Bowser (SSBB)

Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Mario
Alternate form	Giga Bowser
Other playable appearances	in Melee in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Giga Bowser
Tier	F (33)

“	The king of Koopas is a destructive heavyweight.	”
—Brawl instruction manual

Confirmed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on July 3, 2007, Bowser (クッパ, Koopa) is the primary antagonist of the Mario series, returning from his Super Smash Bros. series debut in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Bowser has new and original voice clips instead of recycling them from Super Mario 64.

Currently, Bowser is 33rd out of 38 on the tier list, putting him in 3rd place on the F tier, a slight improvement from his 25th out of 26th position in Melee. Compared to his Melee incarnation, Bowser is a faster and more mobile character, at the expense of slightly less power. Despite the slight power nerf, Bowser is still one of the most powerful characters in Brawl, possessing a moveset full of potential finishers, several of which can even reliably KO under 100%. Along with his trademark power, Bowser is still the heaviest character, with strong momentum cancelling to complement it, giving Bowser one of the best endurance potentials in Brawl. Additionally, Bowser has a great aerial grab in Flying Slam, that also gives him access to the Koopa hopping technique to improve his mobility and approach, along with great reach throughout his moveset, a 10 frame advantage on grab releases that gives him grab release options on nearly every character, and a powerful, five frame move in Whirling Fortress that can be immediately used out of shield to escape pressure. Despite his speed buffs, Bowser is still one of the slowest characters in Brawl, and he can have a difficult time keeping up with several characters. He is also still one of the largest characters, which combines with his massive weight to make him very vulnerable to combos and chain throws, some of which are infinite or a zero-death. Bowser also has significant trouble landing, with all of his options to land being slow, punishable, and easily read, compounded by his laggy aerials. Additionally, Bowser possesses an easily gimpable recovery that gains barely any vertical height, and he lacks an effective projectile, which along with his very large size and sluggish movement speed, makes it difficult for Bowser to break opposing camping. His flaws overpower his strengths, resulting in mostly terrible matchups, and when combined with his lack of representation in tournaments, some of the worst tournament results of any character.

Attributes

Bowser is the largest and heaviest character in Brawl. This grants him high durability, yet is easier to hit due to his large hurtbox. Because of his heavy weight, Bowser's recovery has significant horizontal range but marginal vertical movement. His dodging abilities are among the worst relative to the rest of the cast in having the second slowest roll and slowest spot dodge. He also has the ability to crawl, but due to his large size, it is ineffective at avoiding incoming projectiles or other attacks. As with other large characters, Bowser's strengths lie in his KO ability and not his speed. He sports a wide variety of powerful attacks both in the air and on the ground. For example, Bowser's forward smash is the most damaging smash attack in Brawl. However, this KO ability comes at the price of high startup lag and cooldown. Due to his average speed and reliance on powerful KO moves, Bowser can struggle somewhat in the low damage game as he lacks diverse ways of racking up damage on the opponent. The one possible exception is his neutral special Fire Breath, which can help set up pseudo-chaingrabs or combos into his strongest attacks. He can also regrab anyone by ground releasing except Donkey Kong (because of his unusually short ground release animation). Fire Breath serves multiple roles for Bowser; such as racking up damage on the opponent as well as preventing an opponent's approach, it also serves as a functional egde guarding attack. Bowser also has a potent Sacrificial KO in Flying Slam. This move allows Bowser to grab an opponent, then leap into the air and fall back to the ground with Bowser on top of them. Thus, the opponent will always be KOed first if they go down offstage. It is also useful in Classic and All-Star Mode, making for an easy KO when only one opponent is left. Given Bowser's difficulty racking up damage, this can be a useful move when the opponent is far ahead of Bowser in the damage count. However, opponents can control Flying Slam when Bowser is at higher or even equal damage, preventing Bowsercide, or forcing it if up in stock. Bowser's standard attack can cancel out incoming projectiles, including Samus' and Lucario's standard specials. This is effective as it allows the player to conserve Bowser's shield as well as provide quicker reaction times after blocking enemy projectiles without experiencing shieldstun.

However, given Bowser's extreme heavy weight and somewhat fast falling speed it makes him vulnerable for infinite chain grabs like Wario's and King Dedede's and other combos in general. In addition, his primary recovery, Whirling Fortress, is worse than Donkey Kong's Spinning Kong and gives poor vertical and horizontal distance, although it is a very good out-of-shield move, though it can be shielded if read. His poor mobility also severely hinders his approach and allows many characters to easily camp him and rack up damage. He also lacks an aerial game due to a combination of low jumps and fast falling speed, and having mostly laggy or easily avoidable aerial attacks.

Overall, Bowser can dish out large amounts of damage to opponents in minimal hits, has a useful sacrificial KO, and thanks to his high weight, can usually not be KO'd until late percentages. However, most of his stats work against him; he is extremely vulnerable to chain grabs due to his large weight and falling speed, his primary recovery Whirling Fortress has little use outside of Oos or for racking up damage, as it is easily gimped. Bowser's flaws severely outweigh his strengths, and has little representation in tournaments.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Bowser is considered to be significantly buffed overall from Melee due to his increased speed, both in overall mobility, and to a lesser extent, frame data. However, in order to compensate for his better mobility, his power is slightly toned down (although he still is one of the strongest characters in the game). Overall, while Bowser is better than he previously was, his tournament results and representation have not significantly improved, and he still remains in the bottom tier.

Aesthetics

• As with all characters, Bowser has received a boost in texture quality and now closer resembles his appearances in the Mario games, such as yellower skin, being more scaly and his arms and legs are less muscular.

Attributes

• Bowser is slightly heavier (117 → 120).
• Bowser's walks slightly faster (0.65 → 0.8) and he no longer has the slowest walking speed of the entire cast.
• Bowser's air speed is drastically faster (0.8 → 1.034), going from tied for 5th worst to tied for 11th best.
• Bowser's traction is lower (0.06 → 0.0577), going from the 15th highest in Melee to the 19th highest. Compared with the returning veterans, however, Bowser's traction is significantly higher, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
• As with the returning veterans, Bowser's falling speed is slower (1.9 → 1.39). Compared to the returning veterans, however, Bowser falls faster. While this improves his already strong endurance, it worsens his already poor vertical recovery and makes him more vulnerable to combos and chain throws.
• Bowser's jumping height has been increased.
• Bowser's arms are longer, which results in his arm based attacks having better reach.
• The removal of L-canceling has adversely affected Bowser more than any other character in the game other than Ganondorf and Link, with his aerials now being very unsafe and punishable on landing due to their extreme landing lag, and now having no ways to reduce it.
• Bowser can now crawl, though since Bowser's crouch barely reduces his height, its function is largely limited, except for its use in crouch cancelling.

Ground attacks

• The first hit of neutral attack has faster startup.
• The second hit of neutral attack deals 1% less damage.
• Neutral attack has altered knockback (30 (base)/110 (growth) → 50/100).
• Forward tilt now has about twice the reach, having increased hitbox sizes overall (3.2u/6u/4.8u → 4u/5u/5.7u). It also has faster start-up (frame 12 → 10).
• Forward tilt deals 3% less damage (14% → 11%) along with less knockback (25 (base)/100 (growth) → 45/83), no longer the most powerful forward tilt. It also has 1 extra frame of ending lag (IASA 37 → 38). Despite having more reach, it is less disjointed by comparison due to Bowser's hand being larger, but having a slightly smaller hitbox (6u → 5.7u).
• Up tilt deals slightly less damage (13% → 12%). It also deals less knockback (40 (base)/120 (growth) → 55/97).
• Up tilt can no longer hit opponents directly in front of him, due to starting up one frame later (7 → 8).
• Both hits of down tilt deal more damage. The first hit is also significantly more powerful (base 15 → 20), and can now reliably KO around 125%.
• Down tilt's range is slightly shorter, with the hitboxes no longer covering his claws and being smaller overall (5.6u/4.8u → 5u/5u/4.5u/4u).
• Forward smash consists of two hits, and can deal 9% more damage uncharged when both hits connect. It also has slightly faster start-up (frame 29 → 27).
• Forward smash has a smaller hitbox (6.4u/8u → 8u (first hit); 7.3u/6.3u (second hit)), and now its tipper hitbox is a sourspot that produces significantly weaker knockback, instead of just sending the opponent at a more vertical angle. Additionally, the new hit added to the beginning of the move can hit opponents away from the second more powerful blow at KO damages. Its second hit's sweetspot has been weakened significantly as well (30 (base)/100 (growth) → 25/81), no longer the most powerful smash attack and no longer KO'ing under 70%. It also has slightly more ending lag (IASA 66 → 67).
• Up smash has more vertical reach.
• Up smash lost its 2 intangibility frames after the initial hitbox. Its knockback was weakened as well (40 (base)/86 (growth) → 23/80), hindering its KO potential.
• Down smash is more difficult to SDI out of. It knockback angle has altered as well (90° → 65°), making it better at KO'ing horizontally.
• Down smash deals 1% less damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial now has weak hitboxes on the later portions of the move.
• Forward aerial's sweetspot deals 1% less damage and knockback (base 50 → 40). Its hitbox size is slightly smaller (6.4 → 6).
• Back aerial is stronger (growth 80 → 83), deals more damage (13% → 15%), and is now a reliable KO move outside edge-guarding situations, though it no longer semi-spikes as easily (24° → 35°). Its sweetspot also has a slightly larger hitbox (8.8 → 9/5).
• Back aerial has a slightly shorter duration (frames 9-18 → 9-16).
• Up aerial has faster start-up (frame 22 → 16) and a slightly longer duration (4 frames → 5 frames).
• Up aerial produces smaller hitboxes and thus has less reach. Its knockback was also reduced and it's no longer the most powerful up aerial (50 (base)/100 (growth) → 35/93).

Throws/other attacks

• The introduction of buffering makes Bowser's 10 frame advantage on grab release viably usable now, giving him effective grab release follow-ups on the entire cast but himself.
• Bowser now retreats into his shell during up throw.

Special moves

• Fire Breath can be angled up and down. It additionally no longer entirely diminishes when used for a prolonged period.
• Flame canceling is no longer possible.
• Bowser has a new side special: Flying Slam. Compared to the Koopa Klaw, it has much faster start-up and is a more versatile special grab, giving him access to Koopa Hopping and a suicide KO move.
• Flying Slam does not setup follow-ups as well as Bowser's forward Koopa Klaw throw, nor KOs as effectively as the Koopa Klaw back throw. It also has a lower overall damage output due to lacking a pummel.
• Whirling Fortress goes slightly higher in midair.
• Fortress Hogging is no longer possible.
• Bowser Bomb produces a hitbox when rising from the ground, to hit opponents into the falling hitbox. It is also much more powerful and can now reliably KO under 100%. The landing hitbox additionally deals 3% more damage.
• Bowser Bomb's drop deals 3% less damage, resulting it dealing less damage when used in the air.

Moveset

For a visual representation of Bowser's attack hitboxes, see this page.

