Bowser (SSBU)/Down special

This article or section may require competitive expertise. You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Hitbox visualization showing Bowser's grounded down special, Bowser Bomb

Hitbox visualization showing Bowser's aerial down special, Bowser Bomb

Hitbox visualization showing Bowser's down special landing, Bowser Bomb

Overview

Bowser headbutts opponents with his horns before preforming his ground pound attack from Super Mario Bros. 3. The first notable quality of Bowser Bomb is its tremendous shield damage, breaking even full shields if both ground hits connect. This can be effective at any precent, as Bowser can KO at 0% on a shield break thanks to his tipper Flame Breath and strong Forward Smash. Additionally, the move can be used to snap to ledge, regardless if Bowser is facing the ledge while making the move difficult to challenge due to its strong hitbox.

However, despite these great traits, Bowser Bomb has sluggish startup in the air, making it difficult to set up shield breaks with due to the aerial version being reactable and susceptible to Perfect shielding. Additionally, using the move to KO is generally not a good idea, as Bowser has no shortage of powerful KO options such as Back aerial and Forward tilt. Additionally, the scooping hitbox only lasts for a single frame, meaning that the scoop hitbox can be whiffed easily, with the move being very unsafe due to its sizable ending lag. While the move does have a Meteor smash hitbox when Bowser starts falling, it is outclassed in setting up edgeguards and kamikazes due to Down aerial being faster and having a longer meteor window.

As a result, Bowser Bomb is seldom used in competitive play due to it's sluggish startup in the air making it hard to shieldbreak with. The main use for the move is as a ledge grab option, which is a rather shallow niche.

Hitboxes

Grounded

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Set weight	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Effect	Type	G	A	Sound	Direct	Hit bits	Hit part	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	No GFX	Heedless	Hitstun
Start
0	0	0	4.0%	0		Standard	0	100	60		4.0	top	0.0	1.0 to 9.0	17.0	1.0×	0.5×	0%							Kick		All	All							+8 frames
1	0	0	4.0%	0		Standard	0	100	60		2.0	top	0.0	0.5 to 9.5	22.5	1.0×	0.5×	0%							Kick		All	All							+8 frames
2	0	0	4.0%	0		Standard	0	100	60		4.0	top	0.0	2.5 to 7.5	13.0	1.0×	0.5×	0%							Kick		All	All							+8 frames
Fall
0	0	0	20.0%	5		Forward	13	65	0		8.3	top	0.0	5.2	0.0	1.0×	0.5×	0%							Kick		All	All							—

Aerial

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Set weight	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Effect	Type	G	A	Sound	Direct	Hit bits	Hit part	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	No GFX	Heedless
Clean
0	0	0	20.0%	5		Standard	13	65	0		8.6	top	0.0	5.2	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Kick		All	All
Late
0	0	0	20.0%	5		Forward	45	75	0		8.3	top	0.0	5.2	0.0	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Kick		All	All

Landing

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle	Angle type	BK	KS	FKV	Set weight	Radius	Bone	Offset			H×	SDI×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Effect	Type	G	A	Sound	Direct	Hit bits	Hit part	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	No GFX	Heedless
0	0	0	11.0%	5		Standard	60	72	0		8.0	top	0.0	1.5	-5.5 to 5.5	1.0×	1.0×	0%							Kick		All	All

Timing

The falling portion lasts indefinitely until Bowser lands. Bowser can grab ledges as soon as he starts to fall.

Grounded

Jump	11
Fall, clean hit	37-39
Fall, late hit	40-

Aerial

Clean hit	31-32
Late hit	33-

Landing

Hitbox	1-2
Interruptible	55
Animation length	64

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Hitbox change

Loop point

Interruptible

Parameters

Horizontal speed multiplier on aerial startup	0.8
Vertical speed multiplier on aerial startup	0.5
Air friction before fall portion	0.02
Gravity before fall portion	0.03
Falling speed before fall portion	0.4
Fall portion vertical speed	-9

Bowser's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack · Edge getups
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash