Bowser (SSB4)

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Bowser in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Final Smash	Giga Bowser

Bowser (クッパ, Kuppa) was comfirmed as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 on June 11th, 2013 during E3 2013, and in fact was the last veteran confirmed during the event. He was also one of the main subjects of the Developer Direct for Smash Bros. later during E3 2013.

Bowser is the main antagonist of the Mario franchise and enemy to the titular protagonist. While his motives somewhat vary, his plans usually involve kidnapping Princess Peach and commanding his army of monsters dubbed the "Koopa Troop".

Confirmed changes from Brawl

Bowser currently seems to have undergone the most changes out of any returning character, with his appearance significantly altered, many of his general animations and moves being replaced with entirely new ones, and most of his remaining moves being altered. Like other large characters, such as Donkey Kong and King Dedede, Bowser's general size in proportion to the other playable characters is also greater than in previous installments.

• Bowser appears to dash faster.
• Bowser now has launch resistance outside of his Giga Bowser transformation, with many moves having been seen with armor. The extent of this new armor, and which moves it applies to, is currently unknown.
• Up tilt now reaches in front of Bowser, and appears to have farther reach overall. Bowser also now performs the move with a clenched fist.
• Up aerial appears to have significantly less start-up lag.
• Fire Breath's flames are bigger and appear to cover farther range, as well as the move having a much faster startup and cooldown.
• Flying Slam is significantly more powerful, with it being seen getting decisive KOs under 100%.
• Aerial Whirling Fortress gains significantly more height, and gains height at a faster speed.
• Bowser Bomb deals drastically more shield damage, with it being seen breaking full shields in one hit. It also produces significant hitlag on contact.
• Several of Bowser's attacks have been replaced with new ones.
  • Bowser has a new dash attack, a dashing side kick.
  • Bowser has a new forward smash, a powerful two-footed dropkick.
  • Bowser has a new grabbing animation, where he now grabs and holds opponents with one arm (similar to the Koopa Klaw attack from Melee).
  • A new back throw, where Bowser uses one arm in a side-ways motion to throw opponents behind, similar looking to Donkey Kong's back throw.
  • A new neutral aerial, where Bowser spins backwards with his limbs outstretched, similar to Kirby's neutral aerial. It hit's multiple times.
  • A new back aerial, a two-footed kick backwards, similar to Kirby's back aerial.
  • A new ledge attack, where Bowser crawls up onto the stage and punches forward, similarly to his forward tilt.
• Bowser's neutral attack has the same animation, but is now a pair of punches instead of claw swipes.
• Bowser now spins when performing his up smash.
• Forward aerial has an altered animation, where Bowser slashes diagonally instead of straight down.
• Down aerial seems to be functionally altered, now appearing to be a quick stall-then-fall, that hits opponents once with powerful knockback, though it's unclear if it meteor smashes or hits all opponents with vertical knockback.

Aesthetically in Smash 4, Bowser appears to have a more cartoonish and brighter colored appearance that is more inline with his look in the Mario games, rather than the more realistic look he had in Brawl. Bowser additionally stands upright as opposed to his hunched-over posture from previous Smash Bros. games, which is more similar to his posture in the Mario franchise as well. He also has a new dashing animation where he runs upright instead of scuttling along the ground.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Bowser quickly jabs forward with one arm, then quickly follows it up with the other.
• Dash attack - A dashing side kick, where Bowser leaps forward while kicking sideways with one leg.
• Forward tilt - Bowser performs a backhanded punch while leaning his body forward.
• Up tilt - Bowser swats the air above him with a clenched fist.
• Down tilt - While crouching, Bowser quickly punches one arm forward along the ground, then quickly follows it up with the other.

Smash Attacks

• Forward smash - Bowser jumps forward with both feet outstretched.
• Up smash - Bowser gets down on all fours and thrusts his spiked shell upwards while spinning. The move appears to have some sort of armor, though the extent of which is unknown.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Bowser spins vertically with his limbs outstretched.
• Forward aerial - Bowser slashes forward in a diagonal arc.
• Back aerial - Bowser kicks behind with both legs outstretched.
• Up aerial - Bowser thrusts his head upwards in a quick swiping motion.
• Down aerial - Bowser retracts into his shell, turns upside down, and propels himself downward. A stall-then-fall.

Grab and throws

• Back throw - Holding onto the opponent with one arm, Bowser throws them backwards in a sideways motion.
• Down throw - Bowser places the opponent on the floor and body slams them.

Special Moves

In Super Smash Bros. 4, special moves can be swapped out for different variants, but Bowser's have yet to be seen. Bowser retains all of his special moves from Brawl and his final smash. These are Bowser's special moves:

• Neutral special - Fire Breath: Bowser breathes intensive fire that gradually gets weaker.
• Side special - Flying Slam: Bowser's side special from Brawl. Bowser grabs an opponent, jumps with them into the air, and thrusts himself downward opponent-first, dealing immense vertical knockback.
• Up special - Whirling Fortress: Bowser enters his shell and spins rapidly, being able to move forward and backwards while doing so. It acts as a recovery when performed in the air, propelling Bowser forward and upwards, but Bowser remains grounded when he performs it on the ground.
• Down special - Bowser Bomb: Bowser leaps into the air, hitting any opponents up with him in the vicinity of the leap, and then thrusts his body downwards in a ground pound motion, dealing immense vertical knockback to anyone hit. If performed in the air, Bowser thrusts down immediately instead of leaping first.

Special Move	Basic	Custom 1	Custom 2
Neutral Special	Fire Breath	"Giant Fire Ball"	-
Side Special	Flying Slam	-	-
Up Special	Whirling Fortress	-	-
Down Special	Bowser Bomb	-	-
Final Smash	Giga Bowser	-	-

Final Smash

• Giga Bowser - Bowser transforms into the much larger and more powerful Giga Bowser, with infinite super armor during the duration of the move. Like Bowser, Giga Bowser also has more of a cartoonish appearance. However, Giga Bowser retains all of Bowser's old replaced moves, instead of using Bowser's new moves. Giga Bowser is also hunched over and scuttles on the ground, instead of having Bowser's new posture and dashing animation.

Taunts

• Balances precariously on one leg as if teetering.

On-Screen Appearance

Bowser enters the stage through a wall of flames. He is hunched over as he does so, but when he fully enters the stage he stands upright.

Victory Fanfare

An original rock-based remix of the sound clip that would play when Mario reaches the end of a level in Super Mario Bros.

Palette Swaps

• Standard - Green: Bowser has a green head, yellow body, green shell, and red hair.
• Brown: Bowser has brown head, brown body, brown shell, and red hair.

Gallery

• 

  Bowser in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

• 

  Bowser's appearance during E3.

• 

  Bowser's new front kick attack.

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  Bowser's appearance in the 3DS version of the game.

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  Bowser shielding.

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  Bowser using Whirling Fortress near Fox.

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  Bowser uses Flying Slam in the Nintendo 3DS version.

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  Bowser and Samus fighting on Arena Ferox in the Nintendo 3DS version.

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  Bowser and Mario on the Battlefield stage (3DS).

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  Sonic jabs his foot into Bowser.

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  Mario, Pikachu, Bowser and Pit on a red plane in Wuhu Island.

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  Mega Man, Bowser and the Wii Fit Trainer in the Wii Fit stage.

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  Down taunt with Peach and a Bottled Fairy.

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  Getting blasted by Diddy Kong's overcharged Peanut Popgun.

Trivia

• Bowser was the first returning character from Super Smash Bros. Melee to be confirmed.