Whirling Fortress
| Whirling Fortress | |
|---|---|
 Whirling Fortress in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
| Users | Bowser Giga Bowser |
| Universe | Mario |
| Article on Super Mario Wiki | Whirling Fortress |
| “ | Spin on the ground to launch opponents skyward, or do it to get back onto the stage. | ” |
| —Melee's instruction manual | ||
| “ | Get additional loft while airborne to make recoveries a snap. | ” |
| —Brawl's instruction manual | ||
| “ | Spin inside your shell, and hit foes with your spikes. | ” |
| —Description from Smash for 3DS's foldout | ||
Whirling Fortress, (スピニングシェル, Spinning Shell) often shortened to Fortress, is Bowser's up special move and triple jump, where he retreats into his shell and spins rapidly while damaging nearby. Known for the defensive and maneuvering attributes it adds to Bowser's game, it fills several holes in Bowser's otherwise slow metagame, being widely regarded as the only reason Bowser is playable competitively. It is similar in execution to Donkey Kong's Spinning Kong, being a move that causes the user to quickly spin around as a mostly-horizontal recovery. Several unique properties make it highly beneficial to play:
- It has very little start-up (5 frames), during which Bowser is invincible, and has relatively little cooldown lag.
- One cannot get shieldgrabbed if one cancels a Fortress directly into another.
- It hits throughout most of its animation (on the ground).
- It allows Bowser to move quickly and suddenly in one direction.
- It has high knockback on the ground, and inflicts high damage in the air (32% if all hits connect perfectly) (though this was reduced to 19%-15% in Brawl).
- It can be used to edgeguard quickly and efficiently. Fortressing off the side of a stage leads directly to an edgehog.
The above properties make Whirling Fortress a versatile move. It can also be used as a damaging and effective replacement to Bowser's quick, yet laggy, roll. Can be jump-canceled out of a shield to discourage overly aggressive opponents. It can be used to clank just about anything with decent timing.
This special attack is shared by Giga Bowser, both in his boss appearance in Melee and in his playable appearance in Brawl and SSB4. It grants him multiple frames of invincibility, making it difficult to attack him out of the move. In Melee, Giga Bowser's Fortress also gave him much more vertical recovery when used in midair.
In SSB4, pressing the special button repeatedly during the move will give Bowser more height, like the Mario Tornado. As an attack, it now deals damage in multiple hits instead of a single hard hit, making its use as an out of shield option even more reliable as it can still trap opponents if they put their shield down early.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the move's known variations:
| 1. Whirling Fortress | 2. Flying Fortress | 3. Sliding Fortress |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "Duck inside your shell and spin. You can move sideways while spinning." | "Spins high into the air but doesn't deal damage." | "Spin while sliding quickly to send opponents flying. Less vertical range." |
- Whirling Fortress: Default.
- Flying Fortress: Increases vertical distance, to about twice the regular height, at cost of horizontal distance and damage dealt. Launches foes, only hitting once for about 5% damage. Synergizes well with Dash Slash, where the Claw can move Bowser horizontally and then Rocket Fortress to go vertically.
- Sliding Fortress: Increased horizontal distance, going as far as the entire stage of Battlefield. Only hits once, doing 6% damage and reduced knockback. Takes longer to start up than the default move, making it less useful as a quick out of shield option. Also has increased endlag as well.
Origin
In Super Mario Bros., Koopas retreat into their shells when jumped upon, and can be used as an attacking spinning projectile when kicked, thrown, or jumped upon again. In Super Mario Bros 3, when the player jumps on any of the Koopalings, they will fly in the air inside their shell. Ludwig von Koopa had a move similar to Whirling Fortress in Super Mario World, except there was no aerial gain.
Despite the above, Bowser himself never used this move, and in fact was never seen retreating into his shell in any Nintendo-developed game prior to the move's debut in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Bowser uses a similar move in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Like the Egg Roll and Green Missile, however, the move's concept later led back into the Nintendo-affiliated Mario series starting with an appearance as Bowser's defensive power shot in Mario Power Tennis, and Bowser using shell maneuvers is now a somewhat common occurrence.
Gallery
Whirling Fortress in Melee.
Whirling Fortress in Melee.
Whirling Fortress in Brawl.
Whirling Fortress in Smash for 3DS
Flying Fortress
Sliding Fortress
