Aesthetics
Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Bowser's model features a more subdued color scheme. Additionally, Ultimate's lighting physics result in his colors being darker and more monotone overall, similar to his appearance in Brawl. His scales, hair, horns, and spikes exhibit more subtle detailing; and his bands have visible scuffs and scratches. His pupils are also larger, and his spikes are slightly longer and thinner.- Bowser has been made more expressive than previous installments, sporting facial expressions that are more prominent, as well as his jaw moving more naturally to match his angry expressions.
- Bowser makes roaring noises during his idle poses, instead of being silent like in SSB4.
- Bowser's shielding pose has changed: he turns around more and guards attacks with his shell.
- Bowser's hair has independent physics.
- The shadow in the interior of Bowser's shell has been removed, no longer obscuring his face whenever he withdraws into his shell, like in Melee and Brawl.
- Up and side taunts have been shortened, the latter also updated to match his upright stance.
- Bowser's victory poses have been updated:
- His left-inputted pose where he roars in victory shows him rearing back and swaying his head before performing the rest of his victory pose. His body also faces more towards the screen during said animation.
- His up-inputted pose where he slashes the air with his claws twice shows him running up to the victory area before doing so.
- His right-inputted is completely new. He breathes fire towards the screen before striking a pose reminiscent of his SSB4 artwork. It replaces victory pose from Melee to SSB4 where he performs Whirling Fortress and strikes a pose.
Attributes
Like all characters, Bowser's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 8), the second largest difference out of all veterans (only behind Snake), greatly improving his ground-to-air transitioning and out of shield game.- Bowser walks slightly faster (0.858 → 0.901).
- Bowser dashes faster (1.792 → 1.971).
- Bowser's initial dash is significantly faster (1 → 2.255), going from the slowest to the fifth fastest. This significantly helps him with his defensive and offensive approach on the ground, and gives him a respectable dash dance.
- Bowser's air speed is faster (1 → 1.155).
- Bowser's falling speed (1.39 → 1.77) and fast falling speed (2.224 → 2.832) are significantly faster, going from the 42nd fastest in Smash 4 to tied for the 18th fastest in Ultimate, giving him much better vertical endurance and greatly improving his air-to-ground transitioning. The most notable change, however, is that this, when coupled with him receiving less landing lag on his aerials, helps him out with one of his primary weaknesses in Smash 4: his trouble landing safely.
- Bowser’s gravity is higher (0.11 → 0.125). When combined with his increased falling speed, this allows him to land drastically more safely, but makes him more susceptible to combos.
- Bowser is heavier (130 → 135), further improving his already excellent endurance, as well as the effectiveness of his Tough Guy heavy armor.
However, it also makes him more susceptible to combos, which is further exacerbated by his faster falling speed and higher gravity.
- The universal knockback reduction in rapid jabs allows Tough Guy to resist every single one of them, including the ones it couldn’t resist in Smash 4, such as Captain Falcon's.
- Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 33).
- Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 4-16).
- Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 5-17), and more ending lag (FAF 34 → 38).
- Spot dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 3).
- Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 4-29 → 4-32).
- Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 35 → 47).
Ground attacks
- Bowser has percent-based super armor during the startup of all his tilt and smash attacks:
- Up tilt: Armor active on frames 8-10; resists up to 4% damage
- Forward tilt and down tilt: 7-9; 4%
- Forward smash: 17-21; 10%
- Up smash: 11-15; 8%
- Down smash: 5-11; 8%
- Neutral attack:
- The first hit transitions faster into the second (frame 12 → 10).
- The second hit deals more damage (6.5% → 7%), slightly increasing its knockback as a result.
- Both hits have a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.4× (hit 1), 1.8× (hit 2)), giving opponents more time to SDI the first hit and DI the second hit.
- The first hit has more ending lag (FAF 21 → 26), greatly reducing its jab cancel ability.
- The first hit deals less damage (5% → 4%), reducing the move's total damage output (11.5% → 11%).
- The first hit has a shorter hitbox duration, with its arm intangibility reduced as well (frames 7-9 → 7-8).
- The first hit has altered angles (30°/50°/85° → 361°/180°) to keep opponents closer to Bowser, and no longer deals set knockback (45/30/18 set/100 scaling → 40/35/30 base/18 scaling). This allows it to jab lock and connect more reliably into the second hit up to high percents, but less reliably afterward, without increasing its jab cancel ability due to its increased ending lag.
- Neutral attack has a slightly different animation, consisting of a sumo-style palm strike followed by a punch.
- Forward tilt:
- The move deals more damage (12% → 13%) with no compensation on knockback, increasing its KO power.
- The move has a slightly different animation, consisting of a swung backhand punch with the arm slightly bent. This slightly reduces its range.
- Up tilt:
- The move deals more damage (9% → 11%) with no compensation on knockback, allowing it to KO at around 130%, much like in Brawl.
- Bowser's arm is intangible during the move (frames 11-16).
