sol's IK was a precise combo input sequence (similar to Geese Howard's Deadly Rave in the KOF games) that, if the opponent's HP were low enough, would result in them getting Destroyed. See also "Charge Attack", "Instant Kill Cancel", and "Tension Gauge".

[Instant Kill Cancel] Exclusive to the Original Guilty Gear and GG Mode, this "IK attack" or "IK poke" is a universally UNBLOCKABLE activation move that triggers the famous 'red screen of death' forcing players to perform precise inputs in order to either 'evade' or 'input' an Instant Kill. This move in particular is called an Instant Kill "Cancel" because it can be cancelled from nearly any normal attack as part of a Gatling Combo, and even serves as a Guard Cancel (similar to Dead Angle Attacks) and sometimes activates as a Counter-Hit (in rare cases for Testament and Justice in the first GG). If a player 'evades' an IK attempt (depending on the opponent's input of attack, qcf/qcb x 2 + any button), they will 'dodge' or circle behind their opponent (sometimes forcing them in the corner at a disadvantage). If the opponent performs their IK input during this red screen instead and does it faster than the player did (qcf x 2 + any button), the player will get Destroyed instead, reversing the situation and ending the match!! In GG Generations mode, this was revised to only effect the opponent being hit, giving them three random directional inputs and a brief time to input them. See also "Back Dash", "Danger Time", and "Dead Angle".

[Jump Cancel] (Abrv. jc) Certain attacks (typically low level attacks) can "cancel" their recovery in to a jump which can lead to an Aerial Gatling Combo, likewise certain midair attacks can be cancelled in to a "double-jump cancel" for more elaborate maneuvers, though this may remove the option to "Air Dash" in some situations. Do NOT confuse this with a "Homing Jump".  See also "Homing Jump" and "Jump Install".

[Jump Install] In more modern fighting games (such as BlazBlue) this would refer to a "High Jump Cancel", but in the case of Guilty Gear X games onwards High Jumps did not have many aerial options short of a single Air Dash. Originally a 'glitch' in the jump cancelling system, any normal attack that cannot be "Jump Cancelled" in to can 'buffer' a jump cancel within it, then cancel in to a move that CAN jump cancel, thus buffering an additional jump or Air Dash. This can lead to complex combos such as a jump cancel or Air Dash after a High Jump, or an additional air dash after your air dashes have seemingly been used up in midair depending on a character's aerial abilities. Some special moves have a built-in Auto-Jump-Install, such as Ky's Aerial Stun Edge after a Force Roman Cancel or I-No's Sultry Performance.  See also "Air Dash", "Force Roman Cancel", "Impossible Dust", and "High Jump".

[Just] Refers to the effect of having Instant Guarded an attack. See also "Instant Block".

[Lane Change] (Alt. "Line Change"/"Sidestep") Exclusive to Guilty Gear Isuka and Dust Strikers, the lane system allowed players to shift from multiple plane lanes and fight in either the foreground or background of a stage, or up on higher or lower levels of a stage. By shifting, they are able to either transfer to escape an attack (sometimes from guarding, known as a "Defensive Lane Change), or by attacking opponents in the other lane (known as a "Lane Attack") or knocking an opponent in to the other lanes (a "Lane Smash Attack" or "Dust Strike"). The "Defensive Lane Change" in particular costs 25% Tension as it acts similarly to a "Dead Angle" attack but allows players to avoid getting trapped. (Unlike Isuka, however, Dust Strikers didn't have many evasive abilities and you could only jump above or below a platform so it wasn't as complex). See also "Bound", "Cross-Up", "Dead Angle", and "Turning"

[Mix-Up] Also known as a "50/50 Mixup" it refers to the guessing game a player can play on a guarding opponent, making them guess at whether to guard high or low or from behind or to break a throw. Most projectiles hit mid-level so they can be guarded high against additional Overheads or low against additional Low attacks or sweeps. Eddie is known for his 'unblockable' (or mostly unblockable) mixups with his shadow summon (though in some cases a "Slash-Back" may help you get out of a tight situation). The general idea is to guard low until you see an overhead coming, or if the opponent is a habitual overhead attacker, guard high until you see a low, or watch for tick-throws (single pokes that lead to throw or chara-throw situations).  See also "Cross-Up", "Dust Attack", "Slash-Back", "Throwing", and "Wake-Up".

