Bowser (PM)

Bowser; in Project M and Project+
	File:SJS bowser.png;
Universe	Mario
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Bowser (SSBM), Bowser (SSBB)
Alternate costume	Dry Bowser

Bowser is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M, hailing as the main villain in the Super Mario games. His moveset in Project M comes from a combination of his Brawl and Melee movesets, though with heavy buffs.

Attributes

Bowser's alternate costume.

Giga Bowser's alternate costume.

Bowser in Project M is the classic super heavy weight fighter. His moves are generally slow but hit incredibly hard, he has one of the highest weights and size, and he has widely spread armor on many of his moves. Bowser's armor mechanic demands respect and allows Bowser to simply block the knockback and flinching from weak to medium attacks while performing certain moves. This can be used defensively to absorb what would otherwise be a potentially combo starting move, and it can be used offensively to plow straight through an attack intended to stop Bowser from advancing. Even while being a slower character, Bowser has surprising speed in some areas. He has an above average dashing speed, and Bowser Bomb can be jump canceled, giving Bowser what has been dubbed a super-jump. It allows for terrifyingly quick follow ups into the air for a finisher with moves like his up or forward air, or Koopa Klaw, which has returned from Melee with more power. Whirling Fortress maintains its previous range and power, its viability as an out of shield option, and its ability to fortress hog.

However, Bowser's large size and heavy weight make him susceptible to being comboed, hit with projectiles, and just being hit in general. Despite his speed in some areas (getting to the edge, getting into the air for a follow up) he remains very easy to out-maneuver, as he has poor aerial speed and his long jumping animation gives him a very slow wavedash. While it is difficult to send Bowser far due to his extreme weight, it is fairly easy to send him off the bottom or gimp him, as he suffers from an extremely predictable return.

Changes from Melee and Brawl to PM

Seeing as how he was bottom tier in his former iterations, Bowser was heavily buffed overall from Melee and Brawl to Project M.

Significantly larger, allowing him more reach in his attacks.
Slightly heavier.
Bowser gains an armor mechanic, where many moves and animations now have some sort of launch resistance: for example, his crouch, crawl, and charging up smash have weak damage-based resistance, while his dash attack, smashes, neutral air, Koopa Klaw, and Bowser Bomb have strong knockback-based resistance (shown by a red flash).
Many of Bowser's attacks, most notably his forward smash, up smash, back air, forward air, up air, forward throw, back throw, and down throw, do much more damage, shield damage, and knockback than either one of his past incarnations.
Flame cancel implemented from Melee, allowing Bowser lagless Fire Breath startup.
Regains the Koopa Klaw move from Melee, allowing Bowser another set of powerful grabs and more utility than his Flying Slam.
Fortress Hogging is made possible again, allowing Bowser to quickly and efficiently grab the ledge to edgeguard opponents.
Bowser Bomb's fall is stronger and deals 24% damage. It also grabs ledges from both sides, and can be canceled with a jump before the max leap height when used from the ground, letting Bowser follow up combos or even KO them outright after using a move that knocked his foe airborne.
Larger size increases Bowser's hurtbox, making him more vulnerable to projectiles and combos.
Bowser Bomb no longer has a hitbox during its jump.
The second hit of down tilt is now optional; it is activated by pressing the attack button a second time.
Pummel now involves biting opponents, like with Koopa Klaw in Melee.
Giga Bowser now has alternate colourations to match whatever colouration of Bowser is currently being used.
Similar to how Zero Suit Samus was playable in Brawl, Giga Bowser is also playable by holding down L and R, however, one must keep them pressed down until the battle begins and not until the stage selection screen for it to work.
Bowser now has just one idle pose, where he roars slightly while leaning his head backwards. The former second idle pose is now used as his new down taunt, where he emits a roar reminiscent of that from Melee.

Dry Bowser

Dry Bowser appears in Project M as Bowser's alternate costume. In the game New Super Mario Bros., Bowser falls to his apparent doom in a pit of lava, only to emerge and be fought later on in his skeletal form, Dry Bowser. He is an undead skeleton of Bowser (similar to how Dry Bones are apparent skeletons of Koopas) with an orange tuft of hair and his shell intact, though badly burnt. Bowser's moveset, effects, and sounds remain the same while playing as Dry Bowser.

