Bowser (SSB4)

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Bowser in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
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 reuses some of Eric Newsome's voice clips from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while using some new voice clips.

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 seems to be heavily buffed; his moves are overall much faster with higher utility, and he has taken many of the top spots in promotional tournaments held for SSB4.

• Bowser is significantly heavier than in Brawl.
• Attacks are faster overall.
• 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.
• Forward tilt deals more damage.
• 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, and deals much more damage.
• The second hit of Bowser's down throw now deals damage.
• New neutral aerial has a bigger and longer-lasting hitbox, with lower ending and landing lag.
• Bowser's back aerial deals much more damage, dealing 20% instead of 15%.
• Giga Bowser has more startup and the transformation lasts less time.
• 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 hits 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.
  • It deals slightly more damage.
• Bowser now spins when performing his up smash.
• Bowser remains in place when performing his down smash like in Melee.
  • Down smash appears to be easier to escape from.
• 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. Giga Bowser's shell color more closely resembles his Melee counter part and he uses Bowser's older more feral stance.

Moveset

	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack	Double Punch	?%	Bowser quickly jabs forward with one arm, then quickly follows it up with the other.
Forward tilt	Koopa Knuckle	?%	Bowser performs a backhanded punch while leaning his body forward.
Up tilt	Ceiling Swipe	?%	Bowser swats the air above him with a clenched fist.
Down tilt	Floor Swipe	?%	While crouching, Bowser quickly punches one arm forward along the ground, then quickly follows it up with the other.
Dash attack	Charge Kick	?%	A dashing side kick, where Bowser leaps forward while kicking sideways with one leg.
Forward smash	Koopa Kick	?%	Bowser jumps forward with both feet outstretched.
Up smash	Shell Shock	?%	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.
Down smash	Buzzsaw	?%	Bowser spins around in his shell, doing great damage with multiple hits from his spines.
Neutral aerial	Wanananana	?%	Bowser spins vertically with his limbs outstretched.
Forward aerial	Jump Slash	?%	Bowser slashes forward in a diagonal arc.
Back aerial	Reverse Kick	?%	Bowser kicks behind with both legs outstretched.
Up aerial	Shark Attack	?%	Bowser thrusts his head upwards in a quick swiping motion.
Down aerial	Scrub Brush	?%	Bowser retracts into his shell, turns upside down, and propels himself downward. A stall-then-fall.
Grab		—
Pummel		?%	Bowser headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw		?%	Bowser charges back with the hand he grabbed the opponent with, places them in the other hand, and then throws them with only that hand.
Back throw	Reverse Throw	?%	Holding onto the opponent with one arm, Bowser throws them backwards in a sideways motion.
Up throw	Blender	?%	Bowser throws the opponent slightly up, withdraws into his shell, and spins, damaging them.
Down throw	Bowser Slam	?%	Bowser places the opponent on the floor and body slams them.
Floor attack (front)		?%
Floor attack (back)		?%
Floor attack (trip)		?%
Edge attack (fast)		?%
Edge attack (slow)		?%
Neutral special	Fire Breath	?%	Bowser breathes intensive fire that gradually gets weaker.
Neutral special custom 1	Fire Shot	?%	A large fireball with noticeable startup lag that appears to go through enemies.
Neutral special custom 2	Fire Roar	?%	Stronger than Bowser's Fire Breath but loses range quickly.
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.
Side special custom 1	Dashing Slam	?%	Bowser dashes forward and slam someone with less vertical distance.
Side special custom 2	Koopa Klaw	?%	Bowser slashes opponents instead of grabbing them. Based upon his previous Side Special in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
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.
Up special custom 1	Flying Fortress	?%	Increased vertical recovery at cost of horizontal distance.
Up special custom 2	Sliding Fortress	?%	Increased horizontal distance.
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.
Down special custom 1	Turbulent Bomb	?%	Pushes away anyone next to Bowser's landing spot.
Down special custom 2	Slip Bomb	?%	Makes those standing near Bowser trip when he lands.
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

• Throws his head back, spinning it in a circle, and roars.
• Snaps furiously forward five times.
• 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. He shares this with his son, Bowser Jr.

Palette Swaps

Gallery

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

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  Bowser's appearance during E3.

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  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.