Bowser Jr. (SSBU)

Bowser Jr. in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Shadow Mario Paint
Tier	C- (62)

Bowser Jr. (クッパJr., Koopa Jr.) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was revealed for the game along with the rest of the veterans on June 12th, 2018. He returns with his Junior Clown Car, and the Koopalings return as alternate costumes alongside him. As in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, he is unlockable, instead of being available from the start. Bowser Jr. is classified as Fighter #58.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, Caety Sagoian's portrayals of Bowser Jr. from various Mario spin-off games, along with Lani Minella's portrayals of Larry, Morton, Wendy, and Lemmy, Mike Vaughn’s portrayals of Iggy and Ludwig, and Dan Falcone's portrayal of Roy from the New Super Mario Bros. games, were repurposed for Ultimate, in place of the Koopalings' respective voice actors from Mario Kart 8 onward.

Bowser Jr. is ranked 62nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him near the top of the C- tier. This is a notable improvement over his 47th out of 54 placement in SSB4. Bowser Jr. has a unique bait-and-punish zoner playstyle that revolves around Clown Kart Dash for general engagement/disengagement and combos, and Mechakoopas and Clown Cannon for mindgames, stage control and setups. His endurance is notable as he takes less damage if his kart hurtbox is hit instead of his own. He possesses a varied and useful normal moveset, with his best attacks having either lingering hitboxes or good range, which serve as good poking or edgeguarding tools. Some of his notable moves include neutral attack (which is the strongest in the game while having good range and speed), up aerial (which can combo into itself multiple times) and his throws (which all have useful forms of utility).

However, Bowser Jr. has several weaknesses. His biggest weakness is his exploitable recovery, as taking any weak hit while using Abandon Ship! will easily cause a gimp. His overall mobility is mediocre, so he has to rely heavily on Clown Kart Dash for movement. While his Clown Kart takes priority over his hurtbox, Bowser Jr. himself will take more damage if his body is hit. Due to him being a heavyweight, it also makes Jr. easy to combo and juggle. His strongest KO moves require taking big risks, with Clown Kart Dash's spinout and Abandon Ship!'s swing putting him in vulnerable positions. Finally, his projectiles and general frame data are notably laggy (with Mechakoopa, an item-spawning move, being interruptible only on frame 68), making it riskier for him to create setups compared to most of the cast.

Overall, Bowser Jr. is a character that has a variety of unique strengths in his toolkit but exploitable weaknesses that are easy to take advantage of. Although his overall representation has been below-average, Bowser Jr. had nevertheless seen tournament success thanks to dedicated players such as Young Eevey in the early metagame and TM7_ZAP and Yoda Cage in the post-pandemic metagame.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Bowser Jr. being the 61st character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Fox or any character in his unlock tree, being the 6th character unlocked after Daisy.
• Have Bowser Jr. join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Bowser Jr. must then be defeated on Delfino Plaza. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Mushroomy Kingdom.

Attributes

Bowser Jr. is a unique heavyweight fighter because his Junior Clown Car has a separate hurtbox from him, making his survivability variable. Bowser Jr. sports the 20th slowest walking speed (tied with Peach and Daisy), the 21st slowest dashing speed, the 26th fastest air speed (tied with Ike and R.O.B.), the 30th fastest falling speed (tied with Ike, Corrin, Sonic, Ganondorf, and Duck Hunt), slightly above average gravity and air acceleration, and low traction. All in all, these stats render his mobility somewhat poor except in the air, and as a result, many characters supersede him in terms of approach.

Bowser Jr. and his Junior Clown Car both have separate hurtboxes, much like Duck Hunt. He possesses a unique mechanic where the Clown Car takes less damage from all incoming attacks, whereas he himself takes more damage in comparison. Unlike in SSB4, the Clown Car's hurtbox takes priority over Bowser Jr.'s hurtbox: when combined with his heavy weight, this gives him above-average survivability compared to a good majority of the rest of the cast, or possibly even a good majority of other characters that are of his weight class. Bowser Jr. also possesses a purely disjointed moveset and two good projectiles in Clown Cannon and Mechakoopa.