[Modern Cancel] (Alt. Modern Roman Cancel/Abrv. MC/MRC) New to the series that originated in GG2 Overture. By pressing the analog stick, a character can cancel any wiffed move, projectile, normal, or special at the cost of 50% Tension regardless of the timing. This bears special mention because it was recently featured as a key mechanic in Guilty Gear Xrd (likely replacing Force Roman Cancels in regards to their strict timing). Though it is still a part of the "Roman Cancel" family it is unique in that the GGXrd version allows projectiles to temporarily 'slow down time' for a brief moment and has a 'Golden' appearance when it does not make physical contact with an opponent on guard or hit. Likewise, a certain number of wiffed attacks can also be 'MRC'd (Alt. YRC/Golden RC/Chaos RC) but those that cannot (such as Sol's Volcanic Viper) are marked with a small red 'X' when an attempt is made, though these moves COULD have been RC'd if they were blocked. See also "Force Roman Cancel", "Roman Cancel", and "Tension Gauge".

[Negative Penalty] A mechanic designed to discourage or punish excessive blocking, backdashing, or running away from the opponent. This mechanic was introduced in Guilty Gear X, went through a slight change in Isuka, and got further modified in the Accent Core games. Negative Penalty is measured slightly differently from character to character, so more mobile characters (like Chipp Zanuff) and highly defensive characters (like Potemkin) are effected by it differently, due to their differences in style. Negative Penalty initially effects "Tension Pulse" which gradually increases the rate at which you gain Tension from various offense-oriented actions (attacks, running forwards, air dashing forwards, Instant Blocking, Slash-Backs). But gradually decreases the more you block, back dash, backwards air dash, or simply sit and do nothing for an extended period. Eventually the Tension Gauge will say "Warning" and if the player takes any more defensive measures beyond that they will get hit with the Penalty which reduces Tension to 0 and reduces the Tension Pulse Gain Rate to low or negative levels, removing several options available to them, defensively or offensively. Sol Badguy's Dragon Install is closely tied to Negative Penalty along with the Faint Status getting increased (assuming he recovered safely from Dragon Install), and even choosing to use Dragon Install 2nd is just like getting hit with the Penalty as Sol's Tension Pulse Rate is reduced to extremely low levels while rapidly losing Health. Fortunately, Sol post-Dragon Install can go back on the offensive even if his Tension is in "Warning" status. In Guilty Gear Isuka, Negative Penalty also effects the Guard Gauge, filling it to maximum, allowing the next set of hits to be Counters. See also "Faint", "Guard Gauge", "Instant Kill", and "Tension Gauge".

[O.T.G.] Abbreviated as "Off-the-Ground" which refers to combos after an opponent has been knocked down. Only a few characters are capable of doing these type of combos or even using them to relaunch a character. The proration of an OTG combo is sometimes unpredictablely good or bad depending on the character, but mostly bad.  See also "Bound", "Proration" and "Wake-Up".

[Overdrive] If a character has 50% Tension, by inputting a unique special command (usually qcb,f+button), they can unleash a powerful attack. Some Overdrives in rare cases cost not only 100% Tension, but also require a full "Psyche Burst" as well. Famously, Guilty Gear is also known for having hidden "easter egg" moves that aren't listed at all such as Dizzy's "Wings of Light". See also "Awakening", "Chaos Attack", "Chaos Gauge", "Force Break", "Instant Kill", and "Tension Gauge"

[Proration] Refers to the damage reduction effect the first attack has on any consecutive attacks that come after it. Due to Guilty Gear's 'Guard Gauge' system, the more hits in a combo are performed, the less damage will be done in general, but some attacks don't always follow this universal rule. Proration is a key aspect to character rebalance with each new iteration of a fighting game and affects whether or not some combos will become practical or impractical or negotiable or otherwise. Sometimes attacks with high priority tend to get a lot of proration for one reason or another.  See also "Guard Gauge", "Guts", and "R.I.S.C."

[Psyche Burst] (Alt. "Psyche Burst Counter"/"Cyclone Blast") Introduced in Guilty Gear XX, the Psyche Burst is a counter-pressure tool designed to change the flow and pace of a battle. By pressing Dust and Any other button (or S+H+Any in Isuka) depending on the situation, a character will initiate a Burst from the Psyche Burst Gauge. At the beginning of a Match (Duel 1) the Burst Gauge is full, and will remains so until it is used, and will gradually refill via damage until it is full again (worth noting that when fighting against GG-Mode characters the Burst Gauge is "Green" and will refill much faster than normal to compensate for a GG-Mode character's pressure/damage). There are two types of Bursts: Gold and Blue. Gold Bursts are offensive in nature and blow the opponent backwards while granting the character Full Tension and plenty of options. If it misses (or airthrown) or is blocked, the Psyche Burst Gauge will only be half depleted. Meanwhile a Blue Burst occurs when a character is being attacked in order to alleviate pressure. If a Blue Burst misses, gets blocked, or is airthrown, the Burst Gauge is completely depleted and will take a much longer time to refill. Worth noting that Bursts generated much faster for Individual characters over teammates in Guilty Gear Isuka, often getting a "Free" Gold Burst to compensate for fighting alone. See also "Charge Burst" and "Throwing".

[Recovery] Also known as "Teching", "Ukemi", or "Emergency Roll". From a stunned state your character flashes white for a few frames and is temporarily invincible. In some situations you can trap an opponent and trick them in to recovering at the wrong time via a "reset" or "tech trap" (frame traps). For one reason or another in later GGXX games, the backwards Recovery had more invincibility and went active faster than other recovery moves, so it was ideal for Training Mode. Pressing "Respect" (Kei) on the way down from being attacked in the air in the original Guilty Gear also resulted in a Recovery. GGXrd now has 'crumple stun' animations that may force players to think twice about recovering if an opponent is planning a trap. See also "Wake-Up".

[R.I.S.C.] Exclusive to GGXrd, it is a play on the word "Risk" (though it's unclear what the acronym may stand for). It is a Gauge that functions similarly to the "Guard Gauge" but unlike the Guard Gauge it will not fall below negative levels during combos (meaning damage and proration will not fall below a certain level per hit).  See also "Guard Gauge" and "Proration".

[Roman Cancel] (Abrv. RC) Conceptualized in Guilty Gear X as a play on the word "Roman Candle" (another word for Fireworks), at the hefty cost of 50% Tension (by pressing any three of the face buttons of P/K/S/HS) during a blocked attack or blocked special attack, the animation recovery frames of that attack get 'cancelled' and can freely launch in to another attack or maneuver safely. The requirements for Roman Cancels are not strict, however they do require an attack make contact of some kind, either blocked or hit. A cheaper alternative is the Chaos Roman Cancel (Abrv. Chaos RC) that was created in Guilty Gear Judgment and used as a temporary mechanic that allowed Special Attacks to cancel in to themselves or other Special Attacks at the mere cost of 25% Tension. The requirements of a Chaos RC are the same as a normal RC, in that the attack MUST make contact (hit or blocked) in order for the move to be cancelled (the additional downside being that some attacks cannot be mashed such as Grand Viper, or they will be Chaos RC'd by accident). Roman Cancel later developed in to the Modern Cancel found in GG2 Overture and will later be seeing a revision in GGXrd. See also "Gatling Combination", "Force Roman Cancel", "Jump Cancel", and "Modern Cancel".

[Slash-Back] (Alt. "Parry"/"Guard Impact") (Abrv. SB) While guarding you can spend 7% Tension or so to reduce the overal recovery time it takes to guard an attack to a point where you can actually attack the opponent while they recover. Though this is not always ideal, and very risky as early forms of Slash-Back resulted in being unable to block for so many frames. GGXXAC+R revised this to simply put players in more Guard Stun if they make a mistake. See also "Blitz Shield", "Faultless Defense", "Instant Block", and "Negative Penalty".

[Stagger] Certain hits are capable of knocking a character off balance, forcing the player to mash buttons/directions in order to recover. This state often opens up combo opportunities that would not normally be possible. See also "Clashing", "Counter", "Danger Time", "Faint", "Recovery", and "Wake-Up".

[Taunt] Also known as a 'personal action'. In older GG games this was a set of buttons/inputs called "Chouhatsu" (Taunt) or "Kei" (Respect, also done by pressing Forward and Taunt in later games). Taunting an opponent often leads to a small increase in their Tension, and if done at the end of a Duel, leads to "Rakusyo (Easy Victory)" which gave the opponent 50% Tension at the start of the next Duel in the match. "Respect" was a way to acknowledge opponents' skill, but also served as a fake-out and could be cancelled in to other attacks whereas the Taunt input could not (though some Taunts have a hit box built in to them like Dizzy's). Also of note, you cannot Taunt an opponent at the end of the Match if they lost, only Respect them. "Respect" had an additional function in the first Guilty Gear in that it served to charge up certain unique special Charge Attacks via "Charging" or "Charge Canceling". "Respect" was also used while guarding in order to activate "Faultless Defense" to reduce damage at the expense of Chaos Meter and to tech using the "Recovery" maneuver.  See also "Charge Attacks", "Faultless Defense", and "Recovery".

[Tension Gauge] (Alt. Super Meter/Groove Gauge/Rage Gauge) Formerly known as the "Chaos Gauge", the Tension Gauge has become a core mechanic to facilitate the variety of maneuvers available to the Guilty Gear Series. Originally it was split in to two (2) segments allowing for "Faultless Defense", "Dead Angles", "Overdrives", "Roman Cancels" and the "Instant Kill". This was later revised and split up in to four (4) segments to allow for "Force Roman Cancels" and later "Force Breaks" and "Slash-Backs". Tension increases during Attacks, Instant Blocking, Receiving Damage, Dashing, Air Dashing, and to some degree Slash-Backs. Tension decreases during the above special mechanics or overall backdashing and running away. See also "Awakening", "Charge Attack", and "Negative Penalty".

[Throwing] Throwing is an unblockable attack done by pressing Forward and Heavy Slash when an opponent is standing or crouching near you. Unlike BlazBlue games, unless it is a command throw, there is no Throw-wiff animation and cannot be done mid hit-stun like a combo (unless it is a tech trap reset). Throwing can also be done in the air (often used to Throw aerial Psyche Bursts). "Throw Breaking" (timed and performed the same as a normal Throw) is a technique exclusive to more recent GG games but depending on the timing of the throw break can situate either character in favor over the other.  See also "Mix-Up".

[Turning] In Guilty Gear Isuka, it was possible to turn away or towards your opponent with a Turn button (also known as the "Furimuki" button). Although this complicated things for some players, it allowed them to pick and choose their opponents on-screen and send them flying wherever they wanted.

--Turn+HS: Lane Change (Move to another Lane) --Turn+P: Lane Change Attack (Attack opponents while moving in another Lane) --Turn+S: Lane Smash Attack (Knock an opponent in front of you in to the other Lane) --K+S: Back Attack (allows one to attack behind without turning around) --(While Guarding) Forward+Turn+HS: Defensive Lane Change (A guard cancel that costs 25% Tension to perform).

See also "Air Turn", "Cross-Up", "Dead Angle", and "Lane Change".