Bowser Jr. (SSBU)
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| Bowser Jr. in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
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| Universe | Mario |
| Other playable appearance | in SSB4 |
| Availability | Unlockable |
| Final Smash | Shadow Mario Paint |
| “ | The Jr. Clown Car this little fella rides in takes less damage when attacked than Bowser Jr. himself—so try to stay in the car when taking damage. The different color variations are the Koopalings! | ” |
| —Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site | ||
Bowser Jr. (クッパJr., Koopa Jr.) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was revealed for the game along with the rest of the veterans on June 12th, 2018. He returns with his Junior Clown Car, and the Koopalings also return as his alternate costumes. Bowser Jr. is classified as fighter #58.
As in Smash 4, Caety Sagoian's portrayals of Bowser Jr. in the Mario games were repurposed for Ultimate. Additionally, the Koopalings' portrayals in the Mario games that were used in Smash 4 were also repurposed for Ultimate.
How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
- Play VS. matches, with Bowser Jr. being the 61st character to be unlocked.
- Clear Classic Mode with Fox or any character in his unlock tree, being the sixth character unlocked after Daisy.
- Have Bowser Jr. join the player's party in World of Light.
With the exception of the third method, Bowser Jr. must then be defeated on Delfino Plaza.
Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
While Bowser Jr. did not receive as many direct changes to his standard moveset compared to the rest of the cast, he did obtain some notable improvements due to his attributes and special moves.
One of the biggest changes include the Junior Clown Car now taking priority over Bowser Jr.'s hurtbox, making him unique as he will now take less damage on average compared to any other fighter. He also benefits heavily from the universal frame 3 jumpsquat, allowing him to use his formidable aerials more effectively. Bowser Jr.'s mobility is also better, due to his higher walking, dashing, and air speeds; his increased dashing speed contributes to a better grounded approach, while his increased air speed slightly aids his air game and recovery. His up tilt and grab's infamously misleading hitboxes have been fixed (with the latter being given more range). Up throw is now capable of starting combos (albeit still limited), while his down throw now deals more damage, patching his previously lackluster grab game.
His special moves, previously notorious for their lag and/or situational use, have been buffed significantly. Clown Cannon, a previously slow projectile with limited use, is now less punishable due to its decrease in lag and increase in lifetime if fired in the air, and two can be in play at once. It also deals far more shield damage; an uncharged landing cannonball can now hit twice to almost break a full shield. Clown Kart Dash allows Bowser Jr. to keep his double jump if cancelled, no longer requires travel time to deal maximum damage and immediately deals higher damage if the directional key is held forward, while its spinout deals far more knockback, making the move harder-hitting in general. Mechakoopa has had its lag reduced and the Mechakoopas start moving quicker; it also bites onto victims, guaranteeing that the second hit will connect. Finally, Abandon Ship!'s hammer swing is faster, at the expense of the exploding kart having less knockback.
However, Bowser Jr. has received some notable nerfs, including a significantly less damaging neutral attack, a sourspot on his forward tilt, and the removal of air dodging out of Clown Kart Dash. In addition, he retains many former flaws that are still notable, including his extremely gimpable recovery and, despite being buffed, a below-average set of throws.
Overall, Bowser Jr.'s moveset and gimmicks has been retooled to be more consistent and significantly less situational that in Smash 4, allowing him to zone opponents more effectively. As of now, it is unknown how his changes will affect him compared to the rest of the cast.
Aesthetics
As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Bowser Jr.'s model features a more subdued color scheme. Like his father, his horns, hair, and spikes feature simple detailing, but his scales remain undefined and his body is not as monotone. The new detailing is also expressed by the Koopalings.- The Junior Clown Car is more expressive, with new facial animations when Bowser Jr. gets hit and when he misses a grab.
- Instead of a hammer, the Koopalings pull out their respective wands from Super Mario Bros. 3 and the New Super Mario Bros. games.
Attributes
Like all characters, Bowser Jr.'s jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 6).- Bowser Jr. runs faster (1.424 → 1.566).
- Bowser Jr.'s initial dash is faster (1.6 → 1.76).
- Bowser Jr. walks faster (0.88 → 0.924).
- Bowser Jr.'s air speed is faster (1.08 → 1.134)
- Bowser Jr.'s Clown Car hurtbox takes priority over his body hurtbox, meaning that the opponent has to intentionally aim for his head to deal increased damage. This means Bowser Jr. will take less damage on average compared to other characters.
Ground attacks
- Neutral attack:
- Neutral attack connects more reliably, and the final hit has increased KO potential.
- The last hit of Bowser Jr.'s neutral attack is now an uppercut, making its hitbox larger. This significantly improves its reliability, as it would often miss at high percents in Smash 4.
First hit and looping hits deals less damage (first hit: 3% → 2%, loop: 2% → 0.5%).
- Forward tilt:
- Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 32).
- Forward tilt deals less knockback.
- Forward tilt now has a sourspot that deals less damage (8% → 6%).
- Up tilt:
- Up tilt's blind spot between the fork's prongs and the Junior Clown Car has been removed, and can now hit prone or crouching targets.
- Down tilt:
- Down tilt deals more total damage (8% → 10%).
- Down tilt has considerably improved KO potential.
- The first two hits can be escaped from with SDI at very high percents.
- If there is any food or any healing items on the ground, down tilt can take it to heal.
- Dash attack:
- Dash attack deals more total damage (11% → 13%).
- Dash attack connects better.
- Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
- Up smash
- Up smash has less ending lag (FAF 57 → 55).
- Down smash
- Down smash deals more knockback.
Aerial attacks
- All aerials have less landing lag. Coupled with his 3 frame jumpsquat, this overall makes his spacing more consistent and powerful.
- Neutral aerial:
- All hitboxes of neutral aerial deal more damage (clean: 6% → 8%, mid: 5% → 7%, late: 3% → 5%).
- Forward aerial:
- Forward aerial no longer has a sourspot. It has also lost the late hit that deals 5%, making the weakest possible hit the previous sourspot's middle hit (7%).
- Down aerial:
- Looping hits deals more damage (1.3% → 1.5%).
- Final aerial hit deals more damage (2% → 2.5%).
Throws/other attacks
- Bowser Jr. now preemptively pulls out his toy hammer in his grab animation, and will look dejected if it misses.
- Standing grab has more range, now actually matching the hitbox of the Junior Clown Kart's claw instead of stopping before the middle of the claw.
- Grab's speed is now more in line with the rest of the cast due to the universal increase to grab's ending lag. However, it is still one of the laggier grabs in the game.
- Pummel's animation is slightly different. It also deals less damage (2% → 1.2%), but is faster than before.
- Forward throw's second hit deals 1% more damage (6% → 7%, 10% total).
- As a result, it deals more knockback, improving its KO potential.
- Back throw deals 1% less damage (12% → 11%), with knockback compensated.
- Up throw has less ending lag and base knockback, allowing Bowser Jr. to combo off of it, though followups are limited. Up aerial can now connect from up throw till around 64%, and Abandon Ship!'s hammer can setup for a KO combo.
- Down throw deals significantly more damage (6.5% → 12.4%), and is now a semi-spike, allowing it to set up for edgeguards.
Special Moves
- Clown Cannon:
- Clown Cannon's cannon balls travel in a spiraling path, similar to ones fired by Shotzos, instead of flying straight.
- Two cannonballs can now be in play at once.
- Aerial cannonballs will now keep an active hitbox indefinitely even once it starts falling in midair, allowing them to be used for edgeguarding. This does not apply for cannonballs that have already landed.
- Cannonballs deal more damage uncharged (early: 8.5% → 10%, late: 5.9% → 7%).
- Clown Cannon's cannonballs now deal a significant amount of shield damage, capable of doing more than half a shield's health when fully charged.
- Clown Cannon has much lower lag overall, coming out 6 frames sooner. Uncharged cannonballs also travel slower, letting one follow it. This makes it easier to dodge, but grants new setups based around the cannonball. This significantly improves its utility, as it was a very situational projectile in Smash 4.
- Due to the increase to the cannonball's shield damage and reduction in its flying speed, an uncharged cannonball can now hit twice before it drops at maximum distance, dealing extreme shield damage. This gives Clown Cannon powerful, newfound shield-pressuring abilities.
- Fully charged cannonballs deal less knockback.
- Clown Kart Dash:
- After cancelling Clown Kart Dash, Bowser Jr. will now keep his double jump.
- Clown Kart Dash's collision damage no longer scales based on duration traveled, and is now affected by whether the directional key is held: holding forward immediately increases damage and speed, while pressing no buttons will gradually reduce damage and speed. As a result, the move deals more overall damage, since it no longer requires travel time to attain maximum damage.
- Clown Kart Dash's damage numbers have been reversed, with the early hits dealing up to 7.3%, and a non-accelerating late collision dealing 4%.
- Clown Kart Dash's spinout deals much higher damage (no acceleration: 8% → 10%, full acceleration: 8% → 16.3%). Its knockback has also been increased, making it much better for damage racking and KOing.
- Clown Kart Dash can no longer be airdodged out of.
- Clown Kart Dash makes Bowser Jr. jump higher on sloped platforms.
- Abandon Ship!:
- Abandon Ship!'s Hammer Swing is faster.
- Abandon Ship!'s explosion has less knockback.
- Mechakoopa:
- Mechakoopa has had its endlag reduced greatly, and starts walking as soon as it hits the ground. It no longer bounces, and still retains some lag.
- Mechakoopas will now cling onto the opponent it makes contact with, which means that it will detonate on them even if they're being knocked away as they got triggered. This also allows for reliable kill setups, with the mechakoopa exploding after the opponent is launched, causing the explosion to be much closer to the blastzones.
- The Mechakoopa now explodes upon hitting a shield if thrown.
- The Mechakoopa now deactivates and lies on the ground when it walks into a shield. It can still be picked up and used before it completely disappears after a second passes.
- Final Smash:
- Shadow Mario Paint is active for a shorter amount of time.
Classic Mode: Mama Peach, Where Are You?
All of Bowser Jr.'s opponents are princesses, some of which are teamed up with their love interest (or in Lucina's case, her father).
| Round | Opponent | Stage | Music | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosalina & Luma | Mario Galaxy | Rosalina in the Observatory / Luma's Theme | |
| 2 | Lucina and Chrom | Arena Ferox | Prelude (Ablaze) | |
| 3 | Daisy and Luigi | Mushroom Kingdom U | Mario Tennis / Mario Golf | |
| 4 | Zelda | Hyrule Castle | Saria's Theme | |
| 5 | Mii Fighters (x6) | Peach's Castle | Main Theme - Super Mario 64 | The Mii Fighters all wear princess wigs. |
| 6 | Mario and Peach | Delfino Plaza | Delfino Plaza | |
| Bonus Stage | ||||
| Final | Master Hand | Final Destination | Master Hand | On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle. |
Role in World of Light
Although Bowser Jr. does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.
Bowser Jr. was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is found in one of two alternate pathlines on the Triforce of Power segment of the Sacred Land sub-area, guarded by various Legendary spirits.
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". All of the Koopalings have their own models and voice clips.
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Gallery
Larry's official render.
Roy's official render.
Wendy's official render.
Iggy's official render.
Morton's official render.
Lemmy's official render.
Ludwig's official render.
Bowser Jr.'s fighter card.
Charging his forward smash on 3D Land.
Performing his dash attack on Princess Peach's Castle.
Jabbing at Villager on Boxing Ring.
Performing his forward tilt towards tempura shrimp on Tomodachi Life.
Roy, Iggy, Larry, and Ludwig on Wuhu Island.
Taunting with Lemmy, Wendy, and Morton on Tomodachi Life.
Idling next to Snake on Tomodachi Life.
Struck by Alucard on Castle Siege.
Character Showcase Video
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Trivia
- The "Everyone is Here!" trailer features a visual glitch: when Lemmy uses his down taunt, his face disappears for a few frames at the end of the animation.
- The Junior Clown Car also shows a visual glitch, with two mouths overlapping each other when Ludwig is seen falling off a ledge.
- In Bowser Jr.'s showcase video, at one point the seven Koopalings follow Jr. in the same order they are fought in New Super Mario Bros. U.
- Despite the fact that Bowser has his own sub-world in World of Light, Bowser Jr. is fought in the Sacred Realm.
- The render of Lemmy resembles artwork of him from New Super Mario Bros. U, and he is the only Koopaling to be completely out of the Junior Clown Car.
- Similarly, the render of Wendy resembles an illustration of her from Super Mario World.
- Bowser Jr. is the only fighter, whose alternate costumes all have different names and voice clips.
- Because Spirit Battles generally use alternate costumes and all of Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes are the Koopalings, Bowser Jr. himself never appears in any Spirit Battles.