Revisions

2.1

Bowser fits properly on the Training pause screen

2.5b

Bowser's Crawl speed has been increased
Bowser's KB armor strength was increased slightly on Dash Attack's startup, Up Smash's charge, Down Air, and Up Throw to correspond with the tumble threshold
Bowser's Neutral-Air adjusted in animation and timing to be autocancelable in a short hop
Bowser's Down-Air hitboxes adjusted to be more like Melee in positioning, but pull opponents into the hits much better
Bowser's Up-B can properly Meteor Cancel
Bowser's Spot Dodge animation and invulnerability adjusted
Bowser's Jab 1 sound effects cleaned up
Bowser's Down-Air causes more shield damage on the landing hit, and less shield damage on the multihits

2.6b

Dash Attack now hits a second time (when Bowser lands on the ground)
Dash Attack cooldown reduced
Back-Aerial autocancels notably sooner
Dash-Grab has Bowser lunge notably further
Dash-Grab's startup was changed to look identical to Dash Attack's Startup
Turn-Grab range increased
Grounded Down-B's horizontal drift can now be controlled slightly during the Jump Cancel window - Bowser can gain or lose about a Bowser's width of distance
Down-B now generates quake hitboxes when Bowser lands
Corrected a mistake where Crawl Armor was much stronger than Light Armor when not moving
Removed Armor on Whirling Fortress, Back-Aerial, and Down-Aerial
Neutral-Aerial timings and cooldown reverted to Demo 2.1
Forward-Aerial knockback base greatly reduced, growth compensated for percents over 115
Back-Aerial knockback slightly reduced
Giga Bowser significantly revamped
Bowser's Armor matched to the Project M standard of Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor. Note that the majority of Bowser's Armor already adhered to this standard, and was unchanged
Converted Bowser's Crawl Armor to Light Armor
Forward-Tilt's start up homogenized between angles
Forward-Tilt knockback base reduced, growth compensated for percents over 115
Back-Aerial's hitboxes repositioned and resized to closer match melee's placements
Up-Aerial knockback Angle slightly lowered
Ledge Attack knockback reverted to set knockback (2.1 kb)
Neutral-B reaches slightly further, drains faster to a much smaller minimum range, and recharges a bit slower
Grounded Up-B initial hitboxes reduced in size. Hitbox Damage degrades slightly slower, and the hitboxes enlarge briefly when it does so
Down-B landing graphics enlarged to match new hitboxes

3.0

Up-Tilt initial knockback stats increased to match Melee’s. Frame timing adjusted so that the move degrades sooner, when Bowser is swiping above his head
Forward-Air’s hitboxes restructured into a tipper format. The inner “flub” hitboxes have damage and knockback approximating Melee’s hitboxes, while the tipper hitbox has damage and comparable knockback to PM 2.5’s forward air
Dash length very slightly shortened
Dash grab reverted to pre-2.6 animation and tweaked for readability. Bowser grabs slightly later, but grab range should now match animation properly
Neutral-Air knockback stats reduced to be closer to Melee’s
Back-Air’s IASA timings delayed to match Melee’s
Whirling Fortress edgehog behavior changed to no longer auto-snap to ledges. Requires some finesse to fortress hog now
Grounded Whirling Fortress initial hitboxes further shrunk and later hitbox coverage restructured to match the animation better
Aerial Koopa Klaw has slightly less horizontal movement
Forward-Air now has a claw trail that traces the hitbox arc
Aerial Whirling Fortress hitboxes redone to reduce vertical coverage and slightly increase horizontal reach
Whirling Fortress animation has slight tweaks for polish
Flamebreath hitboxes redone. They now start with lower damage but gain damage as they travel, being strongest at the tip. Grounded foes are now pushed down and out of the flames
Aerial Flamebreath hitboxes have unaltered knockback behavior, but have the scaling damage and no longer flinch at the tip
Giga Bowser can now be damaged normally. As compensation, his moveset was improved and his Final Smash duration almost doubled

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.0.

