Bowser Jr. (SSB4)

Bowser Jr. in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Mario
Availability	Unlockable (3DS) Starter (Wii U)
Final Smash	Shadow Mario Paint
Tier	F (48)

“	Bowser Jr. Clowns The Competition!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Bowser Jr. (クッパ Jr., Koopa Jr.) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After initially being leaked on August 19th, 2014 as part of the ESRB leak, he was officially revealed during the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 50-Fact Extravaganza on October 23rd, 2014. Caety Sagoian reprises her role as Bowser Jr.'s voice actor, albeit via recycled voice clips from various Mario spin-off games. The Koopalings also use their voice clips from the New Super Mario Bros. games, which were voiced by Lani Minella (Larry, Morton, Wendy, and Lemmy), Mike Vaughn (Iggy and Ludwig) and Dan Falcone (Roy).

Bowser Jr. is currently ranked 48th out of 55 on the tier list, placing him in the F tier. Bowser Jr. is notably the only character in the game who has disjointed hitboxes on all of his attacks. This distinctive trait enables him to attack from a reasonably safe distance, which is supplemented by a few of his attacks being powerful enough to KO under 100%. He also has a very capable neutral game: Clown Kart Dash functions as an excellent approach option and provides an impressive amount of versatility, while Mechakoopa is useful for pressuring and stage control. Despite being a heavyweight, Bowser Jr. also sports a deceptively good air game, courtesy of his fairly fast aerial mobility and his aerial attacks' follow-up and juggling potentials.

Despite his strengths, Bowser Jr. has noticeable flaws. His overall grounded mobility is slow, which necessitates using Clown Kart Dash in order to keep up with faster opponents. Lag is another glaring issue; many of Bowser Jr.'s attacks have among the largest amounts of ending lag in the game, requiring players to use reads or baiting in order to secure KOs with him. Bowser Jr.'s grab game also suffers from his standing, pivot and dash grabs' overall lag, and his grab game is further made worse by very unimpressive throws, with only his back throw being useful, as a situational KOing option. Lastly, Bowser Jr.'s recovery is predictable and unsafe, as Abandon Ship! is very susceptible to gimps due to offering no overhead protection, it can only travel in one direction, and it can be rendered unusable if he is hit even by a weak attack.

Bowser Jr. has had minimal impact in tournaments and the current metagame, owing to a small playerbase. Although Bowser Jr. previously attained stronger tournament results and a deeper metagame from Tweek, he later switched to using the higher-tiered Cloud, leading to a stagnation of Bowser Jr.'s own metagame. Bowser Jr. has still made waves of attention from time to time, such as with Jade defeating Trela's Ryu at CEO 2016, but he struggles to make an impact at large tournaments.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play 100 VS Matches.
• Clear Classic Mode as Bowser on Intensity 6.0 or higher.

After completing one of the two methods, Bowser Jr. must then be defeated on 3D Land.

Bowser Jr. does not have to be unlocked in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Attributes

Bowser Jr. is tied with Samus as the sixth heaviest character, yet he possesses overall decent mobility. While he has slow walking and dashing speeds, a fast falling speed and above average gravity, all of which are typical of a heavyweight, he has a surprisingly fast air speed and above-average air acceleration. Outside of this, Bowser Jr. possesses a few unorthodox, yet noteworthy, traits. Like Duck Hunt's dog and duck, he and his Junior Clown Car have two separate hurtboxes. However, the properties of Bowser Jr. and his Clown Car's hurtboxes are much more apparent: attacks that hit the Clown Car will deal 0.88× damage, whereas those that hit Bowser Jr. himself will deal 1.15× damage. However, Bowser Jr.'s hitbox takes priority over the Clown Car's hitbox, making him vulnerable to receiving more damage more often than not. Although the knockback calculation ignores this, he will still be KO'd earlier than most heavyweight, as the knockback formula takes the target's damage after the attack damage has been added. One unique quirk Bowser Jr. possesses is that every one of his attacks has disjointed hitboxes, which gives him decent overall range.

Clown Kart Dash is considered to be Bowser Jr.'s best move overall because of its versatility, with its most apparent benefit being much better movement to make up for his slow dashing speed (which can be made even faster via jump canceling) and grants him an excellent approach option. Clown Kart Dash is also integral to Bowser Jr. due to its mindgame and damage racking potentials. It can function either as a strong head-on attack or initiate aerial combos due Bowser Jr. being able to jump during it, which are further improved by jump canceling. Lastly, it can function as a horizontal recovery option, which is further supplemented by its doughnut-based attack and having armor that can withstand a maximum of 7%.

Abandon Ship! is another useful move that possesses impressive knockback and grants Bowser Jr. considerable vertical distance. Unlike most recovery moves, Abandon Ship! does not initiate helplessness; this allows Bowser Jr. to not only air dodge if necessary, but also allows him to perform a powerful hammer swing upon pressing the attack button, which is an almost guaranteed KOing option when used in sync with Clown Kart Dash at high percentages. Mechakoopa is a very useful tool for zoning, combos, follow-ups, and even defensive purposes due to its ability to block incoming projectiles like Link and Toon Link's Bombs can.

Bowser Jr.'s good aerial mobility supplements the utility of his aerial attacks. His neutral aerial is useful as both an edge-guarding and out of shield option. His forward and back aerials are useful as edge-guarding, spacing and KOing options. While Bowser Jr.'s up aerial only hits above him, it is capable of juggling and can KO on stages with low ceilings, such as Battlefield or Town and City. Down aerial can shield stab and works well used out of Clown Kart Dash at lower percentages, due to the hitbox it produces compensating for its high landing lag.

Despite his great aerial mobility and damage racking potential, Bowser Jr. is not without his flaws. One of his biggest problems is that his recovery is glaringly susceptible to gimps. While Abandon Ship! grants him impressive vertical distance, a weak hit from an attack can result in Bowser Jr. not being able to respawn his Clown Car if the player does not button mash. Another major problem that Bowser Jr. faces is a lack of viable options on shield, making him susceptible to punishes. Bowser Jr. is also a very straight-forward character, which can make him quite predictable at times. In addition, Mechakoopa is the crux of Bowser Jr.'s neutral game, making it easy (especially for characters such as Rosalina & Luma) to shut down his options. Also, his Clown Cannon is a slow move that, unlike most chargeable projectiles, cannot be stored. Despite his overall grab range being rather long, his grabs have very high start-up and ending lag, while his throws are not very useful in general due to their inability to KO at reasonable percentages or initiate combos. Lastly, Bowser Jr. suffers from poor KO potential due to having very few reliable KOing options (his smash attacks and his forward/back aerials), which is further compounded by said options being burdened with considerable ending lag.

Bowser Jr. gains very few buffs from his custom moves. Piercing Cannon is faster and pierces opponents, but it deals less damage and knockback. Air Cannon is also faster and briefly stalls Bowser Jr. in midair, but replaces the cannonball with a windbox, which re-purposes it from an offensive option to a defensive option. Big Mechakoopa is stronger and larger, but it sacrifices Mechakoopa's ability to trip up opponents. Outside of these, Bowser Jr.'s remaining customs are less effective than the default versions.

Overall, Bowser Jr. fares well with a bait and punish playstyle like his father does, but he can also be potent at pressuring the opponent thanks to Clown Kart Dash and Mechakoopa. However, his slew of his easily exploitable weaknesses can make him a bit underwhelming overall and greatly overshadowed compared to the rest of the cast. While his flaws have resulted in his lack of representation in the Western scene, the Japanese scene views him more favorably. Additionally, professionals like Tweek have shown that he can be viable when his strengths are played wisely and to their fullest.

Update history

Bowser Jr. has been buffed slightly via game updates. The most notable instance occurred in update 1.1.4, which moderately decreased his smash attacks' ending lag and made his forward and back aerials stronger. The changes to the shield mechanics in updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 also slightly help him due to some of his moves possessing high damage outputs and/or hitting multiple times.

1.0.4

• Down throw deals slightly less damage: 8% → 7.5%. It also does eight hits, down from ten.

1.0.6

• Neutral infinite has decreased trails.
• Forward smash's initial hitbox re-positioned, and its last hit's hitbox size increased: 6u → 7u.

1.1.0

• Clown Cannon deals more damage: 7% (uncharged)/4.4% (uncharged late)/18% (fully charged)/12.6% (fully charged late) → 8.5%/5.9%/20%/14%.

1.1.1

• Floor attack's shield damage output matches the other characters': 1 → 8.
• Back floor attack deals 10 shield damage, as did the other characters' before update 1.1.1.
• Clown Cannon's knockback increased: 80 (sweetspot)/60 (sourspot) → 85/65.
• Clown Cannon's hitbox size increased: 4.5u → 5.5u.
• Air Cannon's frame speed multiplier decreased: 2× → 1.3×, decreasing its ending lag by 14 frames.

1.1.4

• All smash attacks' ending lag decreased: 60 frames → 56 (forward), 63 frames → 57 (up), 68 frames → 60 (down).
• Forward aerial deals more damage: 8% → 9% (clean), 5% → 7% (late).
• Forward aerial knockback increased: 30 (base)/90 (scaling) → 33/93.
• Back aerial's late hit deals 2% more damage (8% → 10%) and knockback scaling (90 → 92).

Moveset

• Moves that hit the Junior Clown Car deal 0.88× damage, whereas those that hit Bowser Jr. himself will deal 1.15× damage. Bowser Jr.'s hurtbox takes priority over the Clown Car's hurtbox.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	The Junior Clown Car performs a one-two combo, followed by a flurry of punches, followed by a jab. It has impressive damage racking potential, as it can easily deal around 20%. Its first hit is quite useful for jab locks due to its minimal ending lag, whereas its last hit's extremely high knockback growth can KO around 130%-150% while near the edge. However, its neutral infinite is quite easy to escape, even with minimal SDI, while its last hit is punishable. As a result, it is best used against off-stage opponents that are attempting to grab the edge.
			2%
			2% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt			8%	The Junior Clown Car thrusts a pitchfork forward. It can be angled and is very useful for spacing.
Up tilt			6%	The Junior Clown Car thrusts a pitchfork upward. It can combo into itself beginning at 0% and juggle at medium percentages, but has a blind spot between the fork's prongs and the Junior Clown Car.
Down tilt			1.5% (hits 1-2), 5% (hit 3)	The Junior Clown Car uses its tongue to lick forward three times. It has a fair amount of utility, as it is efficient at warding off rushdowns, can act as a set-up for a dash attack, or interfere with an opponent attempting to grab an edge due to its undulating hitbox.
Dash attack			1.5% (hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	The Junior Clown Car opens its mouth to swing a Grinder twice. Its loop hits do not connect together very well at high percentages.
Forward smash			1% (hits 1-3), 11% (hit 4)	The Junior Clown Car uses two drills to drill the opponent in place. The final hit is a powerful KOing option, while the whole move has low ending lag and it can be angled.
Up smash			1% (hit 1), 1.3% (hits 2-5), 1% (hit 6), 6% (hit 7)	Bowser Jr. performs a handstand to attack with the Junior Clown Car's spinning propeller. It is Bowser Jr.'s fastest smash attack.
Down smash			18%	The Junior Clown Car slams wrecking balls on both sides. It is Bowser Jr.'s most powerful smash attack, but unlike his other smash attacks, it has high ending lag.
Neutral aerial			6% (clean), 5% (mid), 3% (late)	The Junior Clown Car spins around with the boxing glove arms extended. It is a weak but useful aerial, which combos reliably from Clown Kart Dash and is effective as a anti-pressure and edgeguarding option.
Forward aerial			11%/9% (clean), 8%/6.5% (mid), 5%/4% (late), 2% (landing)	The Junior Clown Car swings a wrecking ball forward in a circling motion. Landing while the wrecking ball is still out produces another hitbox, which can lead to more follow-ups on the ground, as well as compensate for its high landing lag. Useful for edge-guarding and spacing, as well as a viable KOing option.
Back aerial			14% (clean tip), 8% (clean base, late)	The Junior Clown Car thrusts a wrecking ball backward. Like his forward aerial, landing while the wrecking ball is still out produces another hitbox, which can lead to more follow-ups on the ground. Useful for edge-guarding and a viable KOing option due to its high knockback.
Up aerial			10% (clean), 6.5% (late)	Swings a hammer above himself. It has little lag and is a useful juggling option.
Down aerial			1.3% (loop), 2% (last), 2% (landing)	The Junior Clown Car extends a drill from its underside hatch to pierce opponents. Its high ending lag is compensated by the hitbox it produces upon landing, which grants it follow-up potential. If the attack hits an opponent, it can cancel quickly into other moves; if not, Bowser Jr. suffers from moderate ending lag.
Grab			—	The Junior Clown Car extends a claw to grab the opponent. A slow grab overall.
Pummel			2%	Hits the opponent with a toy hammer. A fairly fast pummel. The toy hammer looks identical to the one used in the Eekhammer sticker from Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
Forward throw			3% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	The Junior Clown Car throws an uppercut. It is fairly good for launching opponents at the edge for an edge-guard.
Back throw			12%	The Junior Clown Car spins and then throws the opponent backward. Bowser Jr.'s most powerful throw, as it can KO most middleweights starting around 160% without rage.
Up throw			7%	The Junior Clown Car flings the opponent upward. It can lead into up aerial at low percentages.
Down throw			0.5% (hits 1-5), 4% (throw)	The Junior Clown Car throws the opponent onto the ground and then extends a drill from its underside hatch to pierce opponents. It can be used to pressure the opponent into his Clown Kart Dash.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up while spinning a pair boxing gloves outstretched on both sides.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Gets up while spinning a Grinder around himself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Gets up while thrusting a pitchfork on both of sides.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Slams a pair of wrecking balls while climbing up.
Neutral special	Default	Clown Cannon	8.5% (uncharged), 5.9% (uncharged late), 20% (fully charged), 14% (fully charged late)	The Junior Clown Car opens its mouth and fires a cannonball. It can be charged to increase the cannonball's speed and power. At the end of its path, the cannonball will drop to the ground, which can hit opponents attempting to recover if it is spaced properly. However, it has high overall lag.
	Custom 1	Piercing Cannon	4% (uncharged), 10% (fully charged)	Fires a cannonball that pierces opponents and travels faster, although the cannonball is smaller and deals noticeably less damage.
	Custom 2	Air Cannon	—	Fires a gust of wind that will push opponents backward, although it deals no damage. In the air, it can also be used to move backward quickly, aiding Bowser Jr.'s horizontal recovery.
Side special	Default	Clown Kart Dash	4%+speed (collision), 8% (doughnut)	The Junior Clown Car transforms into a go-kart that speeds forward. Tilting the control stick/circle pad in the opposite direction or pressing the attack/special button will cause the Junior Clown Car to perform a doughnut, which deals more damage and has higher knockback to opponents on contact compared to simply charging into them. Spinning out in the air can produce horizontal movement, after which it can be used again. All versions of the move can be jump canceled, even right after hitting an opponent, which can lead into combos and mix-ups.
	Custom 1	Koopa Drift	2%+speed (collision), 1% (doughnut loop), 2% (doughnut last)	The go-kart careens forward during the doughnut, hitting opponents multiple times. Careening in the air grants much more horizontal recovery, but its jumps are much lower.
	Custom 2	Grounding Dash	8%+speed	The Junior Clown Car travels faster initially, but its doughnut does not deal damage. It buries grounded opponents on contact, but grants less horizontal distance.
Up special	Default	Abandon Ship!	5% (contact), 13% (explosion), 15%/10% (hammer)	Bowser Jr. ejects himself from the Junior Clown Car. The Junior Clown Car slowly falls to the ground and then explodes with high power when the move is used in midair, whereas it will simply explode after a brief period when used on the ground. When Bowser Jr. is out of the Junior Clown Car, he is not rendered helpless and can still attack with a hammer, which is powerful enough to KO at medium to high percentages. However, taking any weak hit while out of the Junior Clown Car prevents another use of the move without button mashing or landing.
	Custom 1	Meteor Ejection	8%/3% (contact), 10% (explosion), 15%/10% (hammer)	The Junior Clown Car produces a meteor effect upon activation. However, it covers less vertical distance, whereas Bowser Jr. seems to cover more horizontal distance after being ejected.
	Custom 2	Koopa Meteor	17% (contact), 15%/10% (hammer)	Ejects Bowser Jr. high into the air before the Junior Clown Car explodes, ejecting him downward. Deals strong knockback and a powerful meteor smash upon contact on opponents caught near the bottom.
Down special	Default	Mechakoopa	2% (contact), 7% (explosion)	The Junior Clown Car drops a Mechakoopa from its underside hatch. The Mechakoopa falls in a strong downward arc; once it lands, it starts walking around. If it reaches a wall or dead end, it will turn around and walk in the opposite direction. If it makes contact with an opponent (or travels enough distance in the air without landing), it will detonate. Lastly, if enough time passes and they have not hit an opponent yet, they will spark out and detonate automatically. They can be picked up and thrown as items either by Bowser Jr. or his opponent.
	Custom 1	Impatient Mechakoopa	5%	Launches a Mechakoopa at a fair distance. The Mechakoopa is armed to explode the moment it is launched and will explode shortly after landing.
	Custom 2	Big Mechakoopa	15%	The Mechakoopa is larger and walks a shorter distance, but it deals more damage if it is thrown.
Final Smash		Shadow Mario Paint	3% (paint), 5% (explosion)	Bowser Jr. transforms into Shadow Mario and uses the Magic Paintbrush to paint a giant, orange X on the screen. Anyone caught in the X's hitbox will be damaged, with the X pulling opponents into it once they are hit. The X will clear away with an explosion after some time. The sheer size of the X makes avoiding damage from this Final Smash difficult, similarly to Iceberg.

On-screen appearance

• Flies onto the stage in the Junior Clown Car and makes a taunting facial expression toward the camera.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Jumps up, sits on the rim of the Junior Clown Car, and exhales a tiny flame while chuckling.
• Side taunt: Pulls out a hammer and swings it around twice.
• Down taunt: The Junior Clown Car turns into its go-kart form, sports an angry expression while performing a doughnut, then returns to normal.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Places his hand above his eyes and looks around while smiling with his mouth closed or smiling with his mouth open.
• Hops impatiently in the Junior Clown Car.

Crowd cheer

English

Japanese

Victory poses

A rock-based remix of the Course Clear Fanfare used in Super Mario Bros.

• Uses Clown Kart Dash while laughing, then stops and pulls out a hammer.
• Gets out of the Junior Clown Car and rubs it with his right hand while smiling with his mouth open or smiling with his mouth closed.
• Jumps out of the Junior Clown Car, hops in celebration a few times while laughing, then strikes a pose.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Bowser Jr.	1113	1121	1123	1211	1213
	1313	3111	3113	3213	1112

Notable players

Active

•  aMac - Ranked 5th on the Saskatchewan Power Rankings.
•  Blanc - The best Bowser Jr. player in Canada. Placed 17th at Canada Cup 2016. Former honourable mention on the Southern Ontario Power Rankings.
•  Hatsuyuki - The best Bowser Jr. player in Japan. Placed 7th at Karisuma 8, 13th at Sumabato 10, and 17th at Sumabato for THE BIG HOUSE and Sumabato 8.
•  Jade - Placed 65th at CEO 2016. Ranked 5th on the Tampa Smash Power Rankings. She has a win over Trela.
•  Fluzi - Placed 13th at Final Round 20. Ranked 10th on the South Carolina Power Rankings.
•  Kantrip - Ranked 7th on the British Columbia Power Rankings.
•  Hiro - Placed in the top 8 at Smash @ Xanadu and achieved other high placings. He has numerous MD/VA wins.
•  Kub4444 - One of the best Bowser Jr. players in Mexico. Ranked 2nd on the Sinaloa Power Rankings. He has wins over Regi and Hyuga.
•  LaRiata - One of the best Bowser Jr. players in Mexico. Placed 5th at Smash Pendiente 45. He has a win over MKLeo.
•  Magi (UK) - The best Bowser Jr. player in Europe. Placed 5th at ALBION and 13th at DAT BlastZone 13.
•  Moti - Ranked 10th on the St. Louis Power Rankings.
•  Parappa - The best Bowser Jr. player in MD/VA, though he currently resides in Wisconsin. He has achieved rare, but consistently high placings at Smash @ Xanadu tournaments. Ranked 11th on the MD/VA Power Rankings.
•  Taternator - The best Bowser Jr. in SoCal other than Vicegrip. He frequents MSMs and places well. He is known for labbing Bowser Jr. combos and 0 to deaths.
•  Vicegrip - The best Bowser Jr. player in Southern California. Placed 5th at 2GGT: Fatality Saga and 13th at 2GGT: ESAM Saga. Formerly ranked 17th on the SoCal Power Rankings. He has wins over VoiD and Tyrant.

Inactive

•  Hino - Formerly ranked 5th on the Las Vegas Power Rankings prior to switching to Villager.
•  Tweek - The former best Bowser Jr. player in the world. Placed 25th at EVO 2015, 33rd at GENESIS 3, and 3rd at SKTAR 4. Has since switched mains to Cloud.
•  ZomBiehn - Placed 3rd at MCGArena and 13th at GUMS 8. Formerly ranked 2nd on the Maine Power Rankings prior to his retirement. He has wins over Ntarps, Cagt, DM888, LordXav1er and Light.

Tier placement and history

Bowser Jr. was initially considered to be a high-tier character due to his attacks having disjointed hitboxes and Clown Kart Dash's incredible versatility. However, like many other characters, Bowser Jr. began to drop on the tier list once players discovered that his he has a very linear neutral game, lackluster shield pressure, laggy grabs, and exploitable recovery. All of these attributes resulted in him struggling against many top-tier characters. However, Tweek still managed to achieve impressive results with Bowser Jr., such as placing 25th at EVO 2015, which was especially significant due to Bowser Jr.'s lack of improvement with custom moves. Tweek also managed to place 33rd at GENESIS 3 and consistently achieve top 8 placings in his region. As a result, Bowser Jr. was ranked 34th on the first tier list.

However, after Tweek dropped Bowser Jr. in favor of Cloud, his tournament prominence has dropped significantly. While he still achieves decent results thanks to many dedicated players, such as Vicegrip and Jade (the latter of whom notably defeated Trela at CEO 2016), and his metagame keeps being developed, Bowser Jr.'s lack of high placings at tournaments have resulted in him tying with Wii Fit Trainer for the 46th/47th place on the second tier list, and then slightly dropping to 48th on the third tier list. Currently, Bowser Jr. remains ranked as 48th on the fourth and current tier list, which can be attributed to Kub4444 achieving 17th at Smash Factor 6.

Reveal trailer

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Trophies

Bowser Jr.

Bowser's beloved, spoiled son sports a bandanna with a large mouth drawn on it. Like his father, Bowser Jr. longs to take Mario down. In Smash Bros., he'll fight from inside his heavily armed Junior Clown Car. The Clown Car takes less damage than Bowser Jr., so mind your positioning.

Bowser's probably a big fan of his son, what with him hating Mario just as much as dear old Dad does. The tyke's Junior Clown Car is packed with gadgets and gizmos to throw at enemies! By the way, he's extra vulnerable when he jumps out of it, but...you wouldn't dream of attacking the cute little fella then, would you?

: Super Mario Sunshine (08/2002)

: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (11/2009)

Bowser Jr. (Alt.)

The Clown Kart Dash special move turns the Junior Clown Car into a kart. If you change direction while driving it, it'll spin and do more damage. When you use his up special, Bowser Jr. leaps from his Junior Clown Car, dropping it on the foes below.

The Clown Kart Dash special move turns the Junior Clown Car into a kart. If you change direction while driving it, it'll spin and do more damage. When you use his up special, Bowser Jr. jumps out of the Junior Clown Car, letting it hit opponents. Try to catch opponents with it while you're directly over them to hit them on the head!

: Super Mario Sunshine (08/2002)

: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (11/2009)

Shadow Mario Paint

In Super Mario Sunshine, someone went around causing havoc disguised as Mario. It turned out not to be the brawny Bowser, but his brainier son, Bowser Jr. Now he becomes Shadow Mario again for his Final Smash, painting a giant X on the screen. It sticks around after Bowser Jr. transforms back, letting him gleefully knock foes into it.

