Giga Bowser (Final Smash)

Giga Bowser
Giga Bowser in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
User	Bowser
Universe	Mario

“	Transform into the fearsome Giga Bowser, who doesn't flinch at any attack. You can't stay transformed for long, so wreak as much havoc as possible while you can.	”
—Brawl's instruction manual

“	Transform into Giga Bowser, who doesn't flinch at all.	”
—Description from Smash for 3DS's foldout

Giga Bowser (ギガクッパ変身, Giga Koopa Transformation) is Bowser's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4. It causes him to turn into Giga Bowser from Super Smash Bros. Melee, granting him immense strength. While in this form, he is invulnerable to knockback, but can still receive damage, which may leave Bowser severely weakened and open to KOs after the Final Smash. He gains no new abilities while as Giga Bowser, though his existing abilities are augmented, with many attacks gaining elemental effects. In Super Smash Bros. 4, Giga Bowser retains all of his moves from Brawl despite Bowser receiving a revamped moveset; moves such as his dash attack, forward smash and back aerial remain unchanged functionally.

Before transforming back into Bowser, the Final Smash lasts for 660 frames (11 seconds at normal speed) in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but its duration is decreased to 480 frames (8 seconds at normal speed) in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Giga Bowser in Brawl.

• Most of Bowser's new attacks and options (such as Flying Slam and crawling) are also available for Giga Bowser. However, his forward aerial, back aerial and a few other moves remain the same as in Melee.
• Fire Breath weakens over time, unlike in Melee.
• More attacks have visual side effects.
• Immunity to knockback. Giga Bowser essentially has launch resistance for his entire presence. However, he is still affected by freeze frames, and thus powerful or long lasting multi-hit attacks can hinder Giga Bowser's movement. A prime example of this is using a Smart Bomb on Giga Bowser; this can sometimes hold him off long enough for him to revert back to Bowser.
• Giga Bowser is no longer affected by Metal Boxes, Super Mushrooms, and Poison Mushrooms.

Changes from Brawl to SSB4

File:640px-GigaBowser-SSBU.jpg

Giga Bowser in SSB4.

• Giga Bowser has a lighter coloured, less detailed model, while still retaining many of his physical features from Brawl.
• As the case for most other Final Smashes, Giga Bowser was slightly nerfed from his Brawl incarnation. Both the knockback of his attacks and the time he lasts have been slightly reduced from Brawl, with the Final Smash duration being 3 seconds shorter than before.