	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack	Double Scratch	6% First Scratch, 5% Second Scratch	Bowser swipes at the opponent twice.
Forward tilt	Koopa Knuckle	15%	An extended punch with good knockback.
Up tilt	Ceiling Scratch	12% Startup, 13% Middle and End	Bowser scratches upwards at an opponent. Can hit at the sides.
Down tilt	Floor Scratch	First Scratch: 12% Close, 13% Tip Second Scratch: 14% ,	Bowser scratches at the opponent at the feet. The second scratch is optional by pressing the A button again.
Dash attack	Horn Charge	12% During Middle Frames, 8% on the fall down	Bowser tackles the opponent. Has heavy armor during the inital frames of the attack.
Forward smash	Hammer Head	26% Uncharged, 35% Full Charged	Bowser smashes his head into the opponent. If it connects, an explosion occurs. The attack is a great finisher at low percentages, and has armor during the frames before contact.
Up smash	Shell Shock	14% Uncharged, 17% Charged Going Up, 19% Charged at the peak, 10% Earthquake at the end	Bowser spikes an opponent with his shell. Causes an earthquake when coming down.
Down smash	Buzzsaw	3% Hit's 1-6 Uncharged 4% Hit's 1-6 Charged 10% Hit 7 Uncharged 14% Hit 7 Charged	Bowser spins around piercing at the opponent with deadly force. Strong armor during the inital frames.
Neutral aerial	Gyroscope	13%	Bowser spins in the air multiple times, and has super armor during the first spin.
Forward aerial	Jump Slash	13% Sourspot. 16% Sweetspot	Bowser slashes at the opponent with all his claws. The glowing area is the sweetspot.
Back aerial	Spike Stretch	17%	Bowser extends his shell to the opponent. If he hit's the ground, Bowser is vulnerable for a good amount of frames.
Up aerial	Horn Toss	13%?	Bowser strikes the foe with both horns at a deadly force. Can cause serious knockback.
Down aerial	Scrub Brush	Hits 1,2,3,5,9: 2% Hits 4,7,8: 1% Hit 10: 3% Hit 11(Grounded): 5% Total:21%	Bowser rapidly hits the opponent upside down with his shell.
Grab		Grab	Grabs the opponent.
Pummel	Bite	4%	Bowser bites the opponent. Fairly slow pummel
Forward throw	Catapult	10%	Bowser tosses the opponent forwards.
Back throw	Reverse Throw	10%	Bowser violently throws the opponent backwards.
Up throw	Blender	Hits 1-8: 1% Hit 9: 2% Total: 10%	Bowser throws the opponent onto his back and spikes them with his shell. Has great knockback.
Down throw	Bowser Slam	16%	Bowser puts the opponent on the ground. Helpless, the opponent is body slammed, while struggling to get free.
Floor attack (front)	Worm	6%	Bowser attacks from the front and back with a headbutt and kick.
Floor attack (back)	Claw Spin	6% Each swipe	Bowser extends himself to scratch the opponent.
Floor attack (trip)	Floor Spin	5%	Bowser scratches at the opponent to get up.
Edge attack (fast)	Quick Spin	8%	Bowser throws himself at the opponent at his shell before retreating back to the ledge.
Edge attack (slow)	Slow Swipe	10%	Bowser swipes with his claw to give some space.
Neutral special	Fire Breath	First Hit: 3% Subsequent hits: 2% Hit when stopped: 3% Hits when fire is low: 6%	Bowser releases a flamethrower at the opponent. Over time it loses it's range, but gains slightly more power.
Side special	Koopa Klaw	Forward Throw: 20% Back Throw: 15% Claw: 11%	Bowser grabs the opponent and can throw him forwards or backwards. If no one is grabbed, Bowser does a forceful swipe. Has super armor before the grab.
Up special	Whirling Fortress	13%	Bowser spins rapidly to gain height. Can be used for Edgehogging.
Down special	Bowser Bomb	25%	Bowser jumps into the air and lands on the opponent with force if used on the ground. In the air, Bowser slams over what he is over. Has super armor during the jumping animation and when hitting the ground. Can be jump cancelled before the flip.
Final Smash	Giga Bowser	Varies between moves.	Bowser transforms into a monster, which uses elemental effects during most attacks. Can be knockbacked, but lasts for 24 seconds. If using the Dry Bowser costume, you become Dry Giga Bowser. You can start as Giga Bowser by holding down L and R on both the Character and Stage Selection screens.

In competitive play

Notable players

Palette swaps

Recolors
File:Bowser recolors.png

Alternative
File:Bowser alternative1.png

Trivia

As of 3.01, Bowser's character select pose is now loosely based off of Zangief's low kick.

External links

Project M character page

Bowser in Project M and Project+
File:SJS bowser.png
Universe	Mario
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Bowser (SSBM), Bowser (SSBB)
Alternate costume	Dry Bowser