In Super Mario Sunshine, someone went around causing havoc disguised as Mario. It turned out not to be the brawny Bowser, but his brainier son, Bowser Jr. Now he becomes Shadow Mario again for his Final Smash, painting a giant cross on the screen. It sticks around after Bowser Jr. turns back, so he can gleefully knock people into it.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• 

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Shadow Mario Paint

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Behind Enemy Lines: As Fox, the player must survive one minute against Bowser Jr. and Mega Man while they are all heavily damaged.
• It's Past Your Bedtime!: As Jigglypuff, the player must make Bowser Jr., Ness, and Toon Link fall asleep at the same time by using Sing.
• New Challengers 1: Bowser Jr. is one of the seven opponents fought, alongside Rosalina & Luma, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Villager, Duck Hunt and Lucina.
• Family Ties: Bowser Jr., who is aided by a giant Bowser, must defeat Mario and Luigi.
• Enough with the Kidnapping: As Peach, the player must defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser.

Co-op Events

• A Lurking Menace: Mario and Luigi must defeat Bowser Jr., but if the match lasts too long, they must also defeat a giant Bowser.
• Peach in Peril: Bowser Jr. and Bowser must defeat all opponents except Peach, where KOing her results in a failure.
• Solidarity: Olimar and Rosalina & Luma must defeat Mario and Luigi and then they must defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

Instead of alternate color schemes, Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes consist of the Koopalings. Bowser Jr.'s Junior Clown Car is the only one with black eyes and horizontal orange "eye paint", while the Koopalings' Clown Cars have yellow mechanical eyes with vertical black "eye paint".

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of Bowser Jr. from the official site.

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  Bowser Jr.'s splash art.

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  Bowser Jr.'s amiibo.

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  Larry Koopa.

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  Roy Koopa.

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  Wendy O. Koopa.

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  Iggy Koopa.

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  Morton Koopa Jr.

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  Lemmy Koopa.

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  Ludwig von Koopa.

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  Using Clown Kart Dash alongside Wario's Wario Bike.

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  Taunting alongside his father, who is using Fire Breath.

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  Using Clown Cannon alongside Kirby, who is also using it due to having copied him.

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  Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings on Onett.

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  Morton and Iggy using Abandon Ship! on Ludwig and Lemmy. Morton and Iggy's size differences in SSB4 are noticeably different in comparison to their sizes in the Mario series.

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  Wendy using her forward smash on Iggy.

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  Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings on The Great Cave Offensive.

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  Using Shadow Mario Paint, his Final Smash, on Mario and Luigi.

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  Using Mechakoopa.

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  Using Clown Kart Dash on Spirit Train.

Trivia

• Bowser Jr. is the only character who does not have an alternate costume that shares the same name as the default costume or is a palette swap of the original costume. Due to this, he's the only character to use his default color scheme in his Alt. trophies.
  • Similarly, Bowser Jr. is the only character who does not use an alternative costume when he is fought in rounds 4-5 in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U's classic mode, as well as Smash Tour with customs. However, Larry will appear in his place in a team battle if the player chooses a previously-defeated Bowser Jr. as a teammate.
  • This additionally makes Bowser Jr. and Villager are the only characters where all eight of their palette swaps have a chance of appearing in All-Star Mode. However, because his placement in All-Star Mode is based on his debut rather than that of the Koopalings (who debuted before him), the Koopalings will be misplaced chronologically during All-Star mode if the opponent's costume is a Koopaling. The same applies to Olimar and Alph.
• In Bowser Jr.'s reveal trailer, he is seen firing a cannonball which then explodes. However, this does not happen in game, not even from his custom moves.
• Bowser Jr. is the only newcomer to be both a starter character and an unlockable character in SSB4.
• Bowser Jr. was on the brink of being cut as a playable character due to limited time and resources. He barely got onto the roster due to the game staff's diligent work.
• When Bowser Jr. gets a Super Leaf, the ears will be on his head but the tail will be on the back of his Junior Clown Car.
  • When he uses Abandon Ship!, the tail on the Junior Clown Car disappears.
• One of Bowser Jr.'s conquest teams is called the "Kooky Kids". "Kooky" is also Ludwig's name in the DiC Entertainment cartoons The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
  • On the official Super Smash Bros. Facebook page, Wendy was called "a Kootie-Pie", a reference to her name in the DIC Entertainment cartoons.
  • On the same Facebook page, Lemmy is noted as "Hip but no Hop", a reference to Lemmy being called Hip and Iggy being called Hop in the cartoons.
• In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Koopa Clown Car vehicle, if used by a Koopaling will change colors to match the ones they use in Super Smash Bros. 4.