Editing Whirling Fortress

When using Whirling Fortress, Bowser retreats into his shell and spins rapidly while damaging nearby foes. Prior to ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' the grounded version consists of two hits, but after ''Smash 4'' it is a multi-hitting attack, whereas the aerial version has always been a multi-hitting attack in all games. It is similar in execution to [[Donkey Kong]]'s [[Spinning Kong]], being a move that makes the user quickly spin around with a mostly-horizontal recovery, though in later games the two have been somewhat differentiated. The move has very low startup lag in every game (especially compared to the rest of Bowser's moveset), which makes it a notoriously strong [[out of shield]] option in every ''Smash'' title, being a key part of how Bowser gets out of disadvantageous game states.  

This special attack is shared by [[Giga Bowser]], both in his boss appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' and in his [[Giga Bowser (Final Smash)|playable appearance]] in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' and ''Super Smash Bros. 4''. 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, and the ground attack can deliver multiple hits to nearby opponents; in ''Brawl'', however, the ground attack only deals up to two hits, reducing its overall damage output.

In ''[[Melee]]'', Whirling Fortress is known for the defensive and maneuvering attributes it adds to Bowser's gameplan, filling several holes in his otherwise slow moveset. As a result, it is widely regarded as one of Bowser’s few saving graces as a character. Several unique properties make it highly beneficial to Bowser's kit;

*It has very little start-up (4 [[frame]]s), during which Bowser is [[invincibility frame|invincible]], and has relatively little cooldown [[lag]].

Another nerf the move received is that while Bowser can grab ledges from the front much sooner, he cannot grab ledges from behind until later. While this does hurt his recovery if he is facing away from the ledge, this mainly affects him when trying to perform Fortress Hogging (as the animation now has a fixed point when Bowser can grab ledges from behind). Fortress Hogging does still work if Bowser is facing the ledge, although the altered momentum the move has does make the execution different if he is further away from the ledge. If he is facing away from the ledge however, Bowser has less access to the technique. If he slides off the ledge too early, he will just fall down, often to his death on tournament legal stages. The only way he can grab the ledge is if he falls off late into the animation where it becomes much less useful.  

# '''Flying Fortress''': Has slightly increased startup, making it slightly less effective out of shield, but increases vertical distance, to about twice the regular height, at the expense of horizontal distance and damage dealt. Launches foes sideways, only hitting once for 4% damage clean (contrary to its in-game description saying that it doesn't do any). Synergizes well with [[Flying Slam|Dash Slash]], where the Claw can move Bowser horizontally and then Flying Fortress to go vertically. However, when using this move while taking knockback, it won't rise as high or at all. Bowser also sustains slightly increased landing lag.

While unique to ''[[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Smash Bros.]]'' as a whole move, Whirling Fortress is similar to how [[mariowiki:Koopa Troopa|Koopas]] retreat into their shells when jumped on in the [[Mario (universe)|''Super Mario'' series]], which can be held and thrown or kicked by the {{s|mariowiki|Mario}} [[mariowiki:Luigi|Bros.]] as a spinning attack. {{h2|Koopalings|Ludwig von Koopa}} had a move similar to Whirling Fortress in ''[[Super Mario World]]''. In ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Kart: Double Dash!!}}'', released a few years after ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', a special item called the "{{s|mariowiki|Bowser's Shell}}" was given to [[Bowser]] and [[Bowser Jr.]], featuring a large, spinning Bowser shell vaguely similar to Whirling Fortress.

Despite the above, Bowser himself never used a move remotely like Whirling Fortress outside of ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario's Time Machine}}'' ([[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] version), where he would perform a move similar to an attack Ludwig uses in ''Super Mario World'' after being attacked, though this was not Nintendo-developed and likely didn't inspire the move. In fact, Bowser was never seen retreating into his shell in any Nintendo-developed game prior to the move's debut in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. 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 ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Power Tennis}}'', his shell-retreating move in'' {{s|mariowiki|Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time}}'', and Bowser also has used the move in ''{{s|mariowiki|New Super Mario Bros U}}''. In ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Paper Mario}}'', Bowser performs a similar move in one of his {{s|mariowiki|Stylish Move}} animations, and in ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Sports Mix}}''. In ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle}}'', Bowser (as {{s|mariowiki|MegaDragonBowser}}) uses the Whirling Fortress during the final phase of the final boss fight. Bowser also uses a similar move in ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope}}'' for his dash and spinning animations.

WhirlingFortressSSB4.png|Whirling Fortress in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''

[[es:Fortaleza giratoria]]