• Bowser can crawl, although it has little practical use due to his large crouching hurtbox.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			5%	Two quick claw swipes. Relatively safe move, as the arm Bowser is swiping with is intangible while the hitboxes are out.
			5%
Forward tilt			11%	Bowser gives a backhanded punch while leaning his body forward. Can be aimed up or down. Has decent KO potential, and it can KO at 154% when angled up from the center of Final Destination. If angled down, has a decent chance of tripping. Bowser's lower arm is intangible while the hitboxes are out. The attack is based on the second hit of his Drill Claw attack in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Up tilt			12%	Swats the air above him. A decent juggling move. This is also a very powerful KO move and can KO at 109% given its surprising speed. Like his forward tilt, Bowser's lower arm cannot be injured while the hitboxes are out.
Down tilt			14% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)	Claw swipes while crouched. Does two hits; unlike most multi-hit moves, the first hit is the stronger one. High knockback for its kind with speed make this another speedy KO move, KOing at 117% from the center of Final Destination. Like his neutral combo, the active arm cannot be injured.
Dash attack			11% (clean), 8% (late)	A running headbutt. Has good vertical knockback, though it won't reasonably KO until past 200%. Its high end lag makes this move easily punishable if whiffed.
Forward smash			10% (hit 1), 23%/21% (hit 2)	Bowser rears back and then performs a very strong headbutt. This is the most damaging forward smash in the game. If used correctly, the second hit can prevent shield grabbing. When fully charged and both hits connect, it can KO at 34%.
Up smash			20%/15% (hit 1), 12%/10% (hit 2)	Bowser hunkers down on all fours and jumps straight up, hitting with his shell. Hitting with the sides of the attack does less damage. Opponents who only shield his jump may be hit by his landing (this only applies to grounded opponents). Very high knockback (one of the strongest up smashes in the game), KOing at 98% when uncharged and 53% when fully charged.
Down smash			2% (hits 1-6), 9% (hit 7)	Bowser retracts into his shell and spins around. Multi-hit attack that does up to seven hits. Very high knockback and is difficult to DI out of. KOs at 100% when uncharged and 61% when fully charged.
Neutral aerial			13% (clean), 9% (late)	Bowser spins around inside his shell. It has low knockback, not KOing until around 165%.
Forward aerial			13% (hand), 12% (arm), 11% (shoulder)	A rather quick slash forwards. Decent knockback with surprising speed, and can KO at 142% from the center of Final Destination.
Back aerial			15% (clean), 7% (late)	Bowser thrusts out his shell behind him, dealing massive damage and above average knockback, which can KO at 129%. Low startup, but high ending lag and landing lag if not auto-cancelled.
Up aerial			17%	Bowser swings his head upward with a little but noticeable startup lag but little ending lag in the air. Very high damage and knockback make it one of the best up aerials in the game power-wise (2nd strongest up air in the game), and can KO at 76% from the high platform on Battlefield. It is hindered, however, by its low hitbox duration.
Down aerial			3% (hits 1-9), 2% (landing)	Bowser retracts into his shell and spins himself into the ground. Limited shockwave if it hits the ground. The last hit can Meteor Smash, but it's weak and not recommended overall. Often used for SHFFs, due to its high overall damage output and extra hit upon landing.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Hits foe with his head. Very slow pummel.
Forward throw			10%	Launches foe forward using his head. Decent knockback, but will rarely KO.
Back throw			10%	Exactly identical to Bowser's forward throw, but has a faster execution. Also his only throw that can KO at Sudden Death.
Up throw			1% (hits 1-8), 2% (throw)	Bowser tosses foe upwards, retreats into his shell, and spins, damaging the foe with his spikes. Damage also applies to bystanders. Deals decent damage overall, but the throw always deals set knockback, making it incapable of scoring KOs by itself.
Down throw			12% (hit 1), 0% (throw)	Sets opponent on floor, then flings himself forward, performing a body slam on his opponent. The full damage of the attack is also applied to bystanders, but it doesn't deal much knockback at low damage percentages. The throw doesn't deal any damage, and its knockback isn't strong enough to KO, even at 999% damage, unless the grabbed fighter is tiny-sized and near a stage ledge.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Bowser leaps forward to strike with his head, then back to kick behind, and finally up into a standing position.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Bowser gets up while swinging his hand around.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Bowser gets up while facing backwards, and does a claw swipe that brings him facing forward.
Edge attack (fast)			8%	Quickly spins onto the stage, then retreats back a bit.
Edge attack (slow)			10%	Slowly climbs onto stage, and does a quick claw jab.
Neutral special		Fire Breath	2% (near), 1% (far)	Bowser takes a short breath and lets loose with a stream of fire.
Side special		Flying Slam	18% (slam), 13% (SSE slash)	Bowser snatches the opponent and does a massive flying suplex. Enemies in the Subspace Emissary get slashed. Can be used to commit Bowsercide, which under most circumstances KOs the opponent first.
Up special		Whirling Fortress	11% (ground hit 1), 5% (ground hit 2 (clean)), 3% (ground hit 2 (late)) 10% (air hit 1), 3% (air hits 2-6), 2% (air hits 7-11)	Bowser gets into his shell and helicopters around. One of the best out of shield moves in the game, but only deals up to two hits when used on the ground, making it unsafe to use against enemy shields. As a recovery move, it falls subpar from others, with very little vertical distance, but it is good for recovery from a large horizontal distance.
Down special		Bowser Bomb	4% (hop), 20% (drop), 11% (landing)	Bowser leaps into the air and plummets downwards. A great KOing and punishing option. When both hits connect, it can KO Mario from the center of Final Destination at 77%. It also shield smashes an opponent if all hits connect. The main attack does not have any freeze frames.
Final Smash		Giga Bowser	—	Bowser turns into Giga Bowser. During the transformation, Bowser will have armor, and most of his attacks gain elemental attributes. Transformation lasts for 660 frames.

On-screen appearance

• Emerges from a wall of flames.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Throws his head back and roars.
• Side taunt: Snaps furiously forward five times.
• Down taunt: Balances precariously on one leg.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle pose

• Leans back and exhales steam. Similar to his up taunt but he doesn't lean back as far.
• Clenches his fists and releases steam from his nose.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Bow-ser	Bow-ser
Pitch	Deep male	Male

Wii Remote selection sound

• Bowser roars. The sound clip is taken directly from Melee.

Bowser's selection sound

Victory poses

A cover of the "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros.

• Steps forward, builds up a little and roars.
• Spins around in his shell and comes out laughing.
• Takes two steps forward while swiping with his claws twice.

Up	Left	Right

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Bowser professionals (SSBB)

•  ESAM
•  Ixis Naugus
•  KingKong
•  KishSquared
•  Vex Kasrani
•  Zigsta

Tier placement and history

Bowser was initially seen as a solid middle tier character, being ranked at 22nd on the first tier list. Bowser's speed and mobility buffs were immediately noticed, which when combined with his still great power and the slower, less combo-orientated pace of Brawl, allowed Bowser to compete decently with an inexperienced playerbase that could not effectively evade him and was still discovering the potential of other characters. Bowser still had the traits of a classic low tier character, however: he was still very slow compared to the rest of the cast, very large and thus heavily vulnerable to deadly chain throws and combos, had an easily gimpable recovery that compromised his endurance potential, and was vulnerable to camping while being incapable of camping himself, with a lack of any outstanding attributes to counteract this. Thus, as the metagame progressed, Bowser steadily declined, with Bowser players finding it difficult to keep up with the quickening pace of other advancing characters and having their weaknesses (most notably to chain throws and camping) more frequently exploited, while lacking any significant developments for Bowser's metagame outside of grab release followups. Through the second to fourth tier lists, Bowser fell no more than two spots at a time, but it was not until the fifth list that he saw a significant drop, falling five spaces to 32nd and formally entering the low tiers, though many players thought of Bowser as a low tier character well before then.

Bowser's decline additionally saw his playerbase diminish, and most of his top players, notably his best player KingKong, dropped Bowser or stopped playing Brawl competitively altogether, while fewer and fewer players used Bowser overall. Nowadays, Bowser is one of the most unpopular characters in Brawl tournaments, having almost no established active players who use him, and being rare at even locals with casual players, which has led to his poor tournament results. As such, Bowser has never risen on any tier list. However, despite Bowser's weak representation and tournament results, the characters below him are generally considered to be even worse by a considerable margin.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

Bowser in SSE

Bowser is one of the 2 secondary antagonists alongside Ganondorf in the SSE. He first appears after Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong chase down his troops, who had stolen their bananas in order to lure them to him as a trap. Bowser confronts the two and transforms DK into a trophy with a Dark Cannon, but not before DK punches Diddy away. Bowser chases him down, and has a Shadow Bug clone of himself fight Diddy and Fox. After defeating the clone, the real Bowser attempts to turn them into trophies, but they manage to dodge the shot. Although Diddy is eager to fight Bowser, Fox knows that they're no match, so he grabs Diddy and makes their escape. While continuing his chase, he is told by Ganondorf to hunt down King Dedede, who had stolen Wario's trophies. He also transforms Zelda/Peach into a trophy, and after having another Shadow bug clone of him copy her, orders her Shadow bug clone to attack Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi. Bowser and his troops attack King Dedede's castle, where Dedede is hiding but when they broke the roof a stone fell on Dedede's head, knocking him out. The debris buries Dedede along with the trophies of Ness and Luigi. As such he only finds the trophy of Peach/Zelda. Bowser steals Peach/Zelda's trophy and evades Mario and Pit's attacks, but when he dodges Pit's arrow he falls off a cliff, but is shown to be unharmed after he landed in his Clown Car. After this, he returns to attack Fox and Diddy Kong at the Swamp and transforms Diddy into a trophy. Fox dodges the shots however. Bowser then orders shadow bugs to clone Diddy's trophy. He flees after Falco attacks him and destroys his Dark Cannon. He orders more shadow bugs to make the Diddy clone giant however. Fox, Falco, and the real Diddy defeat it though. He is next seen with Ganondorf on the Subspace Gunship. They destroy the Halberd, but fail to stop Kirby from destroying the Gunship with a Dragoon. Fleeing into Subspace, Bowser is betrayed by Ganondorf and turned into a trophy by a surprise blast by a Dark Cannon. He is eventually brought back to life, and after being defeated by King Dedede, beats up Ganondorf's trophy for revenge. Bowser then notices the downed Master Hand and decides to help the heroes take down Tabuu. The sight of Master Hand lying on the ground seems to trouble Bowser, probably because Bowser was really the only smasher accomplice who was loyal to Master Hand, unlike Ganondorf (who planned to betray him to take control of the Subspace Army) and Wario (who did it just to enjoy himself). Bowser and the others manage to defeat Tabuu and end the invasion.

Cameo appearances

• The Jungle
• The Lake Shore
• The Cave
• The Swamp
• Entrance to Subspace
• Subspace (Part I)

Playable appearances

• The Great Maze

Exclusive stickers

These stickers can be used by only Bowser or a select few including Bowser:

• 1-Up Mushroom: [Leg] attack +4
• Bowser (DDR:Mario Mix): [Throwing] attack +20
• Bowser (Mario Kart 64): [Weapon] attack +13
• Bowser (Super Paper Mario): [Arm] attack +23
• Coin: [Specials: Indirect] attack +4
• Dice Block: [Arm] attack +8
• Dr. Mario: [Head] attack +18
• Koopa: [Body, Spin] attack +10
• Lakitu (Mario Kart: Super Circuit): [Leg] attack +13
• Luigi & Baby Luigi: Launch power +5
• Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga): Launch power +23
• Mario & Luigi: [Flame] resistance +19
• Mario & Yoshi: [Specials: Indirect] attack +13
• Mario (Mario Kart DS): [Leg] attack +22
• Mega Rush Badge: [Specials: Direct] attack +8
• Mushroom: [Arm, Leg] attack +5
• Peach (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Slash] attack +5
• Peach (Super Mario Bros. 2): Launch resistance +29
• Peach (Super Princess Peach): [Weapon] attack +23
• Rawk Hawk: [Arm] attack +5
• Red Fire: [Flame] attack +26
• Super Mario Bros.: [Arm, Leg] attack +15
• Waluigi (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Specials: Indirect] attack +8
• Waluigi (Super Mario Strikers): [Slash] attack +15
• Yoshi (Mario Party 2): [Launch] resistance +35
• Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door): [Throwing] attack +5
• Yoshi (Yoshi Touch & Go): [Arm, Leg] attack +8

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Event 1: Two Trouble Kings: As Mario, the player must defeat Bowser and King Dedede on Delfino Plaza.
• Event 6: Super Bowser Bros.: As Bowser, the player must reach the flagpole in Mushroomy Kingdom without getting KO'd by the three Marios.
• Event 27: Three-Beast Carnage: As a tiny R.O.B., the player must defeat a giant Bowser, a giant Donkey Kong, and a giant Charizard on New Pork City.
• Event 34: All-Star Battle Melee: Bowser is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are newcomers from Super Smash Bros Melee.
• Event 40: The Final Battle: The player selects any character and must defeat Bowser, Ganondorf and King Dedede on Final Destination.

Co-op Events

• Co-Op Event 8: ALL MINE!: Wario and Bowser must work together to collect 2000 coins together on Skyworld while fighting Mario and Luigi.
• Co-Op Event 20: The Final Battle for Two: Both players select a character and must defeat Bowser, Wario, King Dedede, Wolf, Meta Knight, and Ganondorf on Final Destination.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trophies

Bowser's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Bowser.

Trophy descriptions

Bowser

The king of the koopas and Mario's eternal rival. He breathes fire, hurls hammers, attacks from vehicles like the Koopa Clown Car, and uses all sorts of weapons in hopes of destroying Mario. As his size suggests, he's immensely powerful. His son Bowser Jr. is a chip off the old block who spends his time creating trouble for Mario.

: Super Mario Bros.

: Super Mario Sunshine

Giga Bowser

Bowser, transformed into the terrible and brutal form first seen in Super Smash Bros. Melee. While in this form, he's invulnerable—he takes no damage and cannot be budged. His appearance is so fierce, it's as if he doesn't even belong in the Smash Bros. universe. He cannot maintain this form for long, so dealing out damage efficiently is key.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• 

  Classic Mode trophy

• 

  Giga Bowser trophy

Alternate costumes

Trivia

Bowser's four eyes bug

• Bowser's voice clip for his Wii Remote selection is a roar taken from the end of a cutscene in Super Mario Sunshine.
• Bowser's animation for being grabbed has some placement issues. His hurtbox bends away from the grabber, and it is rather far away. Samus' pummel will only hit the first time, and Lucario and Wolf's will only hit every other time.
• Bowser, Mario, and Ganondorf are the only returning characters in Brawl to have at least one completely different special move. In this case, Bowser's side special is changed.
• If Bowser jumps with a Screw Attack while in possession of a Smash Ball, the glow given off by the Smash Ball will glow in the areas where Bowser's head, arms, and legs would normally be.
  • Additionally, if Bowser performs a backwards double jump while in possession of a Smash Ball, his "Smash Ball" eyes will be shown in the position where his head would normally be—despite both his eyes being visible inside his shell—making it will look as if he has four eyes.
• Bowser, Meta Knight, and Marth can all perform the floor glitch.
• There exists a glitch on the Mushroomy Kingdom stage. If Bowser were to hit the first invisible block of the stage scrolling cycle to solidify it, jump backwards onto the stack of blocks to the right of the block, and get grabbed by King Dedede right before he lands, He will rapidly flip between his aerial grab and grounded grab animation.
• Bowser is one of the only two characters whose theme in the Character Roll Call does not belong to his universe; the other being R.O.B.. In Bowser's case, his theme is Giga Bowser (Melee), a theme belonging to the Super Smash Bros. universe.

External links

• Bowser's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Bowser character guide on SmashBoards
• Bowser's hitbox size of each of his moves