Clown Cannon can have two cannonballs in play at the same time, deals good damage and knockback, and its cannonballs travel quickly. This makes Clown Cannon good for disrupting or throwing off approaches, as well as KOing at high percentages. This is further compounded by its outstanding shield damage, making Clown Cannon a viable punishing tool. Mechakoopa is also disruptive due to its explosion effect upon being hit. The Mechakoopa always follows opponents, no matter the circumstances, and explodes upon contact, serving as an excellent KO setup against launched opponents.

Clown Kart Dash travels extremely quickly, vastly making up for Bowser Jr.'s poor approach and giving him a decent burst option, as well as allowing him to easily cover long distances, both on the ground and in the air. Clown Kart Dash also deals above-average damage and knockback at maximum speed, enabling it to KO opponents at mid-high percentages. Junior can also double jump out of it, granting him potential aerial follow-ups. Abandon Ship! travels a good vertical distance, allowing Junior to return to the stage if he is right below it. The Junior Clown Car itself damages opponents upon exploding, serving as a potential KO option at later percentages. While outside of the clown car, Bowser Jr. is gifted with a hammer, which deals high damage, high knockback, and has quick startup, making it a good KO option in its own right. Clown Kart Dash and Abandon Ship! can be mixed up with an air dodge, combining to give Junior an impressive recovery.

Bowser Jr.'s aerials have great utility, going hand-in-hand with his specials. Neutral aerial has edgeguarding capabilities and is effective out-of-shield because of its lingering hitbox. His forward and back aerials are great for edgeguarding, spacing, and KOing because of their high knockback, high potential damage, and good range. Bowser Jr.'s up aerial is good for juggling because of its decent speed and vertical range, and serves as an additional KO option. Lastly, down aerial can shield poke, and works well with Clown Kart Dash when initiating follow-ups.

Bowser Jr.'s smash attacks are go-to KO options, all dealing high knockback and overall damage: forward smash has low ending lag, pokes shields, and can be angled; up smash has very quick startup and ending lag, pressures shields, and denies any aerial approaches; and lastly, down smash has high range and KOs, the earliest out of Junior's smash attacks.

Despite his great aerial mobility and damage-racking potential, Bowser Jr. is not without his flaws. One of his biggest problems is that his recovery is glaringly susceptible to gimps. While Abandon Ship! grants him considerable vertical distance; any weak hit will result in Bowser Jr. not being able to respawn the Junior Clown Car, and it doesn't have a hitbox outside of the Clown Car's explosion, making him very vulnerable. Another major problem that Bowser Jr. faces is a lack of viable out-of-shield options; despite his up smash being a fast out-of-shield option with decent kill power, it lacks range and leaves Junior vulnerable if it misses. Additionally, his grab is one of the slowest non-tether grabs, his aerials are either laggy or have poor range for being disjointed, and his Mechakoopas will deactivate if they hit a shield, making him susceptible to punishes, and as his traction is one of the lowest in the game, this gives him a poor out-of-shield game. Bowser Jr. is also a very straightforward character, which can make him quite predictable at times. For instance, Clown Cannon and Mechakoopa are important to Bowser Jr.'s neutral game, making it easy (especially for characters such as Fox) to read and shut down his options. Despite his grab range being rather long, his grabs have noticeable start-up and ending lag, and his throws have low utility due to their inability to KO at reasonable percentages outside of forward throw, with only up throw possessing some combo potential. In addition, despite his high power, Bowser Jr. suffers from poor KO potential due to having very few reliable KOing options (his neutral attack finisher, smash attacks and his forward/back aerials), which is further compounded by said options being burdened with considerable ending lag, while his forward smash has low ending lag and is safe on shield, but its multihits don't connect reliably into the final hit. Many of his attacks, such as his tilts, also have poor range, so he fares surprisingly poorly against most swordfighters, considering his disjointed moveset. Finally, Bowser Jr. takes more damage if he is hit but not his Koopa Clown Car, so he is very vulnerable to aerial approaches, and after using Abandon Ship!, he also struggles with dealing with pressure from his opponents. Since he always takes priority over his Clown Car when thrown, Bowser Jr. is also particularly vulnerable to being grabbed and can be knocked out earlier than a character of his weight class would by strong kill throws.

