Giga Bowser: Difference between revisions

|image    = {{tabber|title1=Ultimate|content1=[[File:Giga Bowser SSBU.png|250px]]|title2=Melee|content2=[[File:GigaBowserRender.png|250px]]}}

|location = {{SSBM|Final Destination}} (''Melee'') <br> [[Molten Fortress]]/{{SSBU|Final Destination}} (''Ultimate'')

'''Giga Bowser''' ({{ja|ギガクッパ|Giga Kuppa}}, ''Giga Koopa'') is a gargantuan, powered-up version of [[Bowser]]. He first appeared as the hidden final boss in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''{{'}}s [[Adventure Mode]] and as one of the final opponents the player must face in [[Event Mode]]. He eventually made his semi-playable debut in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' as Bowser's [[Final Smash]]. While the character he is based on, Bowser, is from the {{uv|Mario}} universe, Giga Bowser is considered a part of the {{uv|Super Smash Bros.}} universe, due to having debuted in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

[[File:GigaBowserAppears.png|thumb|Giant Bowser's transformation.]]

Giga Bowser also appears in ''Melee's'' final Event Match, alongside {{SSBM|Ganondorf}} and {{SSBM|Mewtwo}}. The match is similar to his appearance in the Adventure Mode, but with the presence of two teammates. Clearing the Event Match allows the player to use [[Final Destination]] as a [[Versus]] stage, as well as rewarding Final Destination's trophy; as an added bonus, clearing the match without losing a stock rewards the player with an exclusive [[Notice]].  

[[File:GigaBowserResultsScreen.png|thumb|Although winning with Giga Bowser usually crashes the game, he can sometimes "appear" on the [[Results screen]].]]

If the game is hacked through the use of the {{SSBM|debug menu}}, it is possible to use Giga Bowser as a character. Giga Bowser is mostly functional, and his name is even displayed on the Jumbotron in [[Pokémon Stadium]] (as "G-Bowser"). Internally, Giga Bowser is known as '''GKOOPS'''. He posseses 20 units of [[knockback]]-based [[armor]].

 

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[[File:Giga Bowser SSBU.png|thumb|Giga Bowser as he appears as a boss in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.]]

Giga Bowser appears as a [[boss]] in {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} for {{SSBU|Mario}}, {{SSBU|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBU|Sephiroth}}. For the first two, {{SSBU|Bowser}} initially appears instead of a boss on the final stage; once he is [[KO]]'d, a cutscene plays where he transforms into Giga Bowser, similarly to the final stage of ''Melee''{{'}}s Adventure Mode at high difficulties. A [[Maxim Tomato]] appears for recovery as the battle begins. This does not happen in Sephiroth's route, as he fights Giga Bowser straight away, and in the second to last round. Unlike ''Melee'', Giga Bowser almost never [[flinch]]es from attacks, and the player must deplete his [[HP]] to defeat him, as opposed to being launched off the screen, just like every other boss. Despite this, he can still be KO'd by the blast zone if he accidentally leaves the stage; though rare, this can happen due to improper use of [[Flying Slam]] or [[Bowser Bomb]]. Following ''Smash 4'', he utilizes Bowser's moveset from ''Brawl''. Additionally, he moves slower as his attacks now have much more startup lag.

In [[World of Light]], Giga Bowser is first fought in the [[Molten Fortress]] sub-area of the Light Realm map, and then fought again during the Final Battle like every other boss. The player faces him on the {{SSBU|Final Destination}} stage, while the {{SSBUMusicLink|Super Smash Bros.|Giga Bowser}} theme is playing. Unlike other boss battles, defeating him will release the regular Bowser as a playable character from Galeem's control, instead of both appearing separately on the map (as is the case with {{SSBU|Ganondorf}} and [[Ganon]]). He's fought for a second time during the true final battle with [[Galeem]] and [[Dharkon]]. During the battle's second phase, Giga Bowser is the second Light Realm boss to appear on screen, which might indicate him being the second boss in the game.

While difficult, because his [[armor]] is no longer unlimited and instead has a threshold of 95 [[knockback]] units, it is possible to make Giga Bowser flinch or even launch.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isbG6ageAfk Attacks that can launch Giga Bowser]</ref> {{SSBU|Cloud}}'s [[Limit Break]] and {{SSBU|Hero}}'s [[Hatchet Man]] are a couple moves that can launch him, as well as [[counterattack|counter]]ing many of his single-hit attacks (some slow or multi-hit counters like {{SSBU|Peach}}'s, {{SSBU|Palutena}}'s, and {{SSBU|Greninja}}'s are unable launch Giga Bowser); {{SSBU|Mii Swordfighter}}'s [[Blade Counter]] will cause Giga Bowser to flinch and cancel his attack, even if the retaliating hit doesn't launch him. Since his attacks do less damage on lower difficulties, the player will need to use stronger counters (e.g. {{SSBU|Joker}}'s [[Tetrakarn]]) or to counter his stronger attacks like [[forward smash]]<!--spirits have little/no effect on what can or cannot be countered-->. This allows the player to see his knockback animations, double jump, aerial up special, and ledge options. {{SSBU|Pac-Man}}'s [[Fire Hydrant]] and (to a lesser extent) {{SSBU|Steve}}'s [[Mine / Craft / Create Block|blocks]] cause Giga Bowser's AI to act strangely, such as jumping after Flying Slam or performing a dash turnaround<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNpBUTQCtrY  Giga Bowser is weird around fire hydrants]</ref> and landing Flying Slam off-center or potentially [[Sacrificial KO|Bowserciding]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8w4uuAM0Zo Giga Bowser defeated by blastzone... with Pac-Man]</ref> If Giga Bowser is hacked to have a regular increasing damage percentage (see below), standard attacks at high damage can also break the knockback threshold.

 

All move names are sourced from the Japanese ''Dairantō Smash Brothers SPECIAL Official Guide''. As there are no official English localized listings for the non-special moves, many of the names used here reflect the Japanese names for certain subjects.

|Continuous Scratch<br>({{ja|連続ひっかき|Renzoku Hikkaki}})|| 6% (Hit 1), 8% (Hit 2) ||Scratches twice with his claws.

|Koopa Back Fist<br>({{ja|クッパ裏拳|Kuppa Uraken}})|| 18% ||Lunges forward and delivers a punch surrounded by dark flames. Based off of Bowser's forward tilt attack.

|Ceiling Scratch<br>({{ja|天井ひっかき|Tenkyō Hikkaki}})|| 16% (close), 15% (mid), 12% (far) ||Performs an arcing overhead slash with his claws. Based off of Bowser's up tilt attack.

|Bull Head<br>({{ja|ブルヘッド|Buru Heddo}})|| 28% (sweetspot), 18% (sourspot) ||Headbutts the opponent, creating an explosion. Based off Bowser's forward smash attack from ''Melee'' to ''Brawl''.

|Rising Spike<br>({{ja|ライジングスパイク|Raijingu Supaiku}})|| 18% (rising), 10% (landing) ||Lays in a prone position, then sends his body flying upwards, stabbing the opponent with his spiked shell. Based off of Bowser's up smash attack. Shell has [[invincibility]] frames from frame 30-36.

|Buzzsaw<br>({{ja|バズソー|Bazusō}})|| 2% (hits 1-5), 6% (final hit) ||Retracts into his shell and spins around, creating blades of razor-sharp wind around him. Based off of Bowser's down smash attack from ''Melee'' to ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS''.

| [[Fire Breath]]<br>({{ja|クッパブレス|Kuppa Buresu}}, ''Koopa Breath'')|| 2% (early), 1.4% (late), 0.8% (latest) ||Breathes a large stream of flames.

| [[Flying Slam]]<br>({{ja|ダイビングプレス|Daibingu Puresu}}, ''Diving Press')|| 20% ||Grabs the opponent, jumping into the air and spinning around before slamming them to the ground with a body press. He almost always goes for the center of the stage.

| [[Whirling Fortress]]<br>({{ja|スピニングシェル|Supiningu Sheru}}, ''Spinning Shell'')|| 2% (first hit), 10% (multihits) ||Retracts into his shell and spins around rapidly. More closely resembles the ''Melee'' incarnation, which had a strong first hit. Limbs are intangible from frames 28-80.  

| [[Bowser Bomb]]<br>({{ja|クッパドロップ|Kuppa Doroppu}}, ''Koopa Drop'')|| 4% (headbutt), 16% (falling), 10% (landing) ||Jumps into the air, slamming down with a powerful hip drop.

Much like in ''Melee'', Giga Bowser can only be played as through [[hacking]] or modding the game. However, his moveset is significantly restricted, including the removal of dashing, dash attack, down tilt, neutral aerial, and down aerial. Despite these changes, Giga Bowser retains much of his primeval moveset from ''Brawl'', such as the ''Melee'' back aerial, making him an imposing character to defeat regardless.

Undoubtedly the most dramatic transformation between Bowser and Giga Bowser is the clear difference between their sizes; Giga Bowser is almost twice as large as Bowser, and even if Bowser is under the influence of a [[Super Mushroom]], Giga Bowser is still slightly larger than him. Visually, Giga Bowser has more pronounced physical features than the normal Bowser; aside from the aforementioned size, Giga Bowser has longer and less-bulky limbs with more toned muscular regions, sharper fangs, claws and shell spikes, a less rounded snout, larger horns, spikier hair, a more realistic shell, larger feet, bloodshot eyes, and a darker overall skin tone.  

As Giga Bowser's larger frame implies, he is considerably heavier than Bowser; when fought in Adventure Mode, he is also given knockback-based [[armor]] to make him even more difficult to [[KO]]; a subtractive threshold of 20 KB in ''Melee'', and a non-subtractive threshold of 95 KB in ''Ultimate''. Adding to this, Giga Bowser also takes minimal [[hitstun]] from attacks, making him effectively unable to flinch from some attacks due to making them unsafe on hit. Just like Master Hand and Crazy Hand, Giga Bowser cannot be [[grab]]bed, [[inhale]]d by {{SSBM|Kirby}}, or [[Egg Lay|egg laid]] by {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, severely limiting combo options outside of those started from attacks. In order to compensate for Bowser's ordinary sub-par recovery, Giga Bowser's [[Whirling Fortress]] grants significantly more height, and it also has 26 [[invincibility frames]]; its large hitboxes also give multiple pseudo-invincibility frames after this, making it a very safe move and arguably one of the safest in the series. It is faster than his Frame 7 Jab, sitting at Frame 5, making it one of the best out of shield options in the game, on top of his already formidable shield game padded by the grab immunity. If Giga Bowser captures an opponent with [[Koopa Klaw]], he can bite his opponent, but the pummel will whiff on {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, and {{SSBM|Pichu}} if mashed too fast. It can also whiff on the first hit with a few specific characters, although these circumstances can be rare. In addition to this error, Giga Bowser's [[fastfalling]] speed is identical to his ordinary falling speed, making landing difficult.

As a transformation of Bowser, Giga Bowser's moveset is identical to his and he usually has passive [[super armor]]. His attributes, however, are significantly altered. His attacks are considerably stronger in power and knockback. Some of Giga Bowser's attacks also have different properties as a result of his transformation; [[Fire Breath]], for instance, does not run out or become weaker the longer it is used, as well as having a longer range (in ''Ultimate'', it can carpet the entire surface of [[Final Destination]]; however, unlike his past appearances, his fire runs out after a period of time.). In addition, many of Giga Bowser's attacks are given unusual hitbox properties: his claw-based attacks ([[side tilt]], [[up tilt]], [[down tilt]], [[edge recovery|edge attack]]s, [[forward aerial]], [[forward throw]], and [[back throw]]) all have a [[darkness]] hitbox; his shell-based attacks (his [[up smash]], [[neutral aerial]], [[back aerial]], [[down aerial]], and [[up throw]]) all have [[electric]] hitboxes; his horn-based attacks (his [[forward smash]] and [[pummel]]) have explosion effects; and his [[down smash]] has [[freezing]] properties, as does [[Whirling Fortress]] when used on the ground.

|zh_cn={{rollover|巨兽酷霸王|Jùshòu Kùbàwáng|?}}, ''Giga Koopa''

|zh_tw={{rollover|巨獸庫巴|Jùshòu Kùbā|?}}, ''Giga Koopa''

*In ''Ultimate'', although Giga Bowser cannot be normally brought to the blast line, he can still [[self-destruct]] by using [[Bowser Bomb]] toward the edge.<ref>[https://youtu.be/xfGugzIL2F0?t=12 Giga Bowser self-destructing with Bowser Bomb]</ref>

*As of patch 10.0.0, Giga Bowser is the least common boss for ''Ultimate''{{'}}s Classic Mode, being fought by 3 characters.