Fire Breath

Fire Breath
Fire Breath in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
User	Bowser Giga Bowser
Universe	Mario
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Fire Breath

“	The fire flows while you hold File:GCN BButton.png, but it weakens over time.	”
—Melee's instruction manual

“	Hold down B to belch a stream of flame. Weakens over time.	”
—Brawl's instruction manual

“	Breathe fire. Change the direction with .	”
—Description from Smash for 3DS's foldout

“	Breathe fire. Change the direction with .	”
—Super Smash Bros. for Wii U manual description

Fire Breath (クッパブレス, Koopa Breath) is Bowser's neutral special move.

Overview

While holding the B button, Bowser continuously exhales a stream of fire in front of him, which gradually decreases in length over time. In Brawl, the flames can also be angled up and down, and they will never completely recede, as they will in Melee, where Bowser will eventually begin to exhale smoke instead.

The move's long duration is useful for staving off opponents and preventing their return to the stage. Unfortunately, an opponent using DI can escape the flames fairly easily in most directions. However, Donkey Kong in Brawl has no chance of recovering if this move is used in the correct spot. The fire will flow off of floors and walls, and can actually split in two directions, if the angle is perpendicular.

In Smash 4, Fire Breath has improved speed, knockback, and reach, but it doesn't make foes flinch when being hit by the outer part of the fire.

This special attack is shared by Giga Bowser, both in his boss appearance in Melee and in his playable appearance in Brawl and Smash 4. There is no time limit to how long the attack can be held in his Melee incarnation. In Brawl, the flame's distance is limited, and can end up missing opponents if they're too far away. In Smash 4, the flames cover a greater distance, but their low knockback statistics mean that they're not able to make Bowser flinch at low damage percentages.

This move is also similar to Charizard's Flamethrower in both appearance and function.

Customization

Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:

1. Fire Breath	2. Fire Shot	3. Fire Roar
"Breathes fire. Power decreases if used too much. You can control the angle a little bit."	"Spit out a fireball. Power won't change even if used in rapid succession."	"More powerful than Fire Breath, but it runs out quickly and takes longer to recharge."

1. Fire Breath: Default.
2. Fire Shot: Releases a large fireball, with considerably more start-up lag, that travels far and passes through enemies. Does 6% early, 5% late. Unlike Fire Breath, Fire Shot will not weaken over time, and it has transcendent priority. Can be held, but there is a noticeable delay between each shot.
3. Fire Roar: A much stronger variation of Fire Breath that loses range much quicker, and takes longer to recharge. It reaches to approximately halfway of Battlefield, and does 2.7% damage per hit sweetspotted, but only 1.8% sourspotted. The sourspot doesn't cause flinching.

Flame cancel

Comparing a normal and flame cancelled Fire Breath

In NTSC versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Melee, Bowser can cancel the startup lag of this move if he lands during its initial frames, in a manner similar to the space animals' short hop laser. This technique is not possible in the NTSC 1.2 and PAL versions.

Video

<youtube>Hdoz-RnvMiI</youtube>

Origin

File:Bowsersfirebreath.png

Bowser's Fire Breath in various Mario titles.

Bowser's ability to breathe fire has been demonstrated in many games he's appeared in, including his debut in Super Mario Bros., where he would shoot fireballs at Mario. These fireballs are also the inspiration for Fire Shot, one of his customizable moves in Super Smash Bros. 4. However, it wasn't until Super Mario 64 and many games after that he was shown to breathe continuous streams of fire.

Gallery

• FireBreath64.jpg

  Official artwork of Bowser breathing fire at Mario from Super Mario 64.

• 

  Fire Breath in Melee.

• 

  Fire Breath in Brawl.

• 

  Fire Breath used in midair in Brawl.

• 

  Fire Breath losing power when held for too long.

• 

  Giga Bowser using Fire Breath in Brawl.

• 

  Fire Shot variation.

• 

  Fire Roar variation.

Bowser's special moves

Neutral special	Fire Breath
Side special	Koopa Klaw	Flying Slam
Up special	Whirling Fortress
Down special	Bowser Bomb
Final Smash	—	Giga Bowser		Giga Bowser Punch