Template:Infobox Final Smash Giga Bowser (ギガクッパ変身, Gigakuppa henshin, Giga Bowser Transformation) is Bowser's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It causes him to turn into Giga Bowser from Super Smash Bros. Melee, gaining immense strength. While in this form, he's invulnerable to knockback, but can still receive hitstun and damage, which may leave Bowser severely weakened and open to KOs after the Final Smash. The transformation lasts about 10 seconds. He gains no new abilities while as Giga Bowser, though his existing abilities become more powerful, and most gain elemental side effects.
Changes from Melee to Brawl
- All new moves of Bowser's (such as the Flying Slam and Crawling) are also available for Giga Bowser.
- 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. He is still affected by Freeze frames, thus powerful 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.
Brawl Manual description
"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."
Moveset
| Move | Description | Segment | Damage | Angle | Hit Frames | BKB | KBG | WBKB | Type | ||||
| Neutral attack | Double Claw | Two quick claw swipes; the least notable of Giga Bowser's attacks. | Hit 1 | 7% |  |
8 | 11 | 0 | 100 | 20 |  |
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| Hit 2 | 9% |  |
25 | 27 | 20 | 110 | 0 | ||||||
| Forward tilt | Backhand Knuckle | 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 | Vertical Claw | 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 | Claw Trip | Does two low claw swipes. The first one is not only a Meteor Smash, but it buries grounded opponents. | Hit 1 | 9% |  |
14 | 18 | 10 | 80 | 0 | |
| |
| Hit 2 | 15% | |
27 | 31 | 50 | |
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| Dash attack | Dashing Headbutt | 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 | |
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| Up smash | Shell Slam | 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 | Template:DamageWhenCharged |  |
16 | 21 | 30 | 60 | 0 | |
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| Head | Template:DamageWhenCharged | ||||||||||||
| Hit 2 | Template:DamageWhenCharged | |
31 | 32 | 60 | |
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| Down smash | Shell Blender | 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 | Template:DamageWhenCharged |  |
14-15, 17-18, 20-21, 23-24, 26-27, 29-30, 32-33 | 40 | 50 | 0 | |
| |
| Body | 
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| Hit 8 | Template:DamageWhenCharged | |
35 | 30 | 130 | ||||||||
| Forward smash | Horn Lunge | Rears back and then performs a very strong headbutt, causing his head to explode. | Head | Template:DamageWhenCharged | |
28 | 40 | 5 | 60 | 0 | |
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| Body | Template:DamageWhenCharged | ||||||||||||
| Neutral aerial | Shell Spin | Giga Bowser spins around inside his shell. | 15% | |
6 | 28 | 20 | 80 | 0 | |
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| Forward aerial | Air Claw | Swats forward rather quickly. Has great horizontal reach. | 15% | |
8 | 11 | 50 | 80 | 0 | |
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| Back aerial | Shell Bulge | Giga Bowser thrusts his shell out behind him. A semi-spike. | 17% |  |
10 | 14 | 25 | 80 | 0 | |
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| Up aerial | Upper Headbutt | 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 | |
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| Down aerial | Inverted Spin | 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 | |
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| Landing | 10% | 1 | 2 | 60 | 130 | 0 | |
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| Pummel | Headbutt | Does an explosive headbutt. | 6% | |
11 | 12 | 0 | 100 | 30 | |
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| Forward throw | Big Heave | Giga Bowser flings the opponent using his head. | 12% |  |
36 | 60 | 50 | 0 |  |
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| Back throw | Big Hurl | 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 | |
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| Up throw | Spike Slice | 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 | |
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| Throw | 10% |  |
49 | 60 | 110 | |
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| Down throw | Flatten | 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 | |
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| Edge (<100%) | Quick Spin | Quickly spins onto the stage and then retreats back a bit. | 16% | |
8 | 35 | 0 | 100 | 90 | |
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| Edge (100%+) | Slow Swipe | Slowly climbs onto stage and does a quick claw jab. | 16% |  |
46 | 50 | 0 | 100 | 90 | |
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| 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. | 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 | |
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| Hit 3 (ground) | 3% | |
24, 28, 32, 36 |
50 | |||||||||
| Hit 1 (air) | 10% | |
6 | 7 | 80 | 60 | 0 | |
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| Hit 2 (air) | 3% |  |
8-11, 12-15, 16-19, 20-23, 24-27 | 50 | 20 | |
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| 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 |  |
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| Drop (from air) | 32 | ||||||||||||
| Landing | 18% | 1 | 2 | 60 | 72 | ||||||||
Special Movements
- Up: Roars (same as Melee)
- Side: Bites in front of himself 5 times and wheezes while doing so.
- Down: 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 Mewtwo and Ganondorf. Giga Bowser returns for Brawl, but this time he is Bowser's Final Smash and not a boss.
Trophy
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
Playability through hacking
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 able to be used 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 is over, Giga Bowser will appear on the Results screen instead of regular Bowser. His win animation is just his idle animation, and his losing has him in the "Blind" (T Pose) position. Both also keep him at his huge size.
- Similarly to how he is unable to pick up items or jump 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 certain 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 launch resistance. 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 a 100-man Brawl, the final opponent will be Giga Bowser instead of Bowser, making it 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 die 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 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, and 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 Mushrooms, Lightning Bolts, and Bumpers. All other damaging items simply deal damage to Giga Bowser.
- It is possible for the crowd to cheer for a player using Giga Bowser. However, because Giga Bowser's audience cheer sound clip consists of garbage data, 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 cause no flinch. 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.
- Like Wario-Man, Giga Bowser has no alternate costumes.
- 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.
- 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.
Gallery
Giga Bowser's forward tilt in Brawl.
External links
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
