All-Star Battle ★ Diavolo
Diavolo is a playable character in All-Star Battle. As one of the seven main antagonists, Diavolo is stronger than most characters and his ability to cause massive damage per individual hit makes up for his limited combos.
As one of the majority of playable characters in the game with the "Stand" Style, Diavolo can turn King Crimson on/off, changing movesets. However, unlike the vast majority of Stand Users in the game, he does not have access to the Stand Rush ability that returns from the Capcom game; None of his skills allow him to attack in conjunction with his Stand, as every single one of his attacks, including all of his normal attacks, are delivered solely by King Crimson. He shares this trait with Hol Horse and Guido Mista.
King Crimson acts as a powerful Stand whose melee attacks deal great single-hit damage and easily knock the opponent off their feet. When it is active, Diavolo's Heavy ground and air normal attacks knock the opponent down, and his crouching Heavy attack knocks the opponent into the air; His crouching Medium attack fills in the role of tripping the opponent. These melee attacks can be used to set up combos as most of his skills lack the potential to do so. Diavolo has 900 HP.
Costumes
Diavolo Normal Costume
Diavolo Costume B
(Chapter 549)
Command List
ON GROUND Diavolo can summon or dismiss his King Crimson, altering his available abilities.
A special ability that is triggered automatically by skills marked with a star (☆). Upon activation, time is erased for a few seconds. The arena environment, including background characters, is completely erased, leaving behind an empty, deep crimson background that gradients downward to a dark, crumbled floor.
During this brief period of erased time, the opponent cannot move or act, merely standing still, and Diavolo is invulnerable to attacks that continue into the erased time. Time returns after a moment or as soon as Diavolo inputs an attack.
This ability allows Diavolo to quickly reposition himself for any reason. While he is not guaranteed the chance to openly attack his opponent as they're still capable of guarding or Throw Escaping the instant he initiates any offensive move, he remains free to set up any scenario he chooses within the brief erased time: This includes resetting the fight to a neutral state, escaping from being cornered, or attempting to trick the opponent into making an incorrect move when time returns.
"Erasing Time" is naturally nullified if Giorno Giovanna has Gold Experience in Requiem Mode; The ability will initiate as the confirming sound plays, but the time erasure does not actually take effect, rendering Diavolo vulnerable to his attacks.
+ 
(Stand On only) ON GROUND King Crimson delivers a heavy chop downward. A command normal that can chain into Diavolo's skills. (Comboable)
x2 or x2 ON GROUND Replacing the standard forward and backward dash, Diavolo erases time in addition to his dash to 'teleport' short distances, granting him small bursts of brief invulnerability.
+ 
/
/ON GROUND A counter. Diavolo and King Crimson pose, and if struck by a non-Throw/HHA/GHA, "Erasing Time" will activate.
+ // (while being hit) ON GROUND A combo-breaking skill that can only be used once Diavolo is hit by any non-Throw/HHA/GHA, or any attack that does not knock him down or launch him upon the first hit. "Erasing Time" will instantly activate, leaving Diavolo completely unharmed.
Its activation consumes two stocks of the Heart Heat Gauge and roughly ~35% of the Guard Gauge in return for completely breaking out of an opponent's attack or combo, and functions in the exact same manner as DIO's "So close!" counter.
+ // (charge to increase range and make unblockable) ON GROUND CHARGEABLE Diavolo summons King Crimson to deliver a slow body blow punch, leaving the opponent crumpling to the ground (Comboable).
The attack can be charged to eventually increase King Crimson's travel distance and make the punch unblockable (Flash Cancel comboable). If the charged version hits an airborne opponent, they are sent flying into the stage wall.
+ // ON GROUND WHEN DOWNED Diavolo summons King Crimson to deliver a forceful downwards punch, striking the ground with enough force to emit a small shockwave and bouncing the opponent off the ground if they are hit. This is a middle attack that cannot be blocked crouching. (Flash Cancel comboable)
If Heavy () is inputted, the attack executes slower, enough that it cannot truly be chained into, and deals less damage, but instead becomes capable of striking a downed opponent.
+ // ON GROUND A command throw. King Crimson slowly executes a short jab. If it connects, it will punch the opponent three times rapidly to knock them into the air, before hooking them in the face with enough force to send them flying.
+ // ON GROUND King Crimson suddenly jabs at an upward angle. If it connects, King Crimson grabs the opponent by the face and slams them into the ground hard enough for them to bounce. Using its other fist, it then punches them in the abdomen and sends them flying.
This skill functions as a reversal and anti-air, and has the bonus effect of hitting opponents above a certain height without them needing to be airborne, such as Wamuu.
ON GROUND King Crimson hoists the opponent up by their collar and furiously delivers a devastating hook to the face to send them flying.
+ 2 ATK Buttons ON GROUND Diavolo activates Epitaph, peering into the future with 100% accuracy as his hair begins flowing in front of his face. The stock of Heart Heat consumed will turn into a depleting timer.
While Epitaph is active, Diavolo will automatically Stylish Evade most of the opponent's attacks without depleting any of the Guard Gauge, provided he himself isn't in the middle of attacking. The opponent's own Stylish Evade is automatically disabled as well, making it harder to avoid his attacks in kind.
The rate at which Diavolo can successively use his "I've eliminated 0.5 seconds!" dash is enhanced, granting him much less vulnerability when repeatedly using it to dodge through attacks and projectiles, as well as achieving the fastest dash and forward movement in the game (allowing him to outspeed even Baoh's run if pushing against each other).
+ 3 ATK Buttons, or 
ON GROUND A counter. Diavolo will smile as he and King Crimson openly present themselves to the opponent. If he is then struck by any form of melee attack that is not a Throw, including HHA and even other GHA, his counterattack will trigger.
Diavolo will smile as he is blown back by the opponent's attack, before disappearing and revealing that what they actually hit was their future selves as time is abruptly erased. As their past self fades, the arena environment crumbles and falls away to make them appear to be standing on a lone platform. Diavolo and King Crimson suddenly reappear behind the opponent in their disorientation and loom over them. He declares the fight over as the Stand delivers a singularly powerful chop to lethally cleave them down the middle just as time returns.
This is the highest-damaging Great Heat Attack in the entire game, dealing roughly ~43% of the average character's max health in damage, making it capable of KO'ing an opponent and bypassing Rumble or Resolve Mode from a little under half-health.
Gameplay Overview
Diavolo is a close-ranged, bruiser-style of fighter specializing in heavy single hits. As both his HHA and GHA are not striking attacks that can be used in combos, his damage output is intrinsically higher to compensate. This allows his combos to remove higher amounts of health even without the need for Flash-Cancelling to extend them, making his power consistently formidable. Although he boasts great striking power while in Stand Off, while King Crimson is active, he becomes more suited towards grappling with both a command Throw and anti-air attack to intimidate defensive foes. Diavolo's various counters assist his offense by forcing his opponent to act cautiously when attacking, especially when he has the Heart Heat necessary to use his greater special powers that neutralize their abilities in various ways. Said counters also alleviate any opportune readiness to punish his attacks, and he can easily overcome projectile-wielding characters.
That being said, Diavolo's attacks are slower and his abilities are limited in quantity. While he excels at close-quarters combat, he is incongruous with an aggressive, "rushdown" style of play; This is due to the holes in his offense often leaving him open to retaliation. As he places emphasis on counters, inopportune attempts to use them can result in punishment. Diavolo possesses lower-than-average health, and slower Heart Heat generation, meaning that he can afford to make fewer mistakes in battle. To wield him with any degree of success necessitates better experience and understanding of the game's mechanics than most.
In essence, Diavolo is a brutish combatant who unleashes tremendous damage for much less effort than other characters. His balanced mix of offensive and defensive techniques, simplified combo structures, and naturally high damage-dealing capabilities have led him to being viewed as one of the best characters in the game, debatably the best alongside Joseph Joestar and Giorno.
Miscellaneous
If Diavolo is Retired via any attack that does not result in a knockdown, he will fall to his knees and weakly point at the opponent in fear, mirroring one of his infinite deaths in the story. If Retired by Giorno himself, he will furiously call him a brat, referencing his final moments against Giorno before being defeated.
Diavolo is the only villain from Part 5 to appear in the game as a playable character, the third tallest character in the game behind Joseph Joestar and Wamuu (slightly taller than even DIO and the same height as any other Part 3 character), and also the only character to have 2 characters appearing during his intro (Diavolo and Doppio). For two of his victory poses, Doppio is used instead of Diavolo, and Doppio speaks several of his own (his "phone's" ringtone, answering the phone, his statement about the world being filled with idiots, etc.). Notably enough, Diavolo has no post-match special lines, regardless of whom he's fighting; All opponents that Diavolo has unique dialogue with will trigger special intro lines, though should Diavolo win the match, he will simply use whatever line of victory dialogue that was set for him, if not the default. However, this is changed for All Star Battle R, where Diavolo is given unique victory quotes which are carried over from Eyes of Heaven.
