Bowser (SSB4)/Down throw

Hitbox visualization showing Bowser's down throw.

Overview[edit]

Bowser places the opponent on the ground and crushes them with a belly flop. Although it deals an impressive 12% damage with high base knockback, it possesses too high ending lag to be followed up, unlike most other down throws, while its knockback scaling is also too low for it to KO reliably, requiring the opponent to be at over 190% for it to reliably near the edge even with maximum rage. Bowser's other throws also outperform it in damage racking, as his forward throw and back throw deal the same amount of damage with better KO ability, while his up throw allows him to rack up significantly more damage out of a combo. Lastly, it has a long duration of nearly one second before the opponent is released, giving them more than enough time to react with proper DI. As a result of this, Bowser's down throw is often perceived as useless, due to its lack of utility over his other throws. In doubles play, however, it sees some use as a potential edgeguarding and KO option against bystanders, as its hitbox before releasing the grabbed opponent is significantly stronger than the throw itself and launches at a perfectly horizontal semi-spike angle, making it difficult for them to survive near the edge at high percentages.