Overall, Bowser Jr. fares well with a bait-and-punish playstyle like his father does, but he can also be potent at pressuring the opponent thanks to Clown Cannon, Clown Kart Dash, and Mechakoopa. However, his slew of exploitable weaknesses can make him a bit underwhelming overall and frequently overshadowed compared to the rest of the cast. Because of this, his results and representation have been below-average overall, like in SSB4.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Near the end of SSB4's metagame, Bowser Jr. had been considered a low-tier character (47th out of 54 characters), due to his linear playstyle, poor disadvantage state that included a very gimpable recovery despite its long distance, and his susceptibility to being racked damage on easier than most other characters due to the Clown Car mechanic. Likely as a result of this, Bowser Jr. has been noticeably buffed in his transition to Ultimate.

Bowser Jr.'s biggest change was to his hurtbox, as the Junior Clown Car's hurtbox now takes priority over Bowser Jr.'s own, which allows him to more reliably take less damage on average compared to any other fighter, and makes his survivability comparable to heavyweights like Donkey Kong. Aside from this, Bowser Jr. benefits from some of the changes to universal game mechanics: the universal frame 3 jumpsquat allows Bowser Jr. to use his strong aerials more effectively, and the increase in mobility contributes to both a better grounded approach for Bowser Jr. and improves his air game and recovery. The reintroduction of directional air dodges slightly improves his recovery, allowing him to mix it up with more ease. The lower landing lag on his aerial attacks also improves their combo and spacing potential.

Bowser Jr.'s previously underwhelming moveset has received several quality-of-life changes. Many of his moves either connect better (such as his jab and dash attack) or have had their misleading hitboxes adjusted or their blindspots removed (such as up tilt and grab, the latter being given more range). His entire grab game has been significantly buffed, as forward throw can now KO reliably, up throw has less endlag and knockback that renders it now capable of starting combos, and down throw now deals much more damage. His special moves have seen various noteworthy buffs. Clown Cannon, a previously slow projectile with limited use, is now less punishable due to its decrease in lag and increase in lifetime if fired in the air, and two can be in play at once; it also deals far more shield damage, and a landing cannonball can now hit twice to almost break a full shield, especially if uncharged. Clown Kart Dash travels faster, allows Bowser Jr. to keep his double jump if canceled, no longer requires travel time to deal maximum damage, and immediately deals more serious damage if the directional key is held forward, while its spinout deals far more knockback, making the move harder-hitting in general and more versatile. Abandon Ship!'s hammer swing has more range and a longer duration. Finally, Mechakoopas start moving quicker and bite onto victims, guaranteeing that the second hit will connect.

However, Bowser Jr. has also seen some equally noticeable nerfs. In exchange for quality of life changes, many of his standard moves have seen detriments to damage and power: neutral attack deals much less damage, especially in the infinite part (though the last hit retains its extreme knockback); his forward tilt and neutral aerial now have a sourspot, with the former losing most of its KO power, and the latter having no blindspots at the cost of being less consistent; and the cannonballs of Clown Cannon can only KO if fully charged. Some of his moves, such as forward and up smashes, as well as down aerial, have altered hitbox placements that worsen their consistency, making them ironically harder to land than they were in SSB4. Despite mostly receiving buffs, a few of Bowser Jr.'s special moves have also seen some nerfs; he cannot air dodge out of Clown Kart Dash anymore, but most notably, Mechakoopas now deactivate on the ground if they walk into a shield, no longer crossing them up and allowing them to be immediately picked up by the opponent, making them much easier to use them against Bowser Jr.

