Giga Bowser: Difference between revisions

{{disambig2|Giga Bowser in general and his appearance as a boss|his regular appearance|Bowser}}{{for|his appearance as Bowser's [[Final Smash]]|Giga Bowser (Final Smash)}}

|image    = {{tabber|title1=Ultimate|tab1=[[File:Giga Bowser SSBU.png|250px]]|title2=Melee|tab2=[[File:Giga Bowser Melee Trophy.png|250px]]}}

|caption  = [[File:SmashBrosSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert]]

|location = {{SSBM|Final Destination}} (''Melee'') <br> [[Molten Fortress]] (''Ultimate'')

'''Giga Bowser''' ({{ja|ギガクッパ|Giga Kuppa}}, ''Giga Koopa'') is a gargantuan, powered-up version of [[Bowser]]. He first appeared as the hidden final boss in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''{{'}}s [[Adventure Mode]] and as one of the final opponents the player must face in [[Event Mode]]. He eventually made his semi-playable debut in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' as Bowser's [[Final Smash]]. Having debuted in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, Giga Bowser is considered a part of the {{uv|Super Smash Bros.}} universe, even though the character he is based on, Bowser, is from the {{uv|Mario}} universe.

In ''Melee'', Giga Bowser [[Adventure Mode#Part 2 (bonus): Giga Bowser Battle: Giga Bowser Battle|appears as a hidden final boss]]. To encounter him, the player must reach the final stage of [[Adventure Mode]] on Normal [[difficulty]] or higher and defeat him within 18 minutes. If done correctly, a new cutscene will be shown after [[Giant Bowser]] is defeated - his KO'd [[trophy]] will return to the stage and be struck by lightning, causing it to come back to life as Giga Bowser. Defeating Giga Bowser leads to the completion of the Adventure Mode; defeating him without using a continue rewards the player with his trophy.

Giga Bowser appears as a [[boss]] in {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} for {{SSBU|Mario}}, {{SSBU|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBU|Sephiroth}}. For the first two, {{SSBU|Bowser}} initially appears instead of a boss on the final stage; once he is [[KO]]'d, a cutscene plays where he transforms into Giga Bowser, similarly to the final stage of ''Melee''{{'}}s Adventure Mode at high difficulties. A [[Maxim Tomato]] appears for recovery as the battle begins. This does not happen in Sephiroth's route, as he fights Giga Bowser straight away, and in the second to last round. Unlike ''Melee'', Giga Bowser almost never [[flinch]]es from attacks, and the player must deplete his [[HP]] to defeat him, as opposed to being launched off the screen, just like every other boss. Following ''Smash 4'', he utilizes Bowser's moveset from ''Brawl''. Additionally, he moves slower as his attacks now have much more startup lag.

While difficult, because his [[armor]] is no longer unlimited and instead has a threshold of 95 [[knockback]] units, it is possible to make Giga Bowser flinch or even launch.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isbG6ageAfk Attacks that can launch Giga Bowser]</ref> {{SSBU|Cloud}}'s [[Limit Break]] and {{SSBU|Hero}}'s [[Hatchet Man]] are a couple moves that can launch him, as well as [[counterattack|counter]]ing many of his single-hit attacks (some slow or multi-hit counters like {{SSBU|Peach}}'s, {{SSBU|Palutena}}'s, and {{SSBU|Greninja}}'s are unable launch Giga Bowser); {{SSBU|Mii Swordfighter}}'s [[Blade Counter]] will cause Giga Bowser to flinch and cancel his attack, even if the retaliating hit doesn't launch him. Since his attacks do less damage on lower difficulties, the player will need to use stronger counters (e.g. {{SSBU|Joker}}'s [[Tetrakarn]]) or to counter his stronger attacks like [[forward smash]]<!--spirits have little/no effect on what can or cannot be countered-->. This allows the player to see his knockback animations, double jump, aerial up special, and ledge options. {{SSBU|Pac-Man}}'s [[Fire Hydrant]] and (to a lesser extent) {{SSBU|Steve}}'s [[Mine / Craft / Create Block|blocks]] cause Giga Bowser's AI to act strangely, such as jumping after Flying Slam or performing a dash turnaround<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNpBUTQCtrY Giga Bowser is weird around fire hydrants]</ref> and landing Flying Slam off-center or potentially [[Sacrificial KO|Bowserciding]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8w4uuAM0Zo Giga Bowser defeated by blastzone... with Pac-Man]</ref> If Giga Bowser is hacked to have a regular increasing damage percentage (see below), standard attacks at high damage can also break the knockback threshold.

All move names are sourced from the Japanese ''Dairantō Smash Brothers SPECIAL Official Guide''. As there are no official English localized listings for the moves, many of the names used here reflect the Japanese names for certain subjects.

| Koopa Breath<br>({{ja|クッパブレス|Kuppa Buresu}})|| 2% (early), 1.4% (late), 0.8% (latest) ||Breathes a large stream of flames. Based off of Bowser's [[Fire Breath]].

| Diving Press<br>({{ja|ダイビングプレス|Daibingu Puresu}})|| 20% ||Grabs the opponent, jumping into the air and spinning around before slamming them to the ground with a body press. Based off Bowser's [[Flying Slam]]. He almost always goes for the center of the stage.

| Spinning Shell<br>({{ja|スピニングシェル|Supiningu Sheru}})|| 2% (first hit), 10% (multihits) ||Retracts into his shell and spins around rapidly. Based off of Bowser's [[Whirling Fortress]], specifically the ''Melee'' incarnation which had a strong first hit. Limbs are intangible from frames 28-80.  

| Koopa Drop<br>({{ja|クッパドロップ|Kuppa Doroppu}})|| 4% (headbutt), 16% (falling), 10% (landing) ||Jumps into the air, slamming down with a powerful hip drop. Based off of Bowser's [[Bowser Bomb]].

Much like in ''Melee'', Giga Bowser can only be played via hacking or modding. However, his moveset is significantly restricted, including the removal of dashing, dash attack, down tilt, neutral aerial, and down aerial. However, despite these changes, Giga Bowser retains Bowser's more primeval moveset from ''Brawl'', such as the older back aerial.

 

====Changes from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate''====

Giga Bowser has been significantly [[nerf]]ed from ''Smash 4'' to ''Ultimate''. Unlike in his previous appearance in general, many attacks have been made much slower, possessing a significant amount of start up lag, ending lag, and landing lag, as well as his jumpsquat being the slowest to jump in the game (taking up to 15 frames to complete). These changes—few of which are positive—make his attacks very easy to avoid, and were most likely made to balance out his status as a [[boss]], making it among Giga Bowser's weakest appearances in the series. However, he still possesses a significant amount of passive knockback-based [[armor]], meaning that he can often counterattack most punish attempts with ease, as well as be extremely hard to launch without [[counter]]s.

 

 

* {{buff|Up smash deals significantly higher base knockback (35, 60 BKB → 105, 100 BKB), with knockback growth compensated (65, 60 KBG → 35 KBG). Like Forward smash, it is still capable of achieving one-hit KOes regardless.}}

 

 

File:GigaBowserMelee.jpg|Giga Bowser in ''Melee''