Editing Bowser (PM)

{{ArticleIcons|pm=y}}

|name         = Bowser

|image       = [[Image:Bowser SSBB.jpg|250px]]

|symbol       = BowserSymbol

|mod         = Project M

|base         = ssbb

|altcostume   = {{s|supermariowiki|Dry Bowser}}

|moveset1     = Bowser (SSBM)

|moveset2     = Bowser (SSBB)

Hailing from the ''{{uv|Mario}}'' universe, '''Bowser''' is a playable character in the ''[[Brawl]]'' mod ''[[Project M]]''. His moveset in ''Project M'' comes from a combination of his ''Brawl'' and ''Melee'' movesets, though with heavy buffs. <!--tier position paragraph-->

In ''Project M'', Bowser is a super heavyweight fighter. His moves are generally slow but hit hard. He is the largest and heaviest character, and has widely spread [[armor]] on many of his moves, making him difficult to KO. Bowser's armor mechanic allows him to absorb the knockback and flinch effects from weak to medium attacks while performing certain moves, which can be used defensively to nullify what would otherwise be a potentially combo starting move, or offensively to plow straight through an attack intended to stop Bowser from advancing. Even though he is a slower character, Bowser has high speed in some areas: he has an above average [[dash]]ing speed, and [[Bowser Bomb]] can be jump canceled into what has been dubbed a super-jump, allowing for quick follow-ups into the air for a finisher with moves like his up or forward air, or [[Koopa Klaw]], which has returned from ''Melee'' with more power. [[Whirling Fortress]] maintains its previous range and power, its viability as an [[out of shield]] option, and its ability to [[fortress hog]].

However, Bowser's high gravity, large size, and high weight make him susceptible to attacks and [[combo]]s. Despite his speed in some aspects, he remains easy to out-maneuver, as he has relatively poor aerial speed. In addition, Bowser possesses the longest jump squat of the cast, leaving him with the slowest wavedash in the game, though not the shortest. While it is difficult to send Bowser far due to his weight and moves with launch resistance frames, it is fairly easy to send him off the bottom of a stage or [[gimp]] him, as he suffers from a predictable [[recovery]] that does not cover much vertical distance.

As Bowser was bottom tier in his former iterations, he was significantly buffed overall from ''Melee'' to ''Project M'', being much stronger than in ''Brawl'' (which buffed Bowser from ''Melee'', but not enough to significantly raise his tier position). In addition to being overall much more powerful, Bowser received widespread [[launch resistance]] of varying levels depending on the move, and favorable traits from ''Melee'' such as the [[Koopa Klaw]] and [[Fortress Hogging]] return.

*{{change|Bowser now emits a roar during his on-screen appearance.}}

*{{change|Bowser now has a unique victory theme, which is now a rock version of the prelude to his final battle theme in ''Super Mario 64''.}}

*{{change|Despite being still considered part of the {{uv|Mario}} universe, Bowser now has his own series symbol consisting of an icon of his face usually associated with him in the ''Mario'' series.}}

*{{change|Bowser is significantly larger, approximately twice as large; this gives him more [[reach]] in his attacks, but also makes him even more vulnerable to projectiles and combos.}}

*{{buff|Bowser is slightly heavier (117 → 118).}}

*{{buff|Several of Bowser's moves and animations now have some sort of [[launch resistance]]; his [[crouch]], [[crawl]], and [[dash attack]] give him light armor while his [[neutral aerial]] grants him medium armor and [[Bowser Bomb]] gives him medium and heavy armor. All of his smash attacks grant variable armor from light to super armor depending on how long they are charged.}}

*{{buff|Many of Bowser's attacks, notably his [[forward tilt]], [[forward smash]], [[up smash]], [[back air]], [[up air]] and [[down throw]], do much more [[damage]], [[shield damage]], and [[knockback]] than either one of his past incarnations.}}

**{{change|Jab damage has been swapped, with the first hit now dealing the most damage.}}

*{{buff|[[Forward tilt]]'s clean hits deals 4% more damage and has slightly less ending lag.}}

**{{nerf|Forward tilt's late hits deals 4% less damage.}}

**{{nerf|Up tilt now has a clean and late hitbox, with the latter dealing 5% less damage.}}

*{{buff|[[Down tilt]] has less start-up and the second hit deals 2% more damage and is now optional, activated by pressing the attack button a second time; this allows Bowser to either launch the foe with a single hit to then follow on, or punish [[shield]]ing or [[crouch cancel]]ing foes with a second hit, while formerly Bowser was forced to stay in place using the two hits. However, the optional hit does not apply to Giga Bowser.}}

*{{buff|[[Forward smash]] has less start-up, a 1 frame longer hitbox, and deals 2% more damage and knockback, making it the strongest side smash in ''Project M''. It also has medium armor when charging on frames 0-19, heavy armor on frames 20-38, and super armor on 39-60.}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash has slightly more ending lag.}}

**{{change|Forward smash now deals flame damage and an explosive effect if it hits.}}

*{{buff|[[Up smash]] has less start-up and ending lag, and the second hit has a longer hitbox duration. The second hit also now meteor smashes, making it useful for edge-guarding.}}

**{{nerf|Down smash's final hitbox deals 4% less damage.}}

*{{buff|[[Forward aerial]] retains its slashing trail from ''Brawl'', accurately depicting the sweetspot. The sweetspot also deals 2% more damage and knockback, while the sourspot deals 1% more. It also interrupts earlier.}}

**{{nerf|Down aerial deals 3% less damage if all hits connect.}}

*{{buff|[[Pummel]] deals 1% more damage, racking up damage quicker than most other pummels.}}

**{{change|Pummel now has Bowser biting opponents like with Koopa Klaw in ''Melee''.}}

*{{buff|Down throw deals 4% more damage.}}

**{{bugfix|Down throw now properly damages {{PM|Jigglypuff}} and {{PM|Mr. Game & Watch}}.}}

*{{buff|Fire Breath retains its ability to be angled from ''Brawl''. Bowser now also bites in front of him when the move is stopped, hitting foes attempting to punish him out of the move's ending lag.}}

**{{nerf|[[Fire Breath#Flame cancel|Flame cancel]]ing has been removed.}}

*{{buff|Back throw with [[Koopa Klaw]] is much more powerful, dealing 4% more damage and KOing near edges more reliably. Bowser can now also perform a down throw with it which [[meteor smash]]es foes for the grounded version, allowing him to tech-chase with it on the ground and KO recovering foes grabbed near edges; when performed in midair, it will [[spike]] opponents, thus improving his edgeguarding potential. However, Giga Bowser is not capable of performing the down throw.}}

**{{nerf|Koopa Klaw can no longer bite opponents, weakening its damage potential. It can also no longer be held indefinitely; Bowser will automatically perform the forward throw a few seconds after grabbing the opponent.}}

**{{change|Forward throw with Koopa Klaw is now a head smash.}}

*{{buff|Bowser Bomb's descending hit deals 4% more damage is much stronger, and can be canceled with a jump before the max leap height when used from the ground, letting Bowser follow up combos or even KO them outright after using a move that knocked his foe airborne. It can still grab ledges from both sides as in ''Brawl'' so it can be reliably used from the stage to then be [[Edge-canceled Bowser Bomb|edge-canceled]], equipping Bowser with a deadly [[edgeguard]] in this move. The landing hitbox deals 2% more damage, and the move now produces a large shockwave on Bowser's sides, making its landing harder to punish. It also now has medium armor on start-up and landing, and heavy armor when Bowser begins to descend.}}

[[Giga Bowser (Final Smash)|Giga Bowser]] remains as Bowser's [[Final Smash]] in ''Project M''. However, by holding a shield button at the character selection screen, it is possible for Bowser to start and participate as Giga Bowser permanently during the match, similar to how {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} was playable in ''Brawl''. Starting from v3.0, Giga Bowser can now receive knockback in addition to damage, as well as now being vulnerable to status ailments like [[sleep]]ing or getting [[buried]], though his moveset has been improved to compensate for this, and he still cannot be [[grab]]bed. In 3.6, he gained the ability to pick up items and use the majority of them. Giga Bowser's main flaw is that he is extremely prone to combos because of his size and weight. His duration when summoned via Final Smash was also increased to almost twice as long. In addition to receiving most of Bowser's changes, some changes to Giga Bowser include:

*{{buff|[[Dashing]] now produces hitboxes in front of Giga Bowser's feet, which repeatedly inflict 3% damage while weakly pushing enemies forward. His heavy landing also produces a 6% damage hitbox that sends any grounded opponents that are close enough to him straight up.}}

*{{buff|Koopa Klaw forward throw deals 20% damage, up from 15%.}}

*{{buff|Landing with Bowser Bomb produces an enormous [[quake]] hitbox that affects all grounded opponents (no matter the platform in which they are standing) near him, similar to [[Venusaur]]'s Earthquake in ''Melee''.}}

**{{buff|Bowser Bomb hits opponents powerfully in different directions depending on when they get hit; at the apex of Bowser Bomb, they are sent upwards; while Giga Bowser is falling at any other point of the attack, they are spiked downwards; if they are on the ground and directly below Giga Bowser, they are buried and then sent horizontally.}}

*{{buff|Down throw now involves Giga Bowser forcefully slamming his opponent with his hand into the ground, which is faster than the original throw, and hits nearby characters.}}

**{{nerf|Down throw deals 2% less damage.}}

*{{nerf|Vulnerability to knockback now leaves Giga Bowser heavily susceptible against [[combo]]s due to his large size, especially against [[juggling]] ones.}}

*{{buff|Dash attack now hits a second time; when Bowser lands on the ground.}}

*{{nerf|Up Smash deals less damage when jumping.}}

*{{change|Up Smash hit stats have been altered.}}

**{{change|Disjoint on hand hitbox is reduced while body hitbox is enlargened.}}

**{{nerf|Knockback reduced. Base 50 -> 60, Growth 100 -> 70.}}

***{{nerf|Damage lowered|18|23|}}

===Notable players===

*{{Sm|Nick Riddle|USA}}

*{{Sm|Odds|Canada}}

*{{Sm|Pluttergub|USA}}

*{{Sm|Seagull Joe|USA}}

{{s|supermariowiki|Dry Bowser}} appears in ''Project M'' as Bowser's alternate costume. In the game ''{{s|mariowiki|New Super Mario Bros.}}'', Bowser falls to his apparent doom in a pit of lava, only to emerge and be fought later on in his skeletal form, Dry Bowser. He is an undead skeleton of Bowser (similar to how {{s|supermariowiki|Dry Bones}} are apparent skeletons of [[supermariowiki:Koopa (species)|Koopa]]s) with an orange tuft of hair and his shell intact, though badly burnt. As of v3.5, Bowser's eyes gain an orange glow during certain attack animations as Dry Bowser. However, Bowser's moveset, and sounds remain the same while playing as Dry Bowser.

|colspan=8|[[Image:Bowser Palette (PM).png|frame|center|Bowser's alternate costumes in PM]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadSSBB.png]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadBlackSSBB.png]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadRedSSBB.png]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadBlueSSBB.png]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadWhiteSSBB.png]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadBrownSSBB.png]]

|[[Image:BowserHeadDryPM.png]]