Though he's mostly seen improvements from the universal changes, a few of them hurt him overall. Aside from his standing grab, his dash and pivot grabs have less range, and all of them are slower in terms of ending lag, a nerf shared with the rest of the cast. The changes to air dodge mechanics make him easier to edgeguard. The weakening of rage further pronounces the nerfs to his moveset's power and thus doesn't allow him to take advantage of it as easily due to his improved endurance, creating issues with his problematic KO potential as a result.

In the end, Bowser Jr's moveset, while not significantly changed in terms of functionality, has been heavily adjusted to be more consistent, granting many of his moves less situational use than in SSB4, whereas the more notable changes to his special moveset and his faster mobility allow him to zone opponents more effectively and approach with less risk. However, his moveset's lower power from knockback reductions and new sourspots make it slightly harder for him to close out stocks, the nerfs to Mechakoopa force him to be more cautious of his tools, and some of the changes to the engine make it slightly harder to use some of his newfound buffs. Aside from this, Bowser Jr. also retains several of his weaknesses from the previous game, including his poor disadvantage state, vulnerable recovery, poor range despite disjointed attacks, and a somewhat linear playstyle. Though he has received a few notable changes in game updates that further contribute to his notable buffs, the extent to which they work is questionable given the various buffs given to other characters, both on release and from game updates, as well as the introduction of new DLC characters, which he struggles against. Thus, while Bowser Jr. is a better character in Ultimate, he has not significantly improved from his SSB4 incarnation, only keeping up with the rest of the cast.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Bowser Jr.'s model features a more subdued color scheme. His horns, hair, spikes, bands, and bandana feature greater detailing, but his scales remain undefined and his body is not as monotone. The new detailing is also expressed by the Koopalings.
• The Junior Clown Car also features a more subdued color scheme. Its "facial" proportions have been adjusted, and it has a more polished finish. Additionally, the inside of the Junior Clown Car now contains a visible control panel.
• Morton's star mark is now gray instead of dark brown, matching his appearance in Mario Kart 8 onwards.
• Instead of a hammer, the Koopalings pull out their respective wands from Super Mario Bros. 3 and the New Super Mario Bros. games.
• Bowser Jr. is more expressive, he has a shocked expression when hit and a scared expression when grabbed. The Junior Clown Car is also expressive, with new facial animations when Bowser Jr. gets hit and when he misses a grab.
  • The Koopalings are more emotive than before, with their eyes and mouths animating somewhat differently from Bowser Jr.'s. Previously, only Lemmy had unique expressions.
• Larry, Morton, Lemmy, and Ludwig's hair respectively have less independent physics. On the contrary, Wendy's bow and rings have greater independent physics.
• Air dodge, falling, and ledge-hanging animations have changed.
• The Junior Clown Car's propeller now properly rotates during Bowser Jr.'s No Contest screen.
• The PAL English version of Palutena's Guidance now uses the term "Koopalings" instead of "Bowser's minions", matching the British English localization in their home series as of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Bowser Jr.'s jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 6).
• Bowser Jr. runs faster (1.424 → 1.566).
• Bowser Jr.'s initial dash is faster (1.6 → 1.76).
• Bowser Jr. walks faster (0.88 → 0.924).
• Bowser Jr.'s air speed is faster (1.08 → 1.134)
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF: 31 → 30).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
• Back roll has slower startup (frame 4 → 5), grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16) and has more ending lag (FAF: 31 → 35).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF: 28 → 25).
• Spot dodge grants less intangibility (frames 3-18 → 3-17).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-28 → 3-30).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF: 34 → 50).
• The changes to air dodge mechanics both help and hinder Bowser Jr.: he can make use of a directional air dodge to lengthen and mix up his recovery without the need to use Abandon Ship!, but the single air dodge limit makes him more vulnerable to edgeguarding.
• Bowser Jr.'s Junior Clown Car hurtbox takes priority over his body hurtbox, meaning that if the opponent hits the Clown Car and body hurtboxes at the same time, he takes less damage.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit has two additional hitboxes, one of which sends towards Bowser Jr. (angle: 180°).
  • The second hit has an additional hitbox, and all of its hitboxes keep opponents on the ground (80°/70 → 361° (all)). This allows it to lock.
  • The second hit has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 30) and has gained a hitstun modifier of 3, allowing it to connect into the neutral infinite much more reliably.
  • The first and second hits have less knockback (hit 1: 10 base/50 scaling → 25/25/20/20 / 25/25/15/15, hit 2: 24 base/50 scaling → 25/25/20 / 25/25/15). This allows them to connect better and jab lock for longer.
  • The first and second hits' hitboxes are smaller (hit 1: 3u/4u → 2u/2u/2.2u/2.2u, hit 2: 3.2u/4u → 2.5u/3.2u/3.8u), reducing their vertical range.
  • The first and second hits have increased hitlag (hit 1: 1x → 1.5x, hit 2: 1x → 1.2x).
  • The first hit and infinite deal less damage (hit 1: 3% → 2%, infinite: 2% → 0.5%).
  • The infinite has faster startup (frame 10 → 4), a faster rehit rate (4 → 2), less knockback (20 base/20 scaling → 8/10), reduced hitlag (1x → 0.5x) and SDI (0.8x → 0.5x) multipliers, keep opponents on the ground (74° → 361°), and have a new extended hitbox in front of the Clown Car (size: 5u, Y/Z-offset: 6.5, Z-offset: 21-13). Overall, these changes make it much harder to escape, and compensate for the move's lower damage.
  • The infinite's finisher has a new animation: it is an uppercut instead of a jab. It has slightly faster startup (frame 8 → 7) and has three hitboxes instead of one, which have bigger size (5u → 5.5u) and are positioned differently throughout the move (Y-offset: 6 → 6.5, Z-offset: 13 → 13/18/22.5). This gives it much more range, making it a significantly more consistent KO option.
  • The finisher has more ending lag (FAF 39 → 44).
  • The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 8×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Bowser Jr. more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 32).
  • It has a sourspot that deals less damage (8% → 6%).
  • It deals altered knockback (30 base/110 scaling → 72/70). While this makes it even safer on hit at low percentages, it also worsens its previously respectable KO power.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt's hitboxes' positions have been adjusted (ID 0: 4-3 X-offset/4 Z-stretch → 8.5-10/0, ID 1: -1-0 X-offset → 0-3.5). This removes the blindspot between the fork's prongs and the Clown Car.
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 31).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage (hits 1-2: 1.5% → 2%, hit 3: 5% → 6%, total: 8% → 10%), with no compensation on the third hit's knockback, slightly improving its KO and edgeguarding potential.
  • The first two hits have reduced hitlag (1x → 0.5x), and have gained a hitstun modifier of 4 with a shieldstun multiplier of 1.2x.
  • The first two hits no longer deal set knockback (30 set/100 scaling → 20 base/30 scaling), and thus connect worse at higher percents.
• Dash attack:
  • The looping hits deal more damage (1.5% → 1.8%, total: 11.5% → 13%).
  • It has slightly less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
  • One of the looping hits' hitboxes is smaller (ID 1: 5u → 4u).
  • The looping hits have received several adjustments that allow the move to connect much more reliably:
    • One of the hitboxes is larger (ID 0: 2.8u → 4u).
    • One of the hitboxes is no longer located in the buzzsaw, being separate from Bowser Jr. (ID 1: bone 1041 → 0, 0 Y-offset/0 Z-offset/stretch → 8/13-8). While this results in around the same range, this means the hitbox no longer moves around the Z-axis.
    • One of the hitboxes is positioned differently (ID 0: 9 Y-offset/8-13 Z-offset → 8/9-8). This is made up by the other hitbox's new position.
    • The two previous hitboxes send at different angles (25° (all) → 30°/34°).
    • There is a new hitbox (ID 2, angle: 65°, size: 4u, 8 Y-offset/18-8 Z-offset), which temporarily gives the attack more range.
    • There is a "late" hit on frames 13-20, comprised of two hitboxes which have the same size as the new ones, but are positioned differently (ID 1: 8 Y-offset/9-8 Z-offset, ID 2: 8 Y-offset/14-8 Z-offset) and send at different angles (25° (all) → 32°/65°).
    • All hits have reduced hitlag (1x → 0.6x), making the move less prone to SDI.
  • The final hit launches at a more horizontal angle that is more desirable for edgeguarding (60° → 50°).
  • The final hit has increased hitlag (1.5x → 1x). This makes it safer on shield, but easier to DI.
• Forward smash:
  • The looping hits' closest hitbox to Bowser Jr. is larger (ID 1: 1u → 2.5u), which allows the attack to connect better up close.
  • The looping hits' hitboxes are positioned differently and don't extend as much (ID 0: 7-13 Y-offset/18 Z-offset → 8-12.5/16.5 (non-angled), 10-16 Y-offset/18-17 Z-offset → 12-16.5/15-14.5 (angled up), 4-10 Y-offset/17-18 Z-offset → 3.5-7.5/16-17; ID 1: 5-11 Y-offset/12.2 Z-offset → 7-12/9.7 (non-angled), 8-14 Z-offset/12.2-11.2 Z-offset → 10-15/8.3-7.8 (angled up), 2-8 Y-offset/11.2-12.2 Z-offset → 4.5-9/9.1-10.5 (angled down)), while the farthest hitbox to Bowser Jr. is smaller (ID 0: 5u → 4.5u). This reduces the looping hits' range.
    • However, this somewhat fixes the blindspot in front of Bowser Jr., making the looping hits connect slightly more reliably.