Moveset

	Move	Description	Segment		Damage	Angle	Hit Frames		BKB	KBG	WBKB	Type
Neutral attack		Two quick claw swipes; the least notable of Giga Bowser's attacks, although it possesses high range.	Hit 1		7%		8	11	0	100	20
			Hit 2		9%		25	27	20	110	0
Forward tilt		Punches while leaning forwards; has a 50% trip chance, and takes out half the opponent's shield. The different angles have different attributes: angling up does the most damage and knockback but does no shield damage and cannot trip, while angling down is guaranteed to make the opponent trip (if they don't take enough knockback to leave the ground).	Angled up		20%		12	16	28	100	0
			Angled side		17%				28	80
			Angled down		18%
Up tilt		Giga Bowser swats the air above him. Has a trip chance of 50%, but since targets have to remain on the ground for it to happen it's unlikely to occur.	Hand		15%		7	12	30	100	0
			Elbow		14%
			Arm		13%
			Upper Body		12%
			Lower Body		11%
Down tilt		Does two low claw swipes. The first one is not only a Meteor Smash, but it buries grounded opponents. Deals dark damage.	Hit 1		9%		14	18	10	80	0
			Hit 2		15%		27	31	50
Dash attack		A running headbutt. The second hit can bury.	Hit 1 (clean)		15%		11	14	100	30	0
			Hit 1 (late)		13%		15	18	70
			Hit 2		9%		26	30	40	80
Forward smash		Rears back and then performs a very strong headbutt, causing an explosion around his head.	Head		28%		28	40	5	60	0
			Body		24%
Up smash		Pounces on all fours and jumps straight up, hitting with the electric spikes on his shell. When he lands, he creates a shockwave that damages enemies farther away. This attack has a massive hitbox and is very effective for setting up a fatal up aerial.	Hit 1	Body	26%		16	21	30	60	0
				Head	24%
			Hit 2		12%		31	32	60
Down smash		Retracts into his shell and spins, creating a swirling blizzard that freezes foes. Has limited suction. Unlikely to KO, as the even-numbered hits (such as the last one) tend to strike the opponent while they are frozen.	Hits 1-7	Edges	3%		14-15, 17-18, 20-21, 23-24, 26-27, 29-30, 32-33		40	50	0
				Body
			Hit 8		13%		35		30	130
Neutral aerial		Giga Bowser spins around inside his shell.			15%		6	28	20	80	0
Forward aerial		Swats forward rather quickly. Has great horizontal reach.			15%		8	11	50	80	0
Back aerial		Giga Bowser thrusts his shell out behind him. Unlike Bowser's, this is a semi-spike.			17%		10	14	25	80	0
Up aerial		Swings his head upward. Has huge vertical knockback, this is arguably Giga Bowser's best finisher. This attack is further complimented by its large hitbox and Giga Bowser's high jumping height.			20%		22	26	60	80	0
Down aerial		Retracts into his shell and spins himself into the ground. If the attack is not autocancelled, the impact causes a shockwave that launches the target upwards with very high knockback.	Hits 1-9		3%		14-15, 17-18, 20-21, 23-24, 26-27, 29-30, 32-33, 35-36, 38-39		0	100	10
			Landing		10%		1	2	60	130	0
Pummel		Does an explosive headbutt.			6%		11	12	0	100	30
Forward throw		Giga Bowser flings the opponent using his head.			12%		36		60	50	0
Back throw		Turns around and chucks the foe away. Identical to the forward throw, through it occurs much faster and uses darkness instead of flame.			12%		19		60	50	0
Up throw		Giga Bowser tosses the foe upwards, retreats into his shell, and spins, damaging the foe with his spikes.	Hits 1-8		2%		17-20, 21-24, 25-28, 29-32, 33-36, 37-40, 41-44, 45-48		0	100	0
			Throw		10%		49		60	110
Down throw		Giga Bowser performs a body slam on his opponent. Any other opponents who are nearby when Giga Bowser attacks will be buried.	Hit 1		20%		45	46	0	90	0
			Throw		1%		46		75	20
Edge (<100%)		Quickly spins onto the stage and then retreats back a bit.			16%		8	35	0	100	90
Edge (100%+)		Slowly climbs onto stage and does a quick claw jab.			16%		46	50	0	100	90
Neutral special move	Fire Breath	Giga Bowser takes a short breath and lets loose with a stream of fire. Unfortunately, it seems that a good portion of the flames miss by shooting to the side of the playing field. Deals flame damage.	Near		2%		1	12	12	30	0
			Far		1%		13		7	20
Side special move	Flying Slam	Giga Bowser snatches the opponent and does a massive flying suplex. Unlike Bowser's, enemies in the Subspace Emissary do not get slashed (as Giga Bowser was not designed for use there).			22%				80	50
Up special move	Whirling Fortress	Giga Bowser gets into his shell and helicopters around. One of the best out-of-shield moves in the game.	Hit 1 (ground)		11%		6	7	70	80	0
			Hit 2 (ground)		5%		8, 12, 16, 20	39	80	50
			Hit 3 (ground)		3%		24, 28, 32, 36		50
			Hit 1 (air)		10%		6	7	80	60	0
			Hit 2 (air)		3%		8-11, 12-15, 16-19, 20-23, 24-27		50	20
			Hit 3 (air)		2%		28-31, 32-35, 36-39, 40-43, 44-47
Down special move	Bowser Bomb	Giga Bowser leaps into the air and plummets downwards. Has a glitch relating to it.	Ground hop		4%		11		0	100	110
			Drop (from ground)		23%		38		45	75	0
			Drop (from air)				32
			Landing		18%		1	2	60	72

Special Movements

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Roars (same as Melee)
• Side Taunt: Bites in front of himself 5 times and wheezes while doing so.
• Down Taunt: Dances precariously on one foot.

Origin

Giga Bowser first appeared in Melee as a hidden boss in Adventure Mode. To fight him, Adventure Mode must be cleared on Normal difficulty or higher in 18 minutes or fewer. Giga Bowser also appeared in the final event in Melee as an opponent, alongside with Ganondorf and Mewtwo. Giga Bowser returns for Brawl and SSB4, but this time he is Bowser's Final Smash and not a boss. Giga Bowser, on the other hand, did not appear in any Mario games, despite being a Mario character.