- Down tilt:
- The first hit has received set knockback (20 base/100 scaling → 50/30 set/100 scaling), and its outermost hitbox launches opponents towards Bowser (361° → 130°), while the second hit comes out faster (frame 20 → 15). This allows both hits to link much more reliably.
- However, the move's total duration remains the same, increasing its ending lag.
- Both hits deal drastically less damage (14% → 7% (hit 1), 11% → 8% (hit 2)), still resulting in slightly higher total damage than the first hit alone in Smash 4 (14% → 15%), but significantly reducing it at low percents where the unchanged hits could link, in addition to weakening its shield safety and shield breaking ability.
- The second hit's knockback was also not fully compensated (12 base/100 scaling → 20/111), drastically weakening its KO potential, especially compared to the first hit in Smash 4.
- The second hit has larger hitboxes (5u/4.5u/4u → 5.6u/5u/4.5u), improving its range.
- Up smash:
- The move deals slightly more damage (20%/15%/15% → 22%/16%/16%) with no compensation on knockback, and its sourspots launch opponents at a higher angle (70°/120° → 85°), further improving its KO ability, to the point the sweetspot is stronger than Ganondorf's up smash.
- The landing hit deals twice as much damage (6% → 12%).
- The landing hit has more range behind Bowser (Z offset: 4–-5.5 → 4–-7.5).
- The landing hit deals much less knockback (80 base/100 scaling → 30/70), hindering its KO potential despite its increased damage.
- However, this improves its combo potential, having a KO setup into his back air.
- Down smash:
- Bowser has a new down smash: a low claw swipe forward with one hand, then another swipe backward with his other hand, similar to Wolf in Brawl. It hits only twice instead of seven times, with one hit at each side.
- The move's new animation gives it much more horizontal range.
- Both hits deal much more individual damage, with the first hit's being the same the total of the previous down smash (2% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-6), 9% (hit 7) → 16% (hit 1), 15% (hit 2)), and they launch at a lower angle (50° → 40°), with their knockback not fully compensated (40 base/130 scaling → 60/86 (hit 1), 60/92 (hit 2)). This significantly improves its KO potential, with both hits KOing under 100% from center stage, and effectively replaces a highly situational move that was notoriously outclassed by Whirling Fortress.
- The new down smash has more startup, and significantly fewer active frames due to the removal of the looping hits (frame 10, 14-15, 17-18, 20-21, 23-24, 26-27, 31 → 12-13, 28-29). This makes it somewhat less effective for punishing rolls, and makes the first hit less safe on shield.
Aerial attacks
- All aerials have less landing lag (neutral: 20 frames → 15, forward: 24 → 14, back: 40 → 24, up: 28 → 17, down: 40 → 34).
- Neutral aerial:
- The move auto-cancels earlier (frame 45 → 41).
- Due to its lower landing lag and Bowser's faster jumpsquat, it is a much better landing option and combo starter, leading into aerial attacks even up to high percentages.
- Its hitboxes are smaller (5.5u → 5u).
- Forward aerial:
- The move always sends opponents towards Bowser's front, improving its consistency in edgeguarding and KOing.
- However, this removes a confirm the move had in the previous game into Bowser's back aerial if the opponent was sent backwards by it.
- Down aerial:
- The landing hitbox has a longer duration (frames 1-3 → 1-6).
Throws and other attacks
- Grabs:
- All grabs have a longer hitbox duration (2 frames → 3).
- Standing grab has less startup (frame 9 → 8).
- Standing grab has more ending lag (FAF 39 → 41).
- Dash and pivot grabs have more startup (dash: frame 10 → 11, pivot: frame 11 → 12), with dash grab's total duration increased as well (FAF 48 → 49).
- Dash grab has slightly more range (Z2 offset: 15.5u → 16.2u).
- Pivot grab has less ending lag (FAF 46 → 44).
- Pivot grab has drastically reduced range (Z2 offset: -26.5u → -22u), being stricter to Bowser's arm.
- Pummel:
- Pummel has less startup (frame 9 → 2), deals more hitlag (5 frames → 15), and has significantly less ending lag (FAF 24 → 8), shortening its duration. This slightly increases the amount of times Bowser can pummel the opponent before throwing them or before they break out.
- Pummel deals much less damage (3.1% → 1.6%). This makes it marginally less reliable for racking up damage.
- Up throw:
- The eighth hit deals more damage (1% → 2%), and it has an additional hit right as the release occurs that deals 4%, almost doubling its total damage output (6.5% → 11.5%).
- The ending hit's knockback will override the throw's knockback up until very high percents, with very different knockback values (25 (base)/180 (scaling) → 85/80) effectively resulting in the move dealing noticeably more knockback at lower percents while not having improved KO potential at high percents, reducing the move's combo potential significantly and preventing followups with neutral aerial almost entirely.
- The throw releases opponents slower (frame 53 → 57), but has more ending lag (FAF 64 → 75). Although this is somewhat alleviated by Bowser's faster jumpsquat, it completely removes the move's combo potential past mid percents, along with no longer possessing any guranteed KO setups.
- The last hit deals much less knockback to bystanders (80 base/200 scaling → 85/80).
- The last hit launches bystanders vertically instead of being a semi-spike (0° → 80°). Coupled with the previous change, this removes its extreme horizontal KO power, but allows it to combo them alongside the thrown victim.
- Bowser hops during the final hit.
- Down throw:
- The throw's release deals more damage (2% → 4%) with no compensation on knockback, although it is still weaker than forward throw.
- It has faster startup (frame 45, 56 → 35, 37), but with its total duration not reduced, significantly increasing its ending lag, while it remains easy to react to.
- It has a more exaggerated animation where Bowser leaps upward and collapses belly-first on the opponent.
- Edge attack:
- Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 10%).
Special moves
- Fire Breath:
- Each flame deals more damage per hit (1.2% → 1.8%).
- Each flame have larger hitboxes (4u → 4.5u).
- Flames are more vibrant in color, as opposed to the more realistic flames in Smash 4.
- Flying Slam:
- The move has significantly faster startup overall (frame 8 (ground)/17 (aerial) → 6 (both)). This allows Bowser to beat out shielding opponents much more easily when airborne.
- The outer grabbox is smaller (5u → 4u), but further out (Z offset: 17.5 → 19), increasing its horizontal reach but worsening its vertical reach.
- The inner grabbox is larger (4u → 5u).
- The move has noticeably more ending lag (FAF 43 (grounded), 50 (aerial) → 53), and the aerial version no longer auto-cancels upon landing, making it much easier to punish.
- Upon grabbing an opponent, it has more lag before Bowser jumps (25 frames → 33) making it easier to DI.
- Bowser spins around more dramatically on the way down if he grabs an opponent. This makes the throw deal slightly increased damage on landing the more he spins.
- The move has an aesthetic explosion effect on landing.
- Whirling Fortress (grounded):
- The looping hits use different angles (180° → 160°/165°), deal less knockback (50/70 set/100 scaling → 80/120/50), have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.7×), use weight-independent knockback, and have gained an additional hitbox above Bowser that meteor smashes opponents into the attack (180° → 240°) with low knockback. This allows it to connect more reliably, with opponents no longer being able to tech out of it, and increases its vertical range.
- The last hit deals more damage (4% → 6%), with knockback compensated (70 base/150 scaling → 50/140).
- The last hit uses weight-independent knockback. This hinders the move's KO potential against lighter targets, but improves it against heavier ones.
- The last hit launches at a lower angle (60° → 55°).
- Whirling Fortress (aerial):
- The aerial version has significantly less landing lag (50 frames → 36).
- The first hit and looping hits use the autolink angle (84° → 367°), with the former dealing effectively set knockback (80 base/60 scaling → 50/0), and it has an additional finishing hit at the end (dealing 12 hits, up from 11) with significantly more knockback scaling (20 → 180). This repurposes the move into a more traditional multi-hit move that can rack up damage more safely.
- It deals significantly less damage (10% (hit 1), 3% (hits 2-6), 2% (hits 7-11) → 7% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-11), 2% (hit 12); 35% total → 19%), no longer making it among the most damaging up specials in the game.
- The looping hits have smaller hitboxes (6u → 4.3u).
- The last hit launches at a lower angle (84° → 60°).
- Its animation has been altered, with Bowser spinning more at an angle toward the camera.
- Bowser Bomb:
- The grounded version's first hit has different angles (85° → 80°/100°/90°) and deals less set knockback (90 → 60), but uses weight-independent knockback, a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.5×), and has gained a hitstun modifier of 8, while the second hit has less startup (frame 38 → 37). This makes the first hit impossible to DI, and allows it to connect better into the second hit.
- The first hit uses 4 smaller but extended hitboxes rather than one large unextended one. Overall it has more reach.
- The aerial version has less startup (frame 32 → 31).
- The move meteor smashes at the beginning of its descent (76° → 290°). This grants it utility in edgeguarding, but making its onstage KO potential less consistent.
- The aforementioned new meteor smash hitbox deals less knockback (45 base/75 scaling → 13/65), making it significantly less powerful as a result.
- Final Smash:
- Bowser has a new Final Smash called Giga Bowser Punch. Rather than utilizing Giga Bowser's Brawl moveset, he teleports to the background of the stage in giant form, and aims a single punch that does 40% damage. If the opponent's damage percent is at 60% or greater before they are punched, they receive an instant Screen KO, otherwise they receive moderately high knockback.
- Since Giga Bowser Punch causes Bowser to teleport to the background, the Final Smash no longer renders Bowser vulnerable to damage during it.
- Since Giga Bowser Punch consists of a single hit rather than allowing Bowser to hit opponents, this makes its KO power and damage more consistent and allows it to more easily KO several targets, but hinders the damage racking ability Giga Bowser previously had.
- As a result, Giga Bowser Punch deals less damage than Giga Bowser's most damaging option, which was a fully charged down smash (4.2% hits 1-7/18.2% hit 8/47.6% if all hits connect → 40%).
As a result, the undead glitch on the Stamina Mode, and results screen glitch on the timed team battle have been removed.