  • The final hit has slightly faster startup (frame 36 → 35) making it connect more reliably from the looping hits.
  • The final hit's hitbox is smaller (7u → 6u) and does not extend as far (non-angled: 8-12 Y-offset/18 Z-offset → 9-12/17; angled up: 11-15 Y-offset/18-17 Z-offset → 13-16/16-15; angled down: 5-9 Y-offset/19-18 Z-offset → 4.5-6.5/16.5-17). This noticeably reduces its range and, combined with the changes to the looping hits above, causes opponents to potentially fall out more frequently.
• Up smash:
  • The move's hitboxes have shorter durations (hit 1: frames 7-9 → 7-8, looping hits: frames 10-24 → 9-18, second to last hit: frame 25 → 18, last hit: 30-31 → 22-23), and the looping hits have a faster rehit rate (4 → 3).
    • As a result, the move hits six times instead of seven. However, the second to last hit has been merged with the looping hits on frame 18, leaving the move's total damage unchanged (1.3% hits 2-5/1% hit 6 → 1.3% hits 2-4/2.3% hit 5).
  • The move has a green visual trail that matches the Junior Clown Car's propeller. Strangely, the color does not change for the Koopalings.
  • The faster gap between hits allows the move to connect more reliably.
    • However, this gives the move more ending lag as a result, despite its faster interruptibility (FAF 57 → 54).
  • It has larger hitboxes (2.5u/2.5u/4u → 3.2u/3.2u/4.7u (clean loop), 4.6u → 5.1u (late loop), 5.5u → 6.5u (last hit)) that stretch farther horizontally (Z offset: -4u—7u → -6.5u—7u (loop), -4u—5u → -5u—5u (last hit)), with the last hit placed lower (Y offset: 24.5u—22.5u → 23u—21u). The looping hits also launch at different angles (120°/190°/140° → 105°/175°/140°), and their hitbox with the lowest priority deals more knockback (base: 0 → 30). Altogether, these changes allow the move to connect more reliably.
  • The looping hits are positioned higher up from Bowser Jr. (17-15 ID 0/20-18 ID 1/17-15 ID 2 (Y-offset) → 18-16/21-19/18-16). This improves their upwards range and allows them to connect slightly more reliably, but makes it slightly harder to hit smaller/crouching targets on the ground.
  • Except for the second to last hit, the looping hits have reduced hitlag (1x → 0.6x). Combined with the move's improved upwards range and faster gap between hits, this makes the move harder to escape.
  • The final hit deals more base knockback (32 → 38).
  • The final hit has a smaller hitbox (6u → 5.5u), reducing its vertical range, although its horizontal range was mostly compensated (23-21 Y-offset → 24.5-22.5).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has less startup (frame 15 → 12), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 60 → 57).
  • Its hitboxes have a slightly longer duration (frames 15-16 → 12-14).
  • It deals slightly more knockback (40 base/89 scaling → 41/91).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (neutral: 18 frames → 9, forward: 27 → 16, back: 24 → 14, up: 15 → 9, down: 25 → 15).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial deals more damage (6% clean/5% mid/3% late → 8%/7%/5%), with knockback scaling mostly compensated (100 → 83/81/80).
  • It has hitboxes on the Clown Car's arms (size: 4u clean/3.5u mid/3.0u late, X-offset: -3), which removes the blindspots in front of Bowser Jr. They deal less damage than the sweetspots, but more than the move's previous damage (6.5% clean/5.5% mid/3.5% late).
    • However, the new sourspots outprioritize the sweetspots. Since their knockback was not compensated, this makes the move weaker if the sourspots connect.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's sourspot extends into the Clown Car (X-offset: 0 → 0—-6), removing its blindspot.
• Down aerial:
  • The looping hits have a faster rehit rate (4 → 3), making the move hit up to nine times instead of seven.
  • The looping hits have reduced hitlag (1x → 0.8x).
  • It deals more damage (1.3% looping hits/2% last hit → 1.5%/2.5%). Combined with the move's faster rehit rate, this makes the move deal more damage if all hits connect (9.8% → 14.5%), though with the last hit's knockback scaling compensated (130 → 124).
  • One of the looping hits' hitboxes is extended and positioned further up (Y-offset: 2 → 4, Z-offset/stretch: 0 → -2—2), giving it more range.
    • However, since the last hit is not extended, this can cause it to fail to connect into the last hit.
  • One of the looping hits' hitboxes (ID 2) has been removed, while the old one (ID 1) detects both aerial and grounded opponents. However, the hitbox no longer sends at an autolink angle (366° → 96°). Combined with the above change, this causes the looping hits to connect less reliably, despite their reduced hitlag and faster rehit rate.
  • The looping hits have altered knockback (30 set/100 scaling (ID 0), 30 base/100 scaling (ID 1) → 30 base/10 scaling (both)). This allows them to connect more consistently at low percentages, but since all of its hitboxes no longer use set knockback, it still connects less consistently at very high percentages.
  • The landing hitbox extends further (Z-offset: -2—2 → -2.5—2.5), improving its range.
    • The hitbox has also been moved upwards (Y-offset: 3.2 → 4).

