Shantae (Shantae) Discussion: She’s Got the Moves! [CONFIRMED]

Gimmick/Playstyle - Shantae has a few different moves that transform her into various other forms. These forms are limited but do have uses. Shantae’s neutral special allows her to revert back to her normal form whenever she wants when she is transformed. The extra few new moves/mobility she can get from these forms can prove to be very useful in certain situations.
Transformations themselves have limited movements and movesets; however, they are specialized to excel in certain situations, and if used correctly, they can help Shantae perform very well in a variety of situations.
Transformations can do most generic movements, including jumping, crouch, shield, dodges, grabbing ledges, etc. They also have a limited amount of attacks, which vary depending on the transformation. All transformations, however, cannot grab or use special attacks no matter what form it is (grabbing results in a corresponding jab/tilt, any special move input reverts Shantae back to normal form).

Entrance - Shantae jumps onto the stage, seemingly from an unseen foreground.

Jab/Combo - Shantae uses her long ponytail as a whip to smack opponents in front of herself. This is a single-hit jab that can be repeated pretty quickly.
S Tilt - Shantae kicks forwards, dealing damage and having decent range.
U Tilt - Shantae lifts her right hand up, which creates a small electrical shock that damages opponents.
D Tilt - Shantae uses her ponytail as a whip to attack opponents while she is crouching. Can be used repeatedly like her jab.

Dash Attack - Shantae slides forwards with her elbow extended, ramming into opponents to damage them.
Get-Up Attack - Shantae stands on her hands and head, and extends her legs as if she her performing a split before standing upright.
Edge Attack - Shantae flips back into the stage and kicks.

Elephant form - two of Shantae’s smash attacks turn her into her elephant form. This form is extremely slow and heavy, granting survivability and damage at the cost of maneuverability. Shantae can only walk, and only has one jump (no double jump). Shantae’s attacks in this form all act like uncharged versions of her smash attacks (exception is jab and up smash, which are different while an elephant), though come out more quickly since Shantae does not need to transform to perform them. Pressing B while an elephant will allow Shantae to transform back.

F Smash - Shantae transforms into an elephant and rams forwards, dealing heavy damage.
D Smash - Shantae transforms into an elephant and stomps down onto opponents, dealing damage and burying them.
U Smash (Normal form) - Shantae kicks upwards twice while rising into the air, dealing damage. Shantae ends the attack in the air.
U Smash (Elephant form) - Shantae waves the elephant’s trunk around above herself, dealing multiple hits of damage.
Jab (Elephant form) - Shantae smacks forwards twice with her trunk.

N Air - Shantae uses her ponytail as a whip attack to attack opponents in the air. Can be used repeatedly like D Tilt and Jab.
F Air - Shantae kicks forwards twice, dealing more damage with the second hit.
B Air - Shantae uses her elbow to hit behind herself.
D Air - Shantae moves diagonally downwards, spinning with her legs extended which damage opponents.
U Air - Shantae kicks above herself twice, dealing damage.

Grab - Shantae attempts a regular grab.
Pummel - Shantae knees the opponent.
F Throw - Shantae kicks the opponent away.
B Throw - Shantae
D Throw - Shantae turns into an elephant and slams down onto the opponent. Shantae remains in elephant form afterwards.
U Throw - Shantae turns into a Harpy and carries the opponent into the air and releases them. Shantae remains in Harpy form after the attack ends.

N Special - Transformation: This move has multiple different uses. Shantae’s previously mentioned transformations can be reverted manually by pressing the special button while transformed (this includes any special input, be it up special, side special, etc; if the special button is pressed, Shantae is turning back into her normal form). However, when Shantae is in her normal form and uses this move, Shantae turns into a monkey. Shantae can stay in this form as long as she wants until the special button is pressed again, in which case Shantae will revert back to normal. While a monkey, Shantae’s weight is the lightest it can be, being very easily knocked around. Shantae also gains the ability to wall cling, climb, and jump while a monkey, and her overall reach with the moves she has is a tad limited. The monkey form is the only form to have moves in the air and ground. The monkey itself has good overall mobility and can be used to chase down opponents or run away if necessary.

Jab: Shantae slashes forwards.
S Tilt: Shantae leaps forwards a good distance, and can latch onto opponents. If she does, she can attack them by pressing A. Shantae can also cling to walls using this move.
U Tilt: Shantae slashes above herself.
D Tilt: Shantae slashes forwards while crouching.

N Air: Shantae spins around with her small monkey arms and legs extended.
F Air: Shantae dashes forwards in a similar manner to her S Tilt as a monkey.
B Air: Same as F Air, but Shantae does it in the opposite direction.
U Air: Shantae slashes above herself.
D Air: Shantae slashes downwards.

By pressing the special button while in the air, Shantae will not transform into the monkey; instead, Shantae will transform into a Harpy. The Harpy excels in aerial mobility and recovery, allowing Shantae to attack opponents relentlessly in the air. The Harpy is lighter than Shantae but not as light as the monkey. Shantae is granted 3 additional midair jumps while a Harpy (which amounts to 4 aerial jumps; 3+normal double jump), and in addition the Harpy can glide. The harpy does not have very good grounded mobility (can only walk and has walk speed of Shantae) and can barely attack while on the ground.

Grounded attack: Shantae somewhat awkwardly hits opponents with her head/wings.

N Air: Shantae slashes forwards with her talons.
F Air: Shantae uses her wings to smack opponents forwards.

B Air: Shantae slashes backwards with her talons, hitting twice.
U Air: Shantae flips upside down to slash repeatedly above herself.

D Air: Shantae swoops downwards in an arc and attacks with her talons. If Shantae presses the attack button again while she is attacking an opponent during this move, she will grab the opponent and take them into the air, which can be used to set up combos if desired.
Glide attack: Shantae spins with her wings tucked in, damaging opponents with multiple hits of damage.

S Special - Spitfire: If the special button is just pressed, Shantae releases a small fireball projectile. If the special button is held down, Shantae releases a stream of fire that dies down after elongated use. The fireball deals damage on contact, and the stream of fire can damage enemies repeatedly.
D Special - Pike Balls: Shantae begins charging. When she’s done charging (fully charging or releasing B), Pike Balls (spiked balls) appear around Shantae that damage opponents. Low charge summons one pike ball, medium charge summons two, and full charge summons 3. These pike balls spin around Shantae, and damage opponents that hit them. Shantae can perform normal actions while pike balls are around herself, but it should be noted that they disappear if Shantae transforms. Pike Balls disappear when they hit an opponent.
U Special - Warp Squid: When this move is first used, Shantae summons a Warp Squid mother to the location where Shantae is standing. The Warp Squid can be destroyed, with it having 25 HP. When Shantae uses UP+B again, Shantae will teleport to the Warp Squid’s location. If the special button is held, Shantae can position the warp squid to her liking (similar to Black Mage’s Up Special from SSF2). As Shantae positions the warp squid, however, its maximum HP decreases, capping at 10 HP; in addition, Shantae will automatically teleport to the Warp Squid if she chooses to position it in this fashion.

Final Smash - Risky Boots Attack!: As Shantae activates her final smash, Risky Boots’ ship crashes onto the stage, and Shantae makes a run for it. Every other character on the stage is fair game as Risky Boots and her army of Tinkerbats attack the opponents on the stage, dealing high damage if opponents are caught within the plethora of Tinkerbats. The Tinkerbats themselves have no kill power to speak of; that lies with Risky Boots. Her attacks hit hard and can KO opponents at medium-to-high percentages. After 12 seconds, Risky and her army disappears and Shantae comes back onstage.

Flintlock Pistol: Allows her to shoot a bullet or numerous bullets at enemies. Can be useful for hitting hard-to-reach enemies and switches.

Pirate Hat: This allows to slow her descent when airborne, and when it picks up a drift, it lifts her into the air.

Scimitar: This allows her to perform a downthrust to kill enemies, destroy blocks and hop over hazards.

Boots: Makes her run faster. When she starts building energy, she rushes forward with blade in hand to destroy anything in her path!

Cannon: This gives her the ability to "jump" to higher places by launching a cannonball and propels her into the air up to 3 times.

This gives a few new options for specials and gameplay. For example, her Up Special could be changed to the Cannon, in which she can launch herself into the air by firing cannonballs downward, and any opponent that gets caught by the cannonballs could be meteor smashed. She could probably use the Hat afterwards, similar to Mr G&W's Parachute. The Scimitar could be her down-air (similar to Link's), and her dash attack could be changed to how she attacks when running with the boots.