Trophy Descriptions

In Super Smash Bros Brawl

Giga Bowser trophy in Brawl

Giga Bowser

Bowser, transformed into the terrible and brutal form first seen in Super Smash Bros. Melee. While in this form, he's invulnerable--he doesn't get stunned and cannot be budged. His appearance is so fierce, it's as if he doesn't even belong in the Smash Bros. universe. He cannot maintain this form for long, so dealing out damage efficiently is key.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Giga Bowser trophy in for Wii U

Giga Bowser

Prepare to behold Bowser in all his Koopa glory. This fearsome form first appeared all the way back in Melee. While transformed, Bowser deals extra damage, is better at launching foes, and even gains special effects on some of his attacks. He won't flinch and can't be thrown, but he does still take damage.

The definitive way to prove that Bowser's the king. This fearsome form made its debut all the way back in Melee. While transformed, Bowser deals more damage, launches foes further, and certain attacks have extra effects like freezing opponents. He won't flinch, and he can't be thrown either, but he will still take damage.

Playability through hacking

Hacked Giga Bowser defeating Tabuu in the Boss Battles mode

• Giga Bowser can be selected as a playable character by hacking the game. His icon always shows him as normal Bowser. He plays similarly to the Final Smash version but stays transformed for the entire match, even after being KO'd. He is usable in modes that disable the ability to use Final Smashes, such as Boss Battles and the Subspace Emissary, and will not prevent Smash Balls from spawning. Other interesting oddities include:
  • The ability to break Smash Balls and enter standby. Attempting to use a Final Smash like this will either freeze Giga Bowser for the rest of the match or put him in a permanent (until KO'd) fall, which causes floating on solid ground. Unless Giga Bowser is KO'd, the freeze prevents other Smash Balls from appearing. Other similarly hacked characters also experience this.
  • Inability to be defeated in a Stamina Match. When played like this, he is unable to turn back into Bowser to be KO'd, so his HP will never drop below 1.
  • When a match ends, Giga Bowser will appear on the Results screen instead of regular Bowser. His win animation is just his idle animation, and his losing shows him in his bind pose. Both also retain his size.
  • Similarly to how he is incapable of picking up items or jumping on springs, Giga Bowser is also unable to enter doors in The Subspace Emissary, nor the Rest Area Portal in All-Star Mode. Due to this, it is only possible to complete 4 Subspace Emissary levels as him, those being Midair Stadium, The Ruined Hall, Battleship Halberd Bridge, and The Canyon, as these levels have no doors. This can be circumvented by playing in Co-Op mode, and having the other player enter the doors for him.
• Giga Bowser can be on the stage while any other Final Smash is being used at the same time. He can be hit by all of them. Negative Zone has no effects on Giga Bowser, and Peach Blossom does damage but does not put Giga Bowser to sleep. Both Triforce Slashes and the Blue Falcon can be executed but will trap him in the T-pose position afterwards due to not having proper animations. While being attacked normally breaks other characters out this T-pose trap, only Cook Kirby, Galaxia Darkness, and Great Aether are capable of freeing Giga Bowser from the trap, as these 3 are the only moves in the game capable of breaking through Giga Bowser's super armor thanks to infinite knockback. Cook Kirby breaks through the resistance upon sucking Giga Bowser into the pot, and again upon dropping Giga Bowser out of the pot. Galaxia Darkness breaks through Giga Bowser's flinch resistance upon the hit (Which also causes the minimum amount of knockback to Giga Bowser). Great Aether breaks through at the start, but freezes him again and subsequently breaks him out numerous times, before fully freeing him at the end. All other Final Smashes simply deal damage to Giga Bowser, with some slowing him down like a Smart Bomb on each hit, while others cause no lag and ignore Giga Bowser's shield.
• When played in 100-Man Brawl, the final opponent will be another Giga Bowser, making the mode very difficult to complete. An example video can be seen here.

Other oddities and glitches

• When not played as a hack, in Stamina Mode, Giga Bowser will not be defeated if reduced to zero HP. This causes the Undead Glitch.
• Giga Bowser's shield cannot be broken by any means. He can still be damaged when the shield is too small, but it will not break or be canceled. The shield does not return to full strength after the transformation finishes. Also of note is that Giga Bowser cannot be grabbed or Inhaled, which also includes special moves having to do with grabbing such as Falcon Dive. Strangely, the unbreakable shield is exclusive to Giga Bowser, as Wario-Man's shield will break normally.
• Since hitstun causes characters to be KO'd off the top blast line, it is possible to KO Giga Bowser if he is attacked while above the line. The same is true if Giga Bowser is carried above the blast line by a platform, including the top of any of the 3 Landmasters.
• Giga Bowser is not recognized as a target by stage elements such as the Ultimate Chimera or the Bulborb; he will be ignored and not bitten by the two. In fact, Giga Bowser can jump up through the Bulborb's mouth's ceiling.
• Giga Bowser's large size can cause teleportation due to grabbing edges in enclosed areas, such as in Jungle Japes. The teleportation happens because Giga Bowser grabs the edge of the higher platforms, which causes him to land on the middle platform due to his large size.
• Giga Bowser cannot swim, pick up items, or use a spring. He can use the Starman item and lightning bolts, however, and can also have a Bunny Hood, a Superspicy Curry, a Franklin Badge, flower effects, and be either giant or tiny depending on the size selected in the Special Brawl mode. The flower effect can also be applied during a normal match by hitting Giga Bowser with any moves that cause the effect. Giga Bowser is also unaffected by Pitfalls, Banana Peels, Metal Boxes, both Super and Poison Mushrooms, Lightning Bolts, and Bumpers. All other damaging items simply deal damage to him.
• It is possible for the crowd to cheer for a player using Giga Bowser. However, because Giga Bowser lacks an audience cheer sound clip, the game will play a beep in succession for however many times the sound clip was to play, then play the clapping sound clip as usual.
• If a CPU is using Giga Bowser, it will act strangely if hit by attacks that don't cause flinching. It will attempt to duck under them, jump over them, shield them, and otherwise dodge them. The CPU will not react in any similar way against other types of attack.

Trivia

• Giga Bowser is one of only four characters who can use Darkness attacks in Brawl, the other ones being Ganondorf, Crazy Hand, and Olimar's White Pikmin (though this is considered poison, it technically uses the darkness effect).
• Within the game's files, Bowser's sound effect file actually contains duplicates of his voice clips and sound effects. These are no different from the normal sounds, but are placed in a filter during gameplay to create Giga Bowser's deeper voice. The voice can also be pitched higher or lower in Special Brawl matches involving size changes. Both Giga Bowser's voice clips and sound effects can be played in the game's Sound Test, being placed together with Bowser's sounds.
• The fact that Giga Bowser has a results screen animation when using an infinite Giga Bowser hack is odd, considering Wario-Man and other characters playable in this fashion, do not have them and thus freeze the game upon a match ending unless their animation files are hacked. Also of note is how this Giga Bowser never turns back into Bowser when KO'd, while Wario-Man will always turn back into Wario upon being KO'd. This may suggest that Giga Bowser was originally to stay a boss, as in Melee while Bowser was to have a non-transforming Final Smash.
• The length of time spent as Giga Bowser is not correctly affected by Training mode's speed change. For example, setting the Training Mode speed to 1/4 will only give Giga Bowser enough time for one or two attacks before reverting.
  • This was fixed in Super Smash Bros. 4, where the duration of the transformation is now based on the amount of frames that have played.
• Within Brawl's files, Giga Bowser actually has animations for numerous actions he is normally unable to do. These include all animations for being thrown, picking up light items and food, all light item throws, using the Screw Attack, growing or shrinking via items, picking up and releasing an Assist Trophy, assembling and riding the Dragoon, slipping, and teetering over a ledge. Most of these relate to actions Giga Bowser could do in Melee that he is missing in Brawl.
• In SSB4, there are files for palette swaps for Giga Bowser, but they aren't used in the game. The same thing applies to Giga Mac, Wario-Man, and Mega Lucario, as shown here.

Gallery

• 

  Giga Bowser's forward tilt in Brawl.

• 

  Giga Bowser in SSB4.

• 

  Giga Bowser in Smash 3DS.

External links

Short video demo at 1:09

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