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Bowser Jr. preemptively pulls out his toy hammer in his grab animation and holds it while the opponent is grabbed.
  • The color of the claw matches each Koopaling's Clown Car.
  • Standing grab has faster startup (frame 12 → 11).
  • Dash and pivot grabs have slightly more startup lag (dash/pivot: frame 13/12 → 14/15).
  • All grabs have more ending lag (Standing/dash/pivot: FAF 36/45/42 → 41/49/44).
  • Standing grab's grabbox has been moved forwards (Z-offset: 4-13 → 6.5-14), improving its notoriously poor range despite being less extended.
  • Dash and pivot grab's grabboxes are less extended, especially pivot grab (dash: 4-15.5 Z-offset → 6.5-15, pivot: 4—-21.5 Z-offset → 6.5—-16.4), reducing their range.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel's animation is slightly different.
  • It deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
  • It has faster startup (frame 6 → 1), deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14) and has less ending lag (FAF 18 → 6), shortening its duration and increasing the number of times Bowser Jr. can pummel the opponent before throwing them or before they break out.
• Forward, back and up throws are no longer weight dependent.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw has less ending lag (FAF 36 → 35).
  • The throw deals more damage (6% (throw)/9% (total) → 7%/10%) and has more knockback scaling (70 → 92), significantly improving its KO potential